Microorganisms and processes for the production of isoprene

Abstract

The present invention provides a novel biosynthetic pathway for the production of isoprene from 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol or 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol. Further embodiments provide non-naturally occurring microorganism that have been modified to produce isoprene from 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol or 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol and methods of producing isoprene using said microorganism.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of producing isoprene, the method comprising the steps of:
 a) optionally converting 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol to 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol using a 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol isomerase enzyme; and   b) converting 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol to isoprene using a 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol dehydratase enzyme.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol isomerase enzyme is expressed by an exogenous nucleic acid in a microbial organism. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol dehydratase enzyme is expressed by an exogenous nucleic acid in a microbial organism. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol dehydratase is a bi-functional enzyme further comprising 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol isomerase activity. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol dehydratase is a linalool dehydratase-isomerase. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the linalool dehydratase-isomerase is derived from  Castellaniella defragrans.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the linalool dehydratase-isomerase is expressed by an exogenous nucleic acid in microbial organism. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the microbial organism is selected from bacteria, archaea, eubacteria, yeast and fungi. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the microbial organism is an  Escherichia coli.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the microbial organism is selected from bacteria, archaea, eubacteria, yeast and fungi. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the microbial organism is an  Escherichia coli.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the microbial organism is an  Escherichia coli.