[0001 ] FIELD OF INVENTION

[0002] The present invention belongs to the area of biotechnology and refers to an improved fermentation process for converting ferulic acid into vanillin by means of genetically engineered microorganisms.

[0003] STATE OF THE ART

[0004] With an annual worldwide demand of more than 16,000 tons, vanillin is one of the most important flavour compounds. It is widely used in various applications, such as the production of fragrances, pharmaceutics, foods and beverages. The vast majority (99%) of the industrially used vanillin is chemically synthesized from lignin and crude oil derivatives, since the extraction of vanillin from the pods of Vanilla planifolia is highly cost and labour intensive. Although chemically synthesized vanillin can be produced at a very attractive price, there is a growing interest in the production of natural vanillin, originated from biotechnical approaches. Due to the customers increasing concerns for 'natural', 'healthy' and 'bio' products, natural flavours have a higher economic value in comparison to the chemically generated versions. This has led to extensive research to produce valuable compounds in environmentally friendly processes based from renewable substrates.

[0005] In addition to the use as a flavouring agent, vanillin and other structurally related phenolic compounds exhibit antimicrobial and antioxidant properties and are therefore also used in various pharmaceutical applications and as preservatives. Especially such bioactive functions are dependent on the correct stereochemistry. Biocatalysis is highly stereo-, regio-, and chemospecific, while synthetic production may lead to racemic mixtures and unintended by-products. Furthermore, chemical approaches often face the problem of environmentally problematic reaction conditions and the production of hazardous waste materials.

[0006] The actinomycete Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 has an outstanding tolerance towards vanillin in fermentation processes and is therefore used by the industry for the production of natural vanillin from ferulic acid and other structurally related compounds. Ferulic acid is the most abundant hydroxycinnamic acid in the plant world, as it is an important component of the cell wall of higher plants. I n this case vanillin can be labelled as 'natural flavour' since it is extracted from natural sources or "obtained by appropriate physical, enzymatic or microbiological processes from material of vegetable, animal or microbiological origin". [0007] Unfortunately, the microbially produced vanillin is often rapidly converted due to detoxification or catabolized within the organism's metabolism to serve as source of carbon and energy. Thus, much research was done to establish vanillin production pathways in model organisms like E. coli or 5. cerevisiae that are not able to degrade vanillin. However, these approaches did not lead to an industrial application, because of the bacteria's insufficient tolerance against the product.

[0008] To render the microbial production economically attractive, first attempts were made to engineer the metabolism of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 towards an efficient accumulation of vanillin [Fleige et al. "Investigation of the Amyolatopsis sp. Strain ATCC 39116 vanillin dehydrogenase and its impact on the biotechnical production of vanillin", Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 79, p 81-90 (2013)] .

[0009] The catabolism of ferulic acid in Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116, as well as in many vanillin-producing strains, proceeds via a consistent coenzyme A-dependent, non β-oxidative pathway with vanillin as the result of two enzymatic steps. These two reactions are catalyzed by the enzymes feruloyl-CoA synthetase (Fes) and enoyl-CoA hydratase/aldolase (Ech), respectively (2, 6, 7, 14-17). Vanillin is then further converted to vanillic acid by the enzyme vanillin dehydrogenase (Vdh). Deletion of the encoding gene (vdh) in Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 led to a strongly enhanced accumulation of va nillin and a reduction of more than 90% of its catabolism in biotransformation experiments.

[0010] Reference is made to Appl. Environment. Microbiol. 79(1), p 81-90 (2012) disclosing a vdh deletion mutant of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 for transforming ferulic acid into vanillin. The mutant, however, does not exhibit any vanillin dehydrogenase activity, but shows resistance against kanamycin.

[0011 ] To gain further access to an efficient genetic engineering of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116, new molecular tools were developed [Fleige et al. "Construction of expression vectors for metabolic engineering of the vanillin-producing actinomycete Amycolatopsis sp. Strain HR167 genes Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 10. 1007/s00253-014-5724-5 (2014)]. The use of suicide plasmids und expression vectors now facilitates genetic modifications of the genome of this promising production strain.

[0012] Therefore, the problem underlying the present invention has been to develop an improved fermentation process that allows converting ferulic acid into vanillin with improved yields. More particularly the invention relates to improvements in the metabolisms of microorganisms of the Amycolatopsis species in order to engineer an efficient production strain for natural vanillin.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] A first object of the present invention is a culture of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 - mutant F33 or mutant F84 which converts ferulic acid into vanillin. The cultures are obtainable according to a process encompassing the following steps: (al) eliminate the essential part of the origin of replication for Amycolatopsis and to obtain the resulting fragment (3575 bp) containing oriV for replication in E. coli, the apramycin resistance gene and several unique restriction sites for cloning;

(a2) religating the fragment and transforming E. coli with the resulting plasmid p6sui;

(a3) isolating the glucuronidase gene gusA as Spel/fcoRV fragment from pSETGUS and cloning into the A/ftel/Dral-linearized suicide plasmid p6sui to obtain p6suigusA;

(a4) deleting of the vdh gene by homologous recombination, wherein the flanking regions upstream and downstream of vdh in the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 are amplified using the following oligonucleotides:

upstream region:

vctf)LF_for3 (5'-TCGTACTTCGCGGTGATCTCGTGG-3')

and

vctf)LF_rev_RF (5'-GCGCATCAGGAGTGACACGCGCGGCGGGGGCG-3');

downstream region:

vctf)RF_for_LF (5'-CGCCCCCGCCGCGCGTGTCACTCCTGATGCGC-3') and

vctf)RF_rev3 (5'-TTGCAGTCCTTTGTAGAGCGACACG-3');

(a5) purifiying the resulting amplificates and combining them in a subsequent fusion-PCR using primers and vdhRF_rev3;

(a6) cloning the resulting fragment vdh including the upstream and downstream regions of vdh into the fcoRV-site of the suicide plasmid p6suigusA;

(a7) isolating the resulting plasmid p6suigusA::Ai c/ft from E. coli and transferring the vector to Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116; and

(a8) selecting transformants of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 with regard to correct genotype and cultivating them to obtain a second recombinant event.

or:

(bl) digesting E. coli - Amycolatopsis shuttle vector p6apra with Nae\/Sac\\ to eliminate the essential part of the origin of replication for Amycolatopsis and to obtain the resulting fragment (3575 bp) containing oriV for replication in E. coli, the apramycin resistance gene and several unique restriction sites for cloning;

(b2) religating the fragment and transforming E. coli with the resulting plasmid p6sui;

(b3) isolating the glucuronidase gene gusA as Spel/fcoRV fragment from pSETGUS and cloning into the A/ftel/Dral-linearized suicide plasmid p6sui to obtain p6suigusA;

(b4) amplifying the genes ech and fcs together from genomic DNA of Amycolatopsis sp.

ATCC 39116 using oligonucleotides

ech_for_Sac\ (5' -AAAAG AG CTCTAAG G AGGTG ACA ACTG CTG G C CGCGCTCG-3')

and

/c5_rev_Xbal ( 5' - A A A ATCTAG ACCACAGAGTAGCCGCAGCGGG-3'); (b5) digesting the PCR product with Sa and Xba\ and subsequently cloning it into the Sacl/Xbal-linearized pBluescript SK ^" .

(b6) transferring the resulting plasmid pSK::echfcs to E. coli Mach-1 T;

(b7) digesting pSKr.echfcs with fcolCRI and Hind\\\, and ligating the resulting fragment, containing both genes, with the FspAI/H/ndlll-linearized expression vector p6permE, col linear to permE*;

(b8) amplifying a fragment, comprising the promoter permE* and the genes ech and fcs from the resulting plasmid using oligonucleotides

p6apraMCS_for (5'-GCGAGCACCGGAGGCAGG-3') and

p6apraMCS_rev (5'-CATTCATCCGGGGTCAGCAC-3')

(b9) cloning the blunt PCR product in the /-// ^' ncll-linearized suicide plasmid p6suigusA::Ai c/ft, to achieve an integration at the Ai c/ft-locus;

(blO) transferring the resulting plasmid to Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 bvdh.

(bll) selecting transformants of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 with regard to correct genotype and cultivating them to obtain a second recombinant event.

[0014] Another object of the present invention relates to a process for preparing vanillin comprising subjecting ferulic acid to Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 - mutant F33 or mutant F84 or an isolated enzyme thereof which converts ferulic acid into vanillin, for a period of time sufficient to convert said ferulic acid to vanillin, and recovering the vanillin thus formed.

[0015] Preferably said ferulic acid is natural ferulic acid.

[0016] Also preferred is a process, wherein said microorganism is used to convert ferulic acid to vanillin and the microorganism is contained in a medium which comprises a carbon source. Particular preferred are carbon sources selected from the group consisting of sugars, sugar alcohols, organic acids and complex mixtures. It is also helpful using a medium that further comprises a nitrogen source.

[0017] Another object of the present invention refers to a process comprising using vanillin as a flavouring, wherein the improvement comprises using as said vanillin the vanillin produced by a process as described above, preferably involving vanillin that is produced from natural ferulic acid.

[0018] According to processes known from the prior art using conventional Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 strains, a final concentration of 13.9 g/l and a molar yield of 75 % vanillin could be obtained. Surprisingly, it has been observed that using the improved strains an end concentration of 17.5 g/l (F33) and 19.3 g/l (F84) was achieved, which means an improvement of up to 72 %. [0019] BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OBTAINED USING STRAIN F33

[0020] To engineer the metabolism of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 strains towards a higher productivity in fermentations processes, markerless gene deletion mutant of vdh was generated, coding for the above mentioned vanillin dehydrogenase, in order to interrupt the catabolism of the target product. For this, the suicide plasmid p6suigusA was established, that does not replicate in Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 and must therefore integrate into the genome to be further propagated. Due to illegitimate recombination events that often occur in actinomycetes, only 1% of the analysed mutants showed a correct homologous recombination at the desired locus in the genome. As integration events of the basic vector p6sui, lacking the gusA gene, were very seldom, it is assumed that recombination events between this gene and the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 took place.

[0021 ] Nevertheless, the system was found particular useful for the phenotypic identification of hetero- and homogenotes, which considerably simplified the screening of potential mutants as known from the state of the art for other actinomycetes.

[0022] Finally, the system represents a powerful tool to generate a knockout of the targeted gene without introduction of heterologous DNA. Such a gene deletion system is unknown so far and can be applied for the introduction of knockouts in Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116.

[0023] The gene deletion could be verified by diagnostic PCR as well as by sequencing of the genomic locus (Figure 1). Based on our knowledge of previous investigations, we examined the behavior of the new mutant strain Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh (Strain F33) regarding the accum ulation and subsequent catabolism of vanillin in comparison to the wild type which is until now used in industry.

[0024] The fermentation experiments confirmed the observations that we already made during the previous biotransformation experiments. The catabolism of vanillin in mutant F33 was decreased by nearly 90%. While Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 accumulated vanillic acid up to a concentration of 3.2 g/l, due to the continuous degradation of vanillin, the vdh- deletion mutant only showed a residual catabolism, which led to a vanillic acid concentration of 0.34 g/l (Figure 2C). Further metabolic engineering might even improve this effect since aldehyde dehydrogenase or oxidase activities seem still to be present even for Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116. As a matter of fact, the knockout of vdh is considered to be the crucial step of a consistent metabolic engineering to stop or at least to decrease the degradation of the desired product.

[0025] In accordance to these observations vanillin was accumulated directly and with an enhanced rate by F33 (Figure 2B). While vanillic acid is the first overflow product of the ferulic acid catabolism of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116, the vdh deletion mutant F33 accumulates vanillin directly without an initial synthesis of vanillic acid. This relationship between initial vanillic acid synthesis and subsequent vanillin accumulation is known for the wild type from other studies, in which the strain was used in fermentation experiments or where vanillic acid was shown to enhance the synthesis of vanillin in flask experiments.

[0026] It was observed that reduced catabolism resulted in a significantly higher end concentration with an even higher molar yield of vanillin. F33 accumulated vanillin at a maximal rate of 1.4 g/l/h (wild type: max. 1.15 g/l/h). The enhanced synthesis led to an end concentration of 17.5 g/l (Table 2), which is an improvement of more than 3 g/l compared to the wild type cells (Table 2: 14.1 g/l). Moreover, strain F33 metabolized ferulic acid to vanillin with a molar yield of 91.0%, which is an improvement of more than 16 percentage points with respect to the state of the art.

[0027] BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS OBATINED USING STRAIN F84

[0028] To avoid catabolism of the substrate and to optimize the metabolic network of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh the new strain F33 was further improved by integration of additional copies of the genes ech and fcs into the genome under the control of the constitutive promoter permE*. The genes encode the vanillin anabolism related enzymes feruloyl-CoA synthetase and enoyl-CoA hydratase/aldolase.

[0029] The overexpression construct was integrated at the former vdh locus, employing the same strategy with the use of p6suigusA as mentioned before. Although some illegitimate integration events of the suicide plasmid took place, finally a mutant was generated, with an integration of fragment permE*: :ech: :fcs in the genome. The genomic organization was again verified by diagnostic PCR (Figure 1) and sequencing of the yielded amplificate.

[0030] The new mutant Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh::permE*::echfcs (strain F84) was consequently also tested under the same fermentation conditions like F33 and the wild type. In comparison to the other two strains, the catabolism of ferulic acid by F84 was strongly enhanced, which was obvious due to considerably lower concentrations of the substrate in the medium, although ferulic was fed with a higher rate throughout the whole fermentation (Figure 2A). Thereby a higher amount of substrate can be fed within a shorter period, before the catabolism of ferulic acid ceases at the end of the fermentation.

[0031 ] Furthermore, the constitutive expression of ech and fcs resulted in a substantially enhanced synthesis of vanillin, especially during the first 8 hours of the biotransformation phase. The previously observed adaption phase of the wild type could be completely overcome as 1.6 g/l/h of vanillin were synthesized directly after supplementation of ferulic acid (Figure 2B).

[0032] By this also the total yield of the desired product could be increased to 19.3 g/l with a total molar vanillin yield of 92.0 %, with respect to added substrate. Given that 0.91 g/l of ferulic acid remained in the medium at the end of the fermentation, the strain metabolized the used substrate with a molar yield of 96.2%, which nearly approaches the theoretical possible value.

[0033] As a matter of fact F84 showed an even slightly reduced accumulation of vanillic acid in comparison to F33 although both strains do not express Vdh _A Tcc 39116 due to the deletion of the corresponding gene (Figure 2C). As the formation of vanillic acid by the deletion mutants seems not to be related to the amount of vanillin, but somehow to the catabolism of ferulic acid, it is assumed that vanillic acid is synthesized through a vanillin-independent pathway. I n this coenzyme-A-dependent, β-oxidative deacetylation pathway, ferulic acid is first activated by Fcs, and then further processed by a homologue of Ech. I n contrast to the non β-oxidative pathway, that yields vanillin in Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116, the common intermediate 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl^-hydroxypropionyl-CoA, is further converted via vanillyl-CoA to vanillic acid, without formation of vanillin.

[0034] The enhanced expression of ech in F84 is considered to result in a directed formation of vanillin, while less 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl^-hydroxypropionyl-CoA can be converted to vanillic acid. This assumption is also supported by the observation that the formation of vanillic acid is retarded, when the catabolism of ferulic acid decreases at the end of the fermentation. On the other hand vanillic acid is continuously formed by the wild type from vanillin due to the inherent activity of the vanillin dehydrogenase.

[0035] The presented fermentation data constitute the best overall productivity for all shown strains, with regard to the final vanillin concentration, the molar product yield and the run time of the whole fermentation. By increasing the feeding rate, a shorter runtime can be achieved, yielding comparable final concentrations, but lower molar product yields, considering the amount of ferulic acid, that was fed. On the other hand, higher molar yields of up to 96.4% can be reached using strain F84, if the desired final vanillin concentration and therefore the amount of supplied ferulic acid were lower. Furthermore, we were able to produce 22.3 g/l of vanillin, if ferulic acid was supplied at a rate of more than 5.5 g/h (Figure 5).

[0036] In conclusion, the synthesis of vanillin by the fermentation process according to the present invention seems to be limited to the antimicrobial properties of the product, although higher final concentrations can be achieved, at the expense of a lower total yield, by variation of some process parameters. The vanillin toxicity tests clearly showed the antibacterial effect of vanillin on the cells (Figure 4). Although the cells seem to tolerate higher vanillin concentrations than 10 g/l in the fermentation processes, the catabolism of ferulic acid stops at the end of the cultivation and the fermentation parameters clearly indicated that the cell metabolism collapses. Since the activation of ferulic acid is ATP- and CoA dependent, a further degradation might be limited to the availability of cofactors. This is also supported by the fact, that supplementation of glucose with the feeding solution, in order to provide an additional source of carbon and energy, led to higher end concentrations and an enhanced rate of the catabolism.

[0037] However, phenolic compounds, like vanillin, have been shown to effect or even inhibit DNA, RNA and protein synthesis, the uptake of glucose, pH homeostasis and ion gradients as they most likely target the cytoplasmic membrane due to their hydrophobic nature. Moreover, the aldehyde group was shown to even enhance this toxic effect, since it shows high reactivity and can form covalent bonds with DNA and proteins. A more increased vanillin formation is therefore thought to be limited to the viability of the cells. Although the enzymes might still be active at the end of the fermentation, further catabolism should be hampered due to the unavailability of cofactors. The extraction of vanillin in order to keep a non-toxic concentration was shown to enhance the overall yield of a production process and is suggested to overcome this problem.

[0038] PROCESSES FOR OBTAINING THE MUTANTS F33 AND F84

[0039] Two further embodiments of the present invention relate to processes for obtaining the Amycolatopisis mutants F33 and F84 [0040] STEP 1

[0041 ] The first step which is common for both processes according to the present invention refers to the generation of a suicide plasmid for the generation of a markerless deletion mutant of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116, encompassing the following steps:

• The E. coli - Amycolatopsis shuttle vector p6apra was digested with Nae\/Sac\\ to eliminate the essential part of the origin of replication for Amycolatopsis.

• The resulting fragment (3575 bp) contained oriV for replication in E. coli, the apramycin resistance gene and several unique restriction sites for cloning.

• The fragment was religated and E. coli was transformed with the resulting plasmid p6sui.

• Subsequently, the glucuronidase gene gusA was isolated as Spe\/EcoRV fragment from pSETGUS and cloned into the A/ftel/Dral-linearized suicide plasmid p6sui resulting in p6suigusA.

[0042] STEP 2

[0043] The second step refers to the mutant construction F33 (including deletion of vanillin dehydrogenase gene vdh) encompassing the following steps:

• A precise deletion of the vdh gene was accomplished via homologous recombination.

The flanking regions upstream and downstream of vdh in the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 were amplified using the following oligonucleotides: upstream region:

vctf)LF_for3 (5'-TCGTACTTCGCGGTGATCTCGTGG-3')

and

vctf)LF_rev_RF (5'-GCGCATCAGGAGTGACACGCGCGGCGGGGGCG-3');

downstream region:

vctf)RF_for_LF (5'-CGCCCCCGCCGCGCGTGTCACTCCTGATGCGC-3') and

vctf)RF_rev3 (5'-TTGCAGTCCTTTGTAGAGCGACACG-3').

• The resulting amplificates were purified and combined in a subsequent fusion-PCR using primers i/c/ftLF_for3 and vdhRF_rev3.

• The resulting fragment vdh combined the upstream and downstream regions of vdh and was cloned into the fcoRV-site of the suicide plasmid p6suigusA.

• After isolation of a resulting plasmid p6suigusA::Ai c/ft from E. coli, the vector was transferred to Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116.

• Transformants of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 were selected on solid Caso medium containing 50 μg/ml apramycin. Additionally, the resulting colonies were overlaid with X-Gluc as previously described to detect β-glucuronidase activity encoded by the suicide plasmid (Myronovskyi et al. 2011). • Mutants that showed the desired phenotype were first screened for the correct genomic integration of the suicide plasmid p6suigusA::Ai c/ft by colony-PCR using primers i/c/ftLF_for3 and vdhRF_rev3, which bind upstream and downstream of the recombination regions, respectively.

• Afterwards, mutants that showed the correct genotype were cultivated in liquid Caso medium to obtain a second recombination event.

• For this the cells were cultivated without antibiotics for at least 10 passages and were subsequently diluted and plated on Caso agar plates. Single colonies that did not show glucuronidase activity after overlaying with X-Gluc were picked on agar plates with and without apramycin.

• Mutants, which had lost the apramycin resistance, were finally analyzed via diagnostic PCR with different primer combinations showing a correct deletion of vdh. Furthermore, the resulting PCR-fragments were analyzed via digestion and sequencing to verify the genotype of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh.

[0044] Therefore, the process for obtaining mutant F33 can be summarized as follows:

(al) digesting E. coli - Amycolatopsis shuttle vector p6apra with Nae\/Sac\\ to eliminate the essential part of the origin of replication for Amycolatopsis and to obtain the resulting fragment (3575 bp) containing oriV for replication in E. coli, the apramycin resistance gene and several unique restriction sites for cloning;

(a2) religating the fragment and transforming E. coli with the resulting plasmid p6sui;

(a3) isolating the glucuronidase gene gusA as Spe\/EcoRV fragment from pSETGUS and cloning into the A/ftel/Dral-linearized suicide plasmid p6sui to obtain p6suigusA;

(a4) deleting of the vdh gene by homologous recombination, wherein the flanking regions upstream and downstream of vdh in the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 are amplified using the following oligonucleotides:

upstream region:

vdhlFJor3 (5'-TCGTACTTCGCGGTGATCTCGTGG-3')

and

i dftLF_rev_RF (5'-GCGCATCAGGAGTGACACGCGCGGCGGGGGCG-3');

downstream region:

vctf)RF_for_LF (5'-CGCCCCCGCCGCGCGTGTCACTCCTGATGCGC-3') and

vdhRF_rev3 (5'-TTGCAGTCCTTTGTAGAGCGACACG-3');

(a5) purifiying the resulting amplificates and combining them in a subsequent fusion-PCR using primers and vdhRF_rev3;

(a6) cloning the resulting fragment vdh including the upstream and downstream regions of vdh into the fcoRV-site of the suicide plasmid p6suigusA;

(a7) isolating the resulting plasmid p6suigusA::Ai c/ft from E. coli and transferring the vector to Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116; and (a8) selecting transformants of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 with regard to correct genotype and cultivating them to obtain a second recombinant event;

[0045] STEP C

• Step C covers the mutant construction F84 (integration of additional gene copies of ech and /cs at former vdh locus) and encompasses the following steps:

• Based on Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh a further mutant strain was constructed, which carries additional copies of the genes ech and fcs under the control of the strong constitutive promoter permE*;

• The genes ech and fcs were amplified together from genomic DNA of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 using oligonucleotides

o ech_for_Sac\ (5' -AAAAG AG CTCTAAG G AGGTG ACA ACTG CTG G C CGCGCTCG-3') and

o /c5_rev_Xbal (5'-AAAATCTAGACCACAGAGTAGCCGCAGCGGG-3').

• The PCR product was digested with Sac\ and Xba\ and subsequently cloned into the Sacl/Xbal-linearized pBluescript SK ^" . The resulting plasmid pSK::echfcs was transferred to E. coli Mach-1 Tl and enzyme activity was observed in ferulic acid biotransformation experiments.

• Next, pSKr.echfcs was digested with fcolCRI and Hind\\\, and the resulting fragment, which contained both genes, was ligated with the FspAI/H/r/dlll-linearized expression vector p6permE, collinear to permE* (Fleige and Steinbuchel 2014).

• For the integration into the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh a fragment, comprising the promoter permE* and the genes ech and /cs, was amplified from the resulting plasmid p6permE::ecr)/cs using oligonucleotides

o p6apraMCS_for (5'-GCGAGCACCGGAGGCAGG-3') and

o p6apraMCS_rev (5'-CATTCATCCGGGGTCAGCAC-3').

• The blunt PCR product was cloned in the /-// ^' ncll-linearized suicide plasmid p6suigusA::Ai/c#7, to achieve an integration at the Δι c/ri-locus.

• The resulting plasmid was designated and transferred to Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 Avdh.

• Screening of transformants, generation of the second recombination event and verification of the correct integration of the overexpression construct at the vdh- locus was performed as described above.

[0046] Therefore, the process for obtaining mutant F84 can be summarized as follows:

(bl) digesting E. coli - Amycolatopsis shuttle vector p6apra with Nae\/Sac\\ to eliminate the essential part of the origin of replication for Amycolatopsis and to obtain the resulting fragment (3575 bp) containing or/V for replication in E. coli, the apramycin resistance gene and several unique restriction sites for cloning;

(b2) religating the fragment and transforming E. coli with the resulting plasmid p6sui; (b3) isolating the glucuronidase gene gusA as Spel/fcoRV fragment from pSETGUS and cloning into the A/ftel/Dral-linearized suicide plasmid p6sui to obtain p6suigusA;

(b4) amplifying the genes ech and fcs together from genomic DNA of Amycolatopsis sp.

ATCC 39116 using oligonucleotides

ech_for_Sac\ ( 5 ' - A A A AG AG CTCTA AG G AG GTG AC A ACTG CTG G C CGCGCTCG-3') and

/c5_rev_Xbal (5'-AAAATCTAGACCACAGAGTAGCCGCAGCGGG-3');

(b5) digesting the PCR product with Sa and Xba\ and subsequently cloning it into the Sacl/Xbal-linearized pBluescript SK ^" .

(b6) transferring the resulting plasmid pSKr.echfcs to E. coli Mach-1 T;

(b7) digesting pSKr.echfcs with fcolCRI and Hind\\\, and ligating the resulting fragment, containing both genes, with the FspAI/H/ndlll-linearized expression vector p6permE, collinear to permE*;

(b8) amplifying a fragment, comprising the promoter permE* and the genes ech and fcs from the resulting plasmid p6permE::e i/cs using oligonucleotides

p6apraMCS_for (5'-GCGAGCACCGGAGGCAGG-3') and

p6apraMCS_rev (5'-CATTCATCCGGGGTCAGCAC-3')

(b9) cloning the blunt PCR product in the /-// ^' ncll-linearized suicide plasmid p6suigusA::Ai c/ft, to achieve an integration at the Ai c/ft-locus;

(blO) transferring the resulting plasmid to Amycolatopsis sp.

ATCC 39116 bvdh.

(bll) selecting transformants of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 with regard to correct genotype and cultivating them to obtain a second recombinant event;

[0048] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0049] FIGURE 1

Verification of the gene replacement in Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh (F33) and Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 Avdh::permE*::echfcs (F84)

[0050] In order to verify the correct gene deletion of vdh and the subsequent integration of permE*::echfcs, a diagnostic PCR was carried out using chromosomal DNA as template. The resulting fragments were analyzed in an 1 % agarose gel. Molecular weight marker (M): "GeneRuler™ 1 kb DNA Ladder" (Fermentas GmbH, St. Leon-Rot, Germany). Lanes 1, 2 and 3 represent the amplificate using oligonucleotides i/c/ftLF_for_diag and vdhRF_rev2, which show the difference between the wild type (1, 3.7 kb), mutant F33 (2, 2.4 kb) and mutant F84 (3, 5.4 kb). The marked fragments were purified, and the amplificates were analyzed by sequencing to finally verify the correct homologous recombination.

[0051 ] FIGURE 2A, 2B, 2C

Biotransformation of ferulic acid by Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 and the related mutants F33 and F84

[0052] Cells were grown in 1000 ml fermentation broth in a 21-bioreactor at 45 °C until they reached the stationary growth phase. Subsequently, the feeding with ferulic acid solution was started. Biotransformation of ferulic acid (A) to vanillin (B) and vanillic acid (C) was observed at the given times using HPLC analyses as described in materials and methods. Grey curves in diagram A represent the total amount of ferulic acid that was fed. Black curves represent the concentrations of the intermediates in the fermentation broth. (A, A ) Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116; (·,·) mutant F33; (♦,♦) mutant F84

[0053] FIGURE 3

RT-PCR analysis of ech expression

The expression of ech and /cs in different sections of the fermentation was analyzed by RT- PCR. Samples were taken prior to feeding with ferulic acid and after 7 hours of

biotransformation. RNA isolation, preparation of cDNA and the final PCR were performed as described in materials and methods. The resulting fragments were analyzed in a 2 % agarose gel. Molecular weight marker Ml: "GeneRuler™ 1 kb DNA Ladder"; M2 : "GeneRuler™ Low Range DNA Ladder" (Fermentas GmbH, St. Leon-Rot, Germany)

Lane 1 to 9 represent the amplificates using oligonucleotides ecft_ RT_for and /cs RT_rev and different templates: 1: cDNA, prepared from F33 sample prior to feeding; 2: RNA control for sample 1; 3: cDNA, prepared from F33 sample during feeding; 4: RNA control for sample 3; 5: cDNA, prepared from (F84) sample prior to feeding; 6: RNA control for sample 5; 7: cDNA, prepared from F84 sample during feeding; 8: RNA control for sample 7; 9: DNA-control for PCR. The arrow indicates the expected internal 624 bp-fragment of the transcript of ech and fcs. [0054] FIGURE 4

Vanillin toxicity test

[0055] Cells of Amycolatops is sp. ATCC 39116 were cultivated in 300 ml Caso medium at 45°C until the culture reached the stationary growth phase. Samples were taken, diluted with sterile saline (0.9 % NaCI) and plated on solid Caso medium in triplicates to determine the starting cell density (100%). Six equal aliquots of 45 ml were prepared. Vanillin (dissolved in DMSO) was added in concentrations of 2 (·), 4 (A), 7 (■) and 10 g/l (♦). As control experiments an equal amount of DMSO was added to one of the cultures (+), while another culture was monitored without any addition (x). The cultures were further incubated at 45°C and samples were again taken, diluted and plated on agar plates after 1, 3 and 6 hours. Colony forming units were counted again and the percentages were calculated with regard to the starting cell density.

[0056] FIGURE 5

Biotransformation of ferulic acid by F84

[0057] Cells were grown in 1000 ml fermentation broth in a 21-bioreactor at 45 °C until they reached the stationary growth phase. Subsequently, the feeding with ferulic acid solution (5.5 g/l/h ferulic acid) was started. Biotransformation of ferulic acid (▲) to vanillin (♦) and vanillic acid (·) was observed at the given times using HPLC analyses as described in materials and methods. The curves represent the concentrations of the intermediates in the fermentation broth.

[0058] EXAMPLES

[0059] MATERIALS AND METHODS

[0060] BACTERIAL STRAINS, PLASMIDS AND CULTIVATION CONDITIONS

[0061 ] All bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study are listed in following Table 1.

[0062] Table 1

Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study

plasmid for knockout of vdh application p6suigusA::Ai/c//j;; p6suigusA::Ai/c//j with overexpression construct for Present permE*::ech::fcs ech and /cs under control of permE *-promoter application

(1) Appl. Environ. Microbiol 77: 5370-5283 (2014) (2) ibid. 77:5370-5283 (201l)

[0063] Cells of Escherichia coli were grown in Lysogeny Broth (LB) medium at 37 °C. Cells of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 were grown at 45 °C in Caso medium (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany). For selection of plasmid harboring strains, antibiotics were added to the medium as follows: Ampicillin: 100 pg/ml for E. coli; Apramycin: 50 pg/ml for E. coli and Amycolatopsis. Cell growth was measured by determination of the optical density at 400 nm {Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116) or 600 nm (E. coli).

[0064] DNA ISOLATION AND MODIFICATION

[0065] Plasmid DNA was isolated from E. coli using the "peqGOLD Plasmid MiniPrep Kit I" (PEQ.LAB GmbH, Erlangen, Germany). DNA was digested by restriction endonucleases (Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH, Schwerte, Germany) under the conditions described by the manufacturer. Phusion Hot-Start I I high-fidelity DNA polymerase, T4 DNA ligase, T4 DNA polymerase and RevertAid Reverse Transcriptase (Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH, Schwerte, Germany) were used according to the instructions of the manufacturer. Oligonucleotides were purchased from Eurofins MWG Synthesis GmbH (Ebersberg, Germany). DNA fragments were isolated from agarose gels or reaction mixtures using the "peqGOLD Gel Extraction Kit" (PEQLAB Gm bH, Erlangen, Germany).

[0066] TRANSFER OF DNA

[0067] Plasmids were transferred into E. coli by employing the CaCI ₂ -method, whereas the transfer of plasmids into Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 was performed by direct mycelia transformation as previously described.

[0068] PLASMID AND MUTANT CONSTRUCTION

[0069] For the generation of a markerless gene deletion mutant of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 a suicide plasmid was constructed. The previously reported E. coli - Amycolatopsis shuttle vector p6apra was digested with Nae\/Sac\ \ to eliminate the essential part of the origin of replication for Amycolatopsis. The resulting fragment (3575 bp) still contained oriV for replication in E. coli, the apramycin resistance gene and several unique restriction sites for cloning. The fragment was religated and E. coli was transformed with the resulting plasmid p6sui. Subsequently, the glucuronidase gene gusA was isolated as Spe\/EcoRV fragment from pSETGUS (21) and cloned into the A/ftel/Dral-linearized suicide plasmid p6sui resulting in p6suigusA. [0070] A precise deletion of the vdh gene was accomplished via homologous recombination. The flanking regions upstream and downstream of vdh in the genome were amplified using the following oligonucleotides:

[0071 ] Upstream region:

vdhlFJor3 (5'-TCGTACTTCGCGGTGATCTCGTGG-3') and

i ⁽ LF_rev_RF (5'-GCGCATCAGGAGTGACACGCGCGGCGGGGGCG-3');

[0072] Downstream region :

i/( RF_for_LF (5'-CGCCCCCGCCGCGCGTGTCACTCCTGATGCGC-3') and

vctf ⁾ RF_rev3 (5'-TTGCAGTCCTTTGTAGAGCGACACG-3').

[0073] The resulting amplificates were purified and combined in a subsequent fusion-PCR using primers i/c/ftLF_for3 and vdhRF_rev3. The resulting fragment vdh combined the upstream and downstream regions of vdh and was cloned into the fcoRV-site of the suicide plasmid p6suigusA. After isolation of a resulting plasmid p6suigusA::Ai c/ft from E. coli, the vector was transferred to Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116. Transformants of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 were selected on solid Caso medium containing 50 μg/ml apramycin. Additionally, the resulting colonies were overlaid with X-Gluc as previously described to detect β-glucuronidase activity encoded by the suicide plasmid [see: Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 77:5370-5283 (2011)]

[0074] M utants that showed the desired phenotype were first screened for the correct genomic integration of the suicide plasmid by colony-PCR using primers and vdhRF_rev3, which bind upstream and downstream of the recombination regions, respectively. Afterwards, mutants that showed the correct genotype were cultivated in liquid Caso medium to obtain a second recombination event. For this the cells were cultivated without antibiotics for at least 10 passages and were subsequently diluted and plated on Caso agar plates. Single colonies that did not show glucuronidase activity after overlaying with X-Gluc were picked on agar plates with and without apramycin. Mutants, which had lost the apramycin resistance, were finally analyzed via diagnostic PCR with different primer combinations showing a correct deletion of vdh. Furthermore, the resulting PCR-fragments were analyzed via digestion and sequencing to verify the genotype of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 Avdh.

[0075] Based on Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 Avdh a further mutant strain was constructed, which carries additional copies of the genes ech and /cs under the control of the strong constitutive promoter permE* (18). The genes ech and fcs were amplified together from genomic DNA of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 using oligonucleotides:

(i) ech_for_Sac\ (5'-AAAAGAGCTCTAAGGAGGTGACAACTGCTGGCCGCGCTCG-3') and

[iil fcs_rev_Xba\ (5'-AAAATCTAGACCACAGAGTAGCCGCAGCGGG-3').

[0076] The PCR product was digested with Sac\ and Xba\ and subsequently cloned into the Sacl/Xbal-linearized pBluescript SK ^" . The resulting plasmid pSKr.echfcs was transferred to E. coli Mach-1 Tl and enzyme activity was observed in ferulic acid biotransformation experiments. Next, pSKr.echfcs was digested with fcolCRI and Hind\ \\, and the resulting fragment, which contained both genes, was ligated with the FspAI/H/ndll l-linearized expression vector p6permE, collinear to permE*. For the integration into the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh a fragment, comprising permE* and the genes ech and fcs, was amplified from the resulting plasmid p6permE: using oligonucleotides p6apraMCS_for (5'-GCGAGCACCGGAGGCAGG-3') and p6apraMCS_rev

(5'-CATTCATCCGGGGTCAGCAC-3'). The blunt PCR product was cloned in the H/ncl l-linearized suicide plasmid p6suigusA: :Ai c/ft, to achieve an integration at the Ai c/ft-locus.

[0077] The resulting plasmid was designated and transferred to Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh. Screening of transformants, generation of the second recombination event and verification of the correct integration of the overexpression construct at the Ai c/ft-locus was performed as described above

[0078] GLUCURONIDASE ENZYME ASSAY

[0079] To detect β-glucuronidase activity on agar plates, the colonies were overlaid with 1ml of ImM 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-glucuronic acid (X-Gluc) solution. After a short incubation period colonies containing hydrolytic GUS activity turned blue because of the formation of 5,5'-dibromo-4,4'-dichloro indigo.

[0080] FED-BATCH FERMENTATION AT THE 2L-SCALE

[0081 ] Fed-batch fermentation experiments were carried out in a 2-liter Biostat B Plus (Sartorius, Gottingen, Germany) fermenter. Temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (p0 ₂ ) and cell density (OD 850 nm) were monitored online during the fermentation. The cultivation was performed at 45° C with a fixed aeration rate of 1.0 vvm (volume per volume per minute) and a stirrer cascade between 300 and 600 rpm in order to keep a p0 ₂ saturation of 25%. The fermentation broth consisted of 4 g/l glucose and yeast extract, respectively. As antifoam agent 2 g/l of SAG 710 emulsion (Momentive Performance Materials I nc., Albany, USA) was added to the medium. The cells were grown until they reached the stationary growth phase, whereupon the biotransformation was started through continuous feeding of ferulic acid (stock solution: 800ml, 55 g/l, pH 8.0 NaOH, 4g/l glucose, 4g/l yeast extract). The feeding of ferulic acid was adjusted between a rate of 1.9 and 3.5 g/h to ensure an appropriate substrate supply during the biotransformation. The substrate concentration, as well as the concentration of intermediates of the catabolism were analyzed by HPLC at the given time points. The fermentation was stopped after 20-24h of biotransformation when further synthesis of vanillin had ceased.

[0082] DETERMINATION OF METABOLIC INTERMEDIATES

[0083] Excreted intermediates of the ferulic acid metabolism were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography using a "UltiMate 3000 HPLC System" (Dionex, Idstein, Germany) without prior extraction. Culture supernatants were obtained after centrifugation (5 min, 16,000 x g) and diluted 1:10 to 1:100 with double distilled water, if necessary. Intermediates were separated by reverse-phase chromatography using an Acclaim ^® 120 C8 column (particle size: 5 μιη; column: 250 x 2.1 mm) with a gradient of 0.1% (vol/vol) formic acid (eluant A) and acetonitrile (eluant B) in a range from 15 to 100% (vol/vol) eluant B. The run started with a flow rate of 0.1 ml/min, which was raised to 0.3 ml/min after 16 min when eluent B reached 100 %. For quantification, all intermediates were calibrated with external standards. The compounds were identified by their retention times and their absorption at a specific wavelength determined using a multiple wavelength detector "MWD - 3000" (259 nm, 280 nm, 285 nm, 340 nm; Dionex, Idstein, Germany). Data analyses and quantifications were performed with the associated software "Chromeleon 6.8 Chromatography Data Systems" (Dionex, Idstein, Germany).

[0084] VANILLIN TOXICITY TEST

[0085] Cells of Amycolatops is sp. ATCC 39116 were cultivated in 300 ml Caso medium at 45°C until the culture reached the stationary growth phase. Samples were withdrawn, diluted with sterile saline (0.9 % NaCI) and plated on solid Caso medium in triplicates in order to count colony forming units for the determination of the starting cell density (100%). Subsequently, the culture was separated into six equal aliquots of 45 ml. Vanillin (dissolved in DMSO) was added in concentrations of 2, 4, 7 and 10 g/l. As control experiments an equal amount of DMSO was added to one of the cultures, while another culture was monitored without any addition. The cultures were further incubated at 45°C and samples were again taken, diluted and plated on agar plates after 1, 3 and 6 hours. Colony forming units were counted again and the percentages were calculated with regard to the starting cell density.

[0086] RNA ISOLATION AND RT-PCR ANALYSIS

[0087] For the extraction of total RNA 1 ml samples of the fermentation broth were withdrawn and cells of the wild type Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 or mutant strains were harvested by centrifugation (13 000 x g, 20 min, 4°C). The resulting cell pellets were resuspended in 800 μΙ TE buffer (pH 8.0), and RNA was isolated as previously described. Remaining DNA contaminations were removed by the use of DNAse I (Roche, Mannheim, Germany), and RNA was subsequently purified as described before. Preparation of cDNA was accomplished using the RevertAid Reverse Transcriptase (Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH, Schwerte, Germany) and oligonucleotides ecft_RT_for (5'-GAACCCCACCCTGAACG-3') and ecft_RT_rev (5'-GAGCTTCAGCGCCACCTC-3') for an internal fragment of ech.

[0088] For an overlapping fragment of ech and fcs oligonucleotides echfcs_RJ_for (5'-GTACTACATCATGACCG GTGAGC-3') and ech/c5_RT_rev (5'-CAGCGCGTGGTCCAGTTC-3') were used. The final PCR was performed using Phusion Hot-Start II high-fidelity DNA polymerase. DNA contaminations in the isolated RNA were excluded in a control experiment with addition of RNA without the prior reverse transcription step.

[0089] RESULTS

[0090] CONSTRUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A 1 DH-DELETION MUTANT OF AMYCOLATOPSIS SP. ATCC 39116

[0091 ] The vanillin dehydrogenase VDH _ATC c 39116 has a substantial impact on the catabolism of vanillin in Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 and is therefore a promising target to engineer the strains metabolism towards an efficient accumulation. After replacing the encoding gene vdh with a kanamycin resistance cassette it was intended to generate a markerless deletion mutant as new production strain. For this, a suicide plasmid was constructed that allowed the introduction of a suitable deletion construct and the screening of resulting heterogenotes. The origin of replication for Amycolatopsis of the shuttle vector p6apra was removed by digestion, yielding the non-replicating plasmid p6sui. The suicide plasmid still contained the origin of replication for E. coli, the apramycin resistance gene and several unique restriction sites for cloning of deletion constructs. To obtain the ability of phenotypic screening of homogenotes, the gusA gene of pSETGUS was inserted into p6sui, yielding p6suigusA. GusA encodes a β-glucuronidase, whose activity can easily be identified on agar plates, due to the strong blue colour of the colonies after overlaying them with X-Gluc. Homogenotes, which have lost the vector backbone, exhibited no colour.

[0092] For the deletion of vdh the flanking regions located upstream and downstream in the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 were amplified and subsequently combined in a fusion PCR. The resulting fragment vdh was cloned in p6suigusA and the suicide plasmid p6suigusA::Ai/c#7 was transferred to Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116. After the transfer, apramycin-resistant clones that exhibited glucuronidase activity could be observed. Unfortunately, we also received transformants after transfer of p6suigusA without the deletion construct in a control experiment. However, significantly more recombination events were observed when p6suigusA::Ai c/ft was transformed. Because of these illegitimate recombination events the integration of p6suigusA::Ai c/ft in the correct genomic locus was analyzed by diagnostic PCR at first. For this, the vdh locus was amplified and clones that included the suicide plasmid were identified through an 11.5 kb fragment. Afterwards two of the correct heterogenotes were cultivated in liquid Caso medium without added apramycin and samples where plated on Caso agar plates after at least 10 passages. Colonies which did not turn blue after X-Gluc overlaying were picked on solid Caso medium with and without apramycin. Clones, which had lost the apramycin resistance, were further analysed in a PCR reaction to identify a deletion of vdh. For this a fragment of the vdh locus was amplified using oligonucleotides, which bind further upstream and downstream of the used flanking regions, respectively. The correct deletion was demonstrated through amplification of a 2.42-kb fragment, which distinguishes in size from the wild type as a consequence of the loss of vdh (1,461 bp, Figure 1). Furthermore, the loss of vdh was confirmed by PCR employing internal primers, in order to demonstrate that the gene was not integrated at a different locus in the genome. Finally the deletion mutant Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh (Strain F33) was verified by sequencing of the 2.42-kb fragment; the obtained sequence showed a correct deletion of the whole coding sequence of vdh.

[0093] After demonstrating a beneficial impact of the vdh deletion on the accumulation of vanillin by Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 in biotransformation experiments the new markerless mutant Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh was analysed during fermentation. Therefore, F33 was com pared to the wild type to analyse the influence of VDH _ATC c 39116 on the catabolism of the desired product. The fermentation was performed at the 2-liter bioreactor scale. The initial volume of the starting culture was 1,000 ml. In contrast to previous studies a very simple fermentation broth, consisting of 4 g/l glucose and 4 g/l yeast extract was used. Since a significant effect of malt extract was not observable in previous growth experiments it was omitted from the basal medium to reduce the costs and to simplify the process. The fermentation was conducted in two stages. At first, the cells were grown until they reached the stationary growth phase, which was obvious due to a significant increase of the p0 ₂ . Following the biotransformation of ferulic acid to vanillin was started by continuous feeding of the substrate. The feeding rate was adjusted, depending on the concentration of ferulic acid in the medium, which was analysed by HPLC in intervals of 1 h. Due to the toxic properties of phenolic compounds it was intended to keep the substrate concentration beneath 5 g/l but not less than 1 g/l to ensure an appropriate supply for the cells. Glucose and yeast extract were added to the feeding solution, since the supplementation was shown to positively influence the biotransformation in previous test fermentations.

[0094] The catabolism auf ferulic acid and therefore the accum ulation of vanillin started after an initial phase of adaption by the wild type and F33, respectively (Fig. 2 B). During the first three hours the ferulic acid concentration increased due to a continuous supply. After the cells had adapted to the biotransformation conditions the substrate concentration decreased in both fermentations until it was kept constant between 2 and 3 g/l by adjusting the feeding rate. After 28h the feeding was stopped and the substrate concentration decreased to approximately 1 g/l during the fermentation of the wild type and the mutant. The ferulic acid catabolism was not affected by the vdh deletion as both processes proceeded in a comparable manner (Figure 2A).

[0095] However, a significant difference was observed for the accumulation of the desired product vanillin and the unintended by-product vanillic acid. The synthesis of vanillin by strain F33 was remarkably increased and resulted in an end concentration of 17.5 g/l after 23 h of biotransformation. I n comparison, the wild type Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 formed only up to 14.1 g/l of vanillin in the same time. A further increase of the vanillin concentration was not observed in both processes, although ferulic acid was still available for the cells (Figure 2A). Therefore, the fermentations were stopped after 33 h.

[0096] Concerning the catabolism of vanillin, F33 showed a dramatically decreased formation of vanillic acid (0.34 g/l end concentration) while the wild type catabolized vanillin continuously, resulting in 3.2 g/l vanillic acid at the end of the fermentation. Other intermediates of the catabolism like guaiacol or protocatechuic acid and other by-products like vanillyl alcohol were only detected in trace amounts.

[0097] A total amount of 43.3 g ferulic acid was fed in both fermentations. With regard to the final vanillin concentration strain F33 accum ulated the desired product with a total molar yield of 91.0%, while the wild type cells formed vanillin with a yield of only 74.8%. The results are shown in Table 2. [0098] Table 2

Strain im rovement by metabolic engineering: Results of fermentation processes at the 21-scale.

[0099] REVERSE TRANSCIPTASE (RT-) -PCR ANALYSIS OF ECH EXPRESSION

[00100] The fermentation experiments indicated an inefficient ferulic acid degradation and vanillin accumulation by Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 and mutant F33, before the cells somehow adapted to the feeding of ferulic acid within the first hours of the biotransformation phase (Fig. 2). RT-PCR analyses were conducted to figure out, if this inducing effect occurs at the gene expression level. For this, samples of the fermentation broth from the F33 and wildtype experiment were taken (i) at the end of the growth phase prior to the substrate feeding and (ii) after 7 hours of biotransformation, after the rate of vanillin synthesis had reached its maximum. The cells were harvested by centrifugation and RNA was isolated as described in materials and methods. The enzymes feruloyl-CoA synthetase (Fes) and enoyl-CoA hydratase/aldolase (Ech), which are responsible for the catabolism of ferulic acid to vanillin in Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116, are encoded by the respective genes ech and /cs. The open reading frames of both genes are located adjacently in the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116, whereby the start codon of fes (GTG) overlaps with the stop codon (TGA) of ech. Along with the function of the encoded enzymes, this genetic organization indicates that both genes are co-transcribed under the control of the same promoter. To provide evidence that the gene expression is induced after supplementation of ferulic acid, the transcription of ech was analyzed through RT-PCR. Therefore, an internal 529 bp fragment was amplified after preparation of cDNA by reverse transcription.

[00101 ] The RT-PCR analysis revealed a strong inducing effect of the ecft-expression after supplementation of ferulic acid. Whereas for the sample taken prior to the substrate feeding only a faint band could be detected (Fig. SI, lane 1), a strong amplificate was observed for the sample, which was taken during the biotransformation phase of the fermentation (Fig. SI, lane 3). DNA contamination of the isolated RNA could be excluded in a control PCR experiment that was conducted with RNA as template without the previous reverse transcription reaction (Fig. SI, lane 2 and 4).

[00102] Additional RT-PCR analysis revealed that ech and fes are transcribed as an operon in a single mRNA, since an overlapping 624 bp fragment from both genes could be am plified (Fig. 3, lane 3, ,5, 7) using a forward primer binding in ech and a reverse primer binding in fes. The inducing effect was also obvious in this experiment, as a strong am plificate was only observable for the sample, which was taken during the biotransformation phase of the fermentation (Fig. 3, lane 3).

[00103] CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION OF AN OVEREXPRESSION MUTANT OF

AMYCOLATOPSIS SP. ATCC 39116 hVDH

[00104] To further improve the conversion of ferulic acid to vanillin, an overexpression mutant for ech and fcs was generated. For this purpose, additional copies of both genes were integrated in the genome of F33 under the control of the strong constitutive promoter permE*. For the integration, the former vdh-\ocus was chosen, since neither the deletion of vdh nor the replacement of the gene with a kanamycin resistance cassette led to negative polar effects. Furthermore, the suicide plasmid p6suigusA: :Ai c/ft could be used for the targeted integration via homologous recombination.

[00105] First, both genes were amplified together from the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 and cloned in the Amycolatopsis expression vector p6permE collinear to permE*. In a second step the genes were amplified together with the promoter, and the resulting fragment was cloned blunt in the vdh deletion construct of p6suigusA: :Ai c/ft. The resulting plasmid was used to transform strain F33. Although apramycin resistant clones were obtained, we faced the same problem of illegitimate integration of the suicide plasmid as mentioned above. Because of this, the integration of the suicide plasmid at the vdh-\ocus was analysed by amplification of the genomic area first. A correct integration of a 15.1-kb fragment, which comprised the flanking regions of vdh and the suicide plasmid, could be identified. After verifying the desired homologous recombination, the clone was further cultivated to achieve a second recombination event as described for the vdh deletion. The accurate integration of the overexpression construct could be achieved in one mutant and was confirmed by diagnostic PCR (Figure 1) and also by sequencing of the PCR product. The new mutant Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 vdh::permE*::echfcs (strain F84) should combine the beneficial impact of the vdh knockout with an increased ferulic acid catabolism rate.

[00106] For a validation of the new expected phenotype, strain F84 was cultivated in fermentation experiments at the 2-liter scale, as well. In order to analyse the impact of the overexpression of ech and fcs on the catabolism of ferulic acid and the accumulation of vanillin, the wild type Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 and the generated mutants F33 and F84 were cultivated in parallel experiments under the same conditions as described above. The effect of the enhanced expression of ech and fcs was obvious directly after the biotransformation phase was started by feeding the ferulic acid solution (Figure 2A). While the wild type and strain F33 exhibited a lag phase of about 3 h before the catabolism of ferulic acid increased and reached its maximum, conversion of ferulic acid to vanillin started in F84 directly after supplementation with improved performance. Although ferulic acid was fed at a higher rate (up to 3.5 g/h) in comparison to the wild type and F33 (up to 2.6 g/h), the concentration of ferulic acid was continuously lower during the entire time course of the fermentation. The feeding strategy was adapted due to the higher conversion rate and in total 4.9 g more substrate could be fed in an even shorter time period of only 18 hours (Figure 2A). [00107] The enhancing effect was also evident for the accumulation of vanillin, which was synthesized by F84 without the previously observed adaption phase in the first hours (Figure 2B). This resulted in a maximal production rate of 1.6 g/l/h and a vanillin concentration of 8.1 g/l after already 6 h of the biotransformation phase (wild type: 7.8 g/l, 10 h). As aspired, the increased metabolism of ferulic acid to vanillin led to a higher final concentration of 19.3 g/l with a total molar vanillin yield of 92.0 % with regard to the added substrate (see also Table 2) Concerning the consumed ferulic acid, the molar yield was even higher (96.2%), given that 0.91 g/l of the substrate remained in the medium at the end, when no further synthesis of vanillin occurred.

[00108] Concerning the catabolism of vanillin, the new mutant F84 showed a comparable behaviour like F33. This was expected due to the deletion of vdh in both strains. I nterestingly, F84 showed an even slightly decreased formation of vanillic acid, although more vanillin was generated during the cultivation of this mutant (Figure 2C). [00109] VANILLIN TOXICITY TEST

[00110] The fermentation experiments revealed an unknown limitation of the production of vanillin, although ferulic acid was still available for the cells (Figure 2C). It is known that vanillin and other phenolic compounds exhibit antimicrobial properties. Although Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116 is known to tolerate higher concentrations of vanillin than all other tested organisms, the fermentation parameters, which were recorded, clearly indicated that the cell metabolism is affected also in this bacterium by increasing concentrations of the desired product. The consumption of dissolved oxygen as well as the cell density was evidently decreasing when the process was approaching the final stage.

[0011 1 ] To elucidate the effect of vanillin on the viability of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116, the cells were cultivated in shake flasks until they reached the stationary growth phase as also done in the fermentation experiments. Subsequently from this culture six aliquots were prepared, and different concentrations of vanillin in the range from 2 g/l to 10 g/l were added. Samples where then withdrawn at given time points from the cultures, diluted and plated on agar plates at given time points to count colony forming units. The results represent the mean of four independent replicates.

[00112] The experiments clearly showed the antimicrobial effect of vanillin (Figure 4). While a concentration of up to 4 g/l is tolerated by the cells after an initial decrease of the viable cell concentration, 7 g/l led to complete cell death within 6 hours. Moreover, a vanillin concentration of 10 g/l led to 90% cell death within only one hour; no viable cells could be detected after only 3 hours of incubation. Since a higher vanillin concentration could be detected in fermentation experiments, it was also tested if an adaption of the cells to the product might result in a better tolerance.

[00113] For this, 2 g/l vanillin were added to a culture, as it was shown to be tolerated by the cells in the initial experiment (Figure 4). Subsequently, the concentration was raised to 10 g/l after one or three hours of cultivation, respectively. However, the results of this experiment showed that there was no adaption of the cells that might lead to a higher tolerance to vanillin. The exposure to 10 g/l vanillin again led to up to 90% cell death in the following hour.