Pharmacia & Upjohn

Umberto Breme

Anna Luisa Colombo

Sharee L Otten

Charles Richard Hutchinson

Silvia Filippini

Leonid Fonstein

Claudio Scotti

Augusto Solari Inventi

Marina Ciomei

Nicoletta Crespi Perellino

Giuliano Franchi

Luisa Garofano

C Richard Hutchinson

Natalia Lomovskaya

Marinella Caruso

Cinzia Portello

Marco Tat&oacute;

Lorena Fedeli

Giuliano Oronzo

Luca Piacenza

Natasha Lomovskaya

Andrea Pavesi

Giambattista Ventrella

Emanuele Arlandini

The present invention related to microorganisms producing taxanes, such as paclitaxel or related taxanes, to the use of said microorganisms for the production of taxanes, and to the procedure for the isolation of said microorganisms from plants. In particular, the present invention relates to microorganisms of the Actinomycetes group producing taxanes as well as to the biologically pure cultures of a strain of the Actinomycetes group which produces taxanes. The microorganisms of Actinomycetes group are preferably belonging to the suprageneric groups of Streptomycetes, Actinoplanetes, Maduromycetes, Thermomonosporas or Nocardioforms, more preferably they are belonging to genus Streptomyces, Actinoplanes, Nocardiopsis, Micromonospora, Actinomadura or Kitasatosporia, still more preferably to the genus Kitasatosporia. A particularly preferred microorganism is Kitasatosporia sp. CECT 4991.

Paclitaxel production by actinomycetes

The present invention is directed to a process for improving daunorubicin and doxorubicin production by means of a recombinant microorganism in which a gene of daunorubicin metabolism is mutated. The mutated gene is preferably dnrU and/or dnrX.

Process for preparing doxorubicin

Anthracycline glycosides

The present invention concerns a process for improving doxorubicin production by means of a recombinant Streptomyces peucetius strain bearing a mutation in the gene dnrU coding for a protein involved in the metabolism of daunorubicin.

The ability to convert daunorubicin to doxorubicin can be conferred on a host cell by transformation with a recombinant vector comprising DNA encoding daunorubicin 14-hydroxylase. The host cell can then be used to produce doxorubicin.

Daunorubin 14-hydroxylase

DNA encoding daunorubicin 14-hyroxylase and method for preparing

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Vigevano, Italy

Umberto Breme