Ajinomoto Co., Ltd.

Mikiko Suga

Hisao Ito

Yoko Asakura

Masakazu Sugimoto

Osamu Kurahashi

Tsuyoshi Nakamatsu

Kazuhiko Matsui

Jun Nakamura

Eiichiro Kimura

Yukiko Mori

Tsuyoshi Ohsumi

Tsuyoshi Osumi

Wataru Hibino

Sohei Kanno

Mika Ito

A method of producing coryneform bacteria having an improved amino acid or nucleic acid-productivity comprises the steps of introducing a mutation in a promoter sequence of amino acid- or nucleic acid-biosynthesizing genes on a chromosome of a coryneform bacterium so that it is close to a consensus sequence or introducing a change in the promoter sequence of amino acid- or nucleic acid-biosynthesizing genes on the chromosome of a coryneform bacterium by gene recombination so that it is close to a consensus sequence, obtaining mutants of the coryneform amino acid- or nucleic acid-producing microorganism, culturing the mutants and select a mutant capable of producing the intended amino acid or nucleic acid in a large amount. This method allows one of skill in the art to construct a mutant capable of enriching or controlling the expression of an intended gene without using a plasmid and to promote production of amino acids in a high yield, by the recombination or mutation.

Method of constructing amino acid producing bacterial strains, and method of preparing amino acids by fermentation with the constructed amino acid producing bacterial strains

L-Arginine is produced by culturing a coryneform bacterium in which an arginine repressor involved in L-arginine biosynthesis is deleted by disrupting a gene coding for the repressor, and which has L-arginine producing ability in a medium to produce and accumulate L-arginine in the medium, and collecting the L-arginine from the medium.

Arginine repressor deficient strain of coryneform bacterium and method for producing L-arginine

The present invention provides a DNA coding for a protein defined in the following (A) or (B) is obtained fromchromosomal DNA library by cloning a DNA fragment that complicates serB deficiency ofas a open reading frame in the DNA fragment.

Phosphoserine phosphatase of coryneform bacteria and variants thereof

The present invention provides a DNA coding for a protein defined in the following (A) or (B) is obtained fromchromosomal DNA library by cloning a DNA fragment that complicates serB deficiency ofas a open reading frame in the DNA fragment. (A) A protein which comprises an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID: 2 in Sequence Listing; or (B) A protein which comprises an amino acid sequence including substitution, deletion, insertion, addition or inversion of one or several amino acids in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 in Sequence Listing, and which has phosphoserine phosphatase activity.

Phosphoserine phosphatase gene of coryneform bacteria

A method of producing coryneform bacteria having improved amino acid or nucleic acid productivity comprising the steps of introducing a mutation in a promoter sequence of amino acid- or nucleic acid-biosynthesizing genes on a chromosome of a coryneform bacterium to make it close to a consensus sequence, or introducing a change in a promoter sequence of amino acid- or nucleic acid-biosynthesizing genes on a chromosome of a coryneform bacterium by gene recombination to make it close to a consensus sequence, to obtain mutants of the coryneform amino acid- or nucleic acid-producing microorganism, culturing the mutants and selecting a mutant capable of producing the intended amino acid or nucleic acid in a large amount. This method allows the construction of a mutant capable of enriching or controlling the expression of an intended gene without using a plasmid and to promote production of amino acids in a high yield by recombination or mutation.

Disclosed is a coryneform bacterium having resistance to azaserine or &bgr;-(2-thienyl)-DL-alanine and having L-serine productivity. Also, disclosed are D-3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase derived from a coryneform bacterium, in which feedback inhibition by L-serine is desensitized; the D-3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, which is obtainable from a coryneform bacterium having resistance to azaserine or &bgr;-(2-thienyl)-DL-alanine and having L-serine productivity; the D-3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase having an amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO: 12 in Sequence Listing or the sequence including substitution, addition or deletion of one or more amino acids, wherein an amino acid residue corresponding to the 325th glutamic acid residue of the amino acid sequence in the SEQ ID NO: 12 is replaced with an amino acid other than glutamic acid; the D-3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase that has an amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO: 11 in Sequence Listing; a DNA coding for the D-3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase described above; the DNA that has a base sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO: 13 in Sequence Listing; a coryneform bacterium which harbors a recombinant DNA containing the DNA; and a method of producing L-serine, comprising the steps of cultivating the bacterium described above in a medium to allow accumulation of L-serine in the medium, and collecting the L-serine from the medium.

Method of producing L-serine by fermentation

L-serine is produced by cultivating in a medium a coryneform bacterium having L-serine productivity in which an activity of at least one of phosphoserine phosphatase and phosphoserine transaminase is enhanced, preferably, further having introduced therein a gene coding for D-3-phosophoglycerate dehydrogenase in which feedback inhibition by L-serine is desensitized, allowing L-serine to accumulate in the medium, and collecting the L-serine from the medium.

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Kawasaki, Japan

Mikiko Suga