WO2006082254A2 - Microorganisms comprising enzymes expressed with low gamma-elimination activity - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention concerns a microorganism in which enzymes are expressed that have one or several of the following activities cystathionine--synthases and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylases and that have at the same time low -elimination activity. The present invention also relates to recombinant enzymes that have one or several of the following activities cystathionine-Ϝ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase, have at the same time low Ϝ-eliminase activity and are used for the fermentative production o f amino acids, in particular methionine.

Description

Microorganisms comprising enzymes expressed with low gamma-elimination activity

Field of the invention

The present invention concerns a microorganism in which enzymes are expressed that have one or several of the following activities cystathionine-γ-synthases and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylases and that have at the same time low γ-elimination activity. The present invention also relates to recombinant enzymes that have one or several of the following activities cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase, have at the same time low γ-eliminase activity and are used for the fermentative production of amino acids, in particular methionine.

Prior art

Sulfur-containing compounds such as cysteine, homocysteine, methionine or S- adenosylmethionine are critical to cellular metabolism and are produced industrially to be used as food or feed additives and pharmaceuticals. In particular methionine, an essential amino acid, which cannot be synthesized by animals, plays an important role in many body functions. Aside from its role in protein biosynthesis, methionine is involved in transmethylation and in the bioavailability of selenium and zinc. Methionine is also directly used as a treatment for medical disorders like allergy and rheumatic fever. Nevertheless most of the methionine that is produced is added to animal feed.

Chemically, D,L-methionine is commonly produced from acrolein, methyl mercaptan and hydrogen cyanide. However, the racemic mixture does not perform as well as pure L-methionine, e.g. in chicken feed additives (Saunderson, C.L., (1985) British Journal of Nutrition 54, 621-633). Pure L-methionine can be produced from racemic methionine e.g. through the acylase treatment of N-acetyl-D,L-methionine which increases production costs dramatically. The increasing demand for pure L-methionine coupled to environmental concerns renders microbial production of methionine attractive.

Only microorganisms and plants are capable of methionine biosynthesis. The pathway for L-methionine synthesis is well known in many microorganisms and plants (Fig. 1). Methionine in Escherichia coli is derived from the amino acid aspartate, but its synthesis requires the convergence of two additional pathways, cysteine biosynthesis and Cl metabolism (N-methyltetrahydrofolate). Aspartate is converted into homoserine by a sequence of three reactions. Homoserine can subsequently enter the threonine/iso leucine or methionine bio synthetic pathway. In E. coli entry into the methionine pathway requires the acylation of homoserine to succinyl-homoserine. This activation step allows subsequent condensation with cysteine, leading to the thioether-containing cystathionine, which is hydrolyzed to give homocysteine. The final methyl transfer leading to methionine is carried out by either a B^-dependent or a B^-independent methyltransferase.

Methionine biosynthesis in E. coli is regulated by repression and activation of methionine biosynthetic genes via the Met J and MetR proteins. In addition to this transcriptional regulation the entry into the methionine specific pathway is tightly controlled by met A encoding homoserine transsuccinylase (EC 2.3.1.46). Aside from the transcriptional control of met A by MetJ and MetR the enzyme is also feedback regulated by the major end-products of the pathway methionine and S-adenosylmethionine (Lee, L.- W et al. (1966) Multimetabolite control of a biosynthetic pathway by sequential metabolites, JBC 241 (22), 5479-5780). Feedback inhibition by these two products is synergistic meaning that low concentrations of each metabolite alone are only slightly inhibitory, while in combination a strong inhibition is exerted.

Whereas in E. coli homoserine is activated to succinyl-homoserine that subsequently is transformed to γ-cystathionine by cystathionine-γ-synthase, gram-positive bacteria and spirochetes activate homoserine to acetyl-homoserine and are able to incorporate sulfur from H₂S by transforming acetyl-homoserine directly into homocysteine using acetyl-homoserine sulfhydrylase, called MetY in gram-positives and MetZ in spirochetes.

In contrast to methionine biosynthesis in eubacteria, in plants the branch point between methionine and threonine/isoleucine biosynthesis lies at the level of phosphohomoserine. Homoserine is phosphorylated to yield phosphohomoserine, which can either react to threonine catalyzed by the enzyme threonine synthase or to γ- cystathionine and/or homocysteine using the plant enzyme METB having cystathionine-γ- synthase and phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase activity. Recent data indicate that a similar pathway operates in archaea (White, 2003, The biosynthesis of cysteine and homocysteine in Methanococcus jannaschii, Biochim Biophys Acta. 1624(l-3):46-53), but the corresponding enzymes have not yet been characterized. Thus in plants and most likely in some archaea the committed step for methionine production consists in the synthesis of γ- cystathionine from phosphohomoserine. In plants methionine biosynthesis is controlled through the activity of the two key-enzymes cystathionine-γ-synthase (CGS) and threonine synthase (TS). CGS is regulated posttranscriptionally via an N-terminal regulatory region not found in the bacterial enzyme (Hacham et al. 2002 Plant Physiol. 128, 454-462). TS is feed-back activated by S-adenosyl methionine, a methionine derivative that signals high methionine concentrations. Both of these regulatory mechanisms direct the carbon flux away from methionine towards threonine, but are non-iunctional in prokaryotes.

Expression of different cystathionine-γ-synthases has been taught in patent application WO 93/17112 (Genencor). Precise knowledge about cystathionine-γ-synthases was lacking at that time and sequences from plants were not known. Patent application JP2000- 139471 (Ajinomoto) describes the overexpression of E. coli cystathionine-γ- synthase, but the use of cystathionine-γ-synthase from different organisms has not been evaluated for the production of methionine in any organism.

MetB enzymes and their counterparts MetY/MetZ can accept a variety of different substrates, listed in Table 1. These enzymes can catalyze four different reactions, which all require activated homoserine. Activated homoserine can be either phospho-, acetyl or succinyl-homoserine. (i) Together with cysteine cystathionine-γ-synthase produces cystathionine, (ii) together with hydrogen sulfide sulfhydrylase synthesizes homocysteine, (iii) together with methylmercaptan methionine synthase produces methionine and (iiii) in the absence of a second substrate γ-eliminase catalyzes the dissociation of the substrate to α-ketobutyrate, ammonia and the activating group (acetate, succinate, phosphate). Several enzymes can catalyze more than one reaction, but with varying catalytic efficiencies. For example E. coli MetB has the highest catalytic efficiency with cysteine and succinyl- homoserine as substrates and a relatively high γ-eliminase activity in the absence of cysteine (Aitken et al. 2003, Biochemistry 42, 11297-11306). Plant enzymes are equally good cystathionine producers, but have low γ-eliminase activity. In fact the k_cat of A. thaliana METB for the γ-eliminase activity is only 1/1500 of the E. coli enzyme. (Ravanel et al. 1998 Biochem. J. 331, 639-648). Some enzymes with low γ-elimination activity should favor high methionine production when introduced into E. coli.

Table 1. Preferred substrates for enzymes with cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase activity from different organisms.

The type of activated homoserine and favored reaction are indicated for enzymes from different species or groups. For details see (Hacham et al. 2003, MoI. Biol. Evol. 20:1513-1520) Summary of the invention

The invention is based on the discovery that methionine production is enhanced when enzymes with cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase activity are expressed that have a low γ-elimination activity. Use of these enzymes reduces the production of α-ketobutyrate that can be transformed into isoleucine, which accumulates in the fermentation broth. The invention thus relates to DNA fragments comprising genes encoding enzymes with cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase activity that have a low γ-eliminase activity. The present invention also relates to the expression, especially overexpression of these enzymes in the production of methionine. The invention relates further to microorganisms, preferentially enterobacteriaceae, coryneform bacteria or yeast, in which the aforementioned enzymes are expressed. In addition, the invention describes a process for the fermentative production of methionine its precursors or derivates using the microorganisms with the described properties.

Detailed description of the invention

Methionine is used in animal nutrition and pharmaceutical applications. Often a specific stereoisomer, in this case the biologically active L-form, is the preferred species. Since chemical synthesis can only provide racemic mixtures that are hard to resolve, it is of general interest to produce L-methionine by fermentation. One object of this invention is thus the optimization of a strain by genetic engineering and the improvement of a fermentative process that yields L-methionine, its precursors or derivative in high quantities. In plants and microorganisms several enzymes are required for the fermentative production of methionine. Cystathionine-γ-synthase in E. coli (SΕQ ID NO 1) is one of the key enzymes involved in methionine biosynthesis.

>Ε. coli |EG10582|MetB: 386 aa - Cystathionine gamma-synthase MTRKQATIAV RSGLNDDEQY GCWPPIHLS STYNFTGFNE PRAHDYSRRG NPTRDWQRA LAELEGGAGA VLTNTGMSAI HLVTTVFLKP GDLLVAPHDC YGGSYRLFDS LAKRGCYRVL FVDQGDEQAL RAALAEKPKL VLVESPSNPL LRWDIAKIC HLAREVGAVS WDNTFLSPA LQNPLALGAD LVLHSCTKYL NGHSDWAGV VIAKDPDWT ELAWWANNIG VTGGAFDSYL LLRGLRTLVP RMELAQRNAQ AIVKYLQTQP LVKKLYHPSL PENQGHEIAA RQQKGFGAML SFELDGDEQT LRRFLGGLSL FTLAESLGGV ESLISHAATM THAGMAPEAR AAAGISETLL RISTGIEDGE DLIADLENGF RAANKG In addition to its major activity cystathionine γ-synthase it has an undesired side- activity, succinyl-homoserine γ-eliminase, which transforms succinyl-homoserine into α- ketobutyrate, succinate and ammonia. This activity is especially pertinent if only low amounts of cysteine are present. In E. coli it leads to a loss in methionine production, a problem that can be avoided by using cystathionine-γ-synthase that has a reduced γ- eliminase activity when compared to the E. coli enzyme.

The object of the invention is thus a microorganism for the fermentative production of amino acids in which one or several enzymes with cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase are expressed that have a low γ-eliminase activity.

Low γ-eliminase activity means according to the invention, preferentially a γ- eliminase activity lower than the activity observed with the native E. coli enzyme. In addition, it is desired that the enzymes with reduced γ-eliminase activity have specific cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase activities. Said activity can eventually be lower than the activities of the native E. coli enzymes.

The said expressed enzymes with cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase that have a low γ- eliminase activity are preferably different from the native enzymes present in the same organism. They may be either mutated genes of the same species or native or mutated genes of other species.

According to a prefered embodiment of the present invention, the microorganism is transformed to introduce a gene coding for an enzyme with such low γ-eliminase activity. Such gene may be introduced by different means available to the man skilled in the art:

- modification of the native gene by homologous recombination to introduce mutations in the enzyme encoded by the said gene to reduce γ-eliminase activity and keep the enzyme activity; - integrating into the genome of the microorganism a foreign gene coding for the selected enzyme known to have low γ-eliminase activity; said foreign gene being under control of regulatory elements functional in the host microorganism;

- introducing a plasmid comprising a foreign gene coding for the selected enzyme known to have low γ-eliminase activity under control of regulatory elements functional in the host microorganism.

When the gene is integrated into the genome of the microorganism, it may advantageously be introduced in a locus selected to replace the native gene.

Methods used to transform microorganisms are well known in the art, including homologous recombination.

It is known that plant cystathionine-γ-synthases have lower γ-eliminase activities than the E. coli enzyme (Ravanel et α/.1998, Biochem. J 331, 639-648). Nevertheless it has never been shown that the use of plant enzymes in the fermentative production of methionine presents an advantage compared to the use of the native E. coli enzyme. This invention relates thus to the use of plant cystathionine-γ-synthase in order to increase the fermentative production of methionine.

Plant enzymes use phosphohomoserine as a substrate whereas the E. coli enzyme accepts succinyl-homoserine and to some extent acetyl-homoserine. Recently it was shown that methionine biosynthesis in archaea probably proceeds via phosphohomoserine. So far the enzymes have not been characterized. Thus the invention also relates to the use of archaeal enzymes with cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase activity in the fermentative production of methionine. The closest homo log of plant cystathionine-γ-synthases in bacteria is found in the photosynthetic bacterium Chloroflexus. Alignments of this enzyme with plant enzymes demonstrate that the amino acids required for the binding of the phospho-group, which have been determined from structural comparisons between the E. coli and the plant enzymes (Steegborn et al. 2001 J. MoI Biol 311, 789-801) are conserved in the Chloroflexus enzyme (Fig. 2).

Thus a microorganism expressing a homolog of the Chloroflexus gene, e.g. the gene >gi|53798754|ref]ZP_00020132.2| COG0626 from Chloroflexus aurantiacus, is also object of this invention.

Further objects of the invention are enzymes with cystathionine-γ-synthase/ phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase activity that have conserved the following amino acids at positions 107E, H lY, 165K, 403 S (see alignment Fig.2) permitting the use of phosphohomoserine as a substrate and thus exhibiting a reduced γ-elimination activity. Amino acid positions are given by reference to the sequence of Nicotiana tabacum. The same amino acid position can be identified without undue experimentation by simple sequence alignment (see Fig. 2 ).

As part of the biosynthetic pathway of threonine, phosphohomoserine is produced in E. coli and could thus be transformed directly into γ-cystathionine and/or homocysteine. In contrast to plants and enterobacteriaceae, several gram-positive bacteria use a mechanism to activate homoserine that relies on the transfer of an acetyl group onto homoserine yielding acetyl-homoserine. Subsequently acetyl-homoserine is transformed into homocysteine by sulfhydrylation using an acetyl-homoserine sulfhydrylase MetY or into γ-cystathionine using cystathionine-γ-synthase. This reaction has been used to produce methionine by fermentation in coryneform bacteria as described in patent applications WO2004024933 and EP 1313871. Nevertheless the corresponding genes have never been tested in E. coli and their γ-eliminase activity has not been determined.

Thus the present invention also relates to the use of MetY enzymes in E. coli with low γ-eliminase activity but comparable or increased sulfhydrylase activity with respect to the E. coli enzyme. According to another embodiment of the present invention, decrease in the γ- eliminase activity of the native or introduced enzyme can also be obtained by optimizing the enzyme, e.g. by directed evolution or site directed mutagenesis as described in Sambrook et al. (1989 Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual. 2^nd Ed. Cold Spring Harbor Lab., Cold Spring Harbor, New York.). The enzyme can also be optimized through random mutagenesis using mutagens as NTG or EMS or by in vivo evolution as described in patent application PCT/FR04/00354. Optimized enzymes can also be synthetic genes that are based on natural genes and have an optimized codon usage and GC-content for the host organism. Therefore the use of optimized enzymes with reduced γ-eliminase activity or increased cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomo serine sulfhydrylase activity is object of the invention.

A particular example of an optimized enzyme is an optimized cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase enzyme, in particular the E. coli MetB enzyme, in which the alanine at position 337 has been replaced by a proline that is highly conserved in enzymes from different bacterial genera and/or comprising an alanine at position 335. Except stated otherwise, positions are given by reference to the native E. coli enzyme.

The present invention furthermore relates to nucleotide sequences, DNA or RNA sequences, which encode cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase according to the invention as defined above.

The cystathionine-γ-synthases and phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylases and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylases are advantageously selected among the enzymes corresponding to PFAM references PF01053 and to COG reference COG0626 and COG2873.

The PFAM (protein families database of alignments and hidden Markov models; http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Software/Pfam/) form a large collection of alignments of protein sequences. Each PFAM makes it possible to visualize multiple alignments, see protein domains, evaluate distribution among organisms, gain access to other databases, and visualize known protein structures.

The COGs (clusters of orthologous groups of proteins; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/COG/) are obtained by comparing the protein sequences from

43 fully sequenced genomes representing 30 major phylogenetic lines. Each COG is defined from at least three lines, which thus makes it possible to identify ancient conserved domains.

The preferred enzymes are the cystathionine-γ-synthase of Arabidopsis thaliana (accession number gi: 1389725), the putative cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or sulhydrylase of Methanosarcia barken (accession number gi:48839517), the acetyl-homoserine sulfhydrylase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (accession number YLR3O3W), the putative cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or sulfhydrylase from Chloroflexus aurantiacus (gi:53798753) and the acetyl-homoserine sulfhydrylase from Corynebacterium glutamicum (gi:41324877) as synthetic gene adapted to E. coli. These sequences are aligned with the following representative sequences:

>gi|8439541|gb|AAF74981.1|AF082891_l cystathionine gamma-synthase isoform 1 [Solanum tuberosum]

>gi|4959932|gb|AAD34548.1|AF141602_l cystathionine-gamma-synthase precursor [Glycine max] >gi|2198853|gb|AAB61348.1| cystathionine gamma-synthase [Zea mays]

>gi|4322948|gb|AAD16143.1| cystathionine gamma-synthase precursor [Nicotiana tabacum]

>gi|l 1602834|gb|AAG38873.11 AF076495_l cystathionine gamma-synthase [Oryza sativa]

>gi|305042|gb|AAB03071.1| cystathionine gamma-synthase [Escherichia coli] The homologous sequences of these sequences that present a cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase activity, and present at least 80% homology, and preferably 90% homology, and more preferably 95% homology with the amino acid sequences described above are equally object of the this invention. The means of identifying homologous sequences and their percentage homology are well-known to those skilled in the art, and include in particular the BLAST program, and in particular the BLASTP program, which can be used from the web site http://www.ficbi.nlm. nih.gov/BLAST/ with the default parameters indicated on that site.

To determine which enzymes may be beneficial to methionine production when introduced into the corresponding strain, γ-eliminase activities may be evaluated enzymatically. For example, cystathionine-γ-synthase, γ-eliminase activity and sulfhydrylase activities can be determined in enzymatic tests with activated homoserine and (i) no other substrate, or (ii) cysteine, or (iii) H₂S as substrate. The reaction is started by adding the protein extract containing the corresponding enzymatic activity, and the formation of homocysteine and/or γ-cystathionine is monitored by GC-MS after protein precipitation and derivatization with a silylating reagent.

The gene(s) encoding cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase may be encoded chromosomally or extrachromosomally. Chromosomally there may be one or several copies on the genome that can be introduced by methods of recombination known to the expert in the field. Extrachromosomally genes may be carried by different types of plasmids that differ with respect to their origin of replication and thus their copy number in the cell. They may be present as 1-5 copies, ca 20 or up to 500 copies corresponding to low copy number plasmids with tight replication (pSClOl, RK2), low copy number plasmids (pACYC, pRSFlOlO) or high copy number plasmids (pSK bluescript II)

The metB genes may be expressed using promoters with different strength that need or need not to be induced by inducer molecules. Examples are the promoters Ptrc, Ptac, Plac, the lambda promoter cl or other promoters known to the expert in the field.

Expression of the target genes may be boosted or reduced by elements stabilizing or destabilizing the corresponding messenger RNA (Carrier and Keasling (1998) Biotechnol. Prog. 15, 58-64) or the protein (e.g. GST tags, Amersham Biosciences)

The present invention also relates to microorganisms that contain one or several alleles encoding a cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or acylhomoserine and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase according to the invention.

Such strains are characterized by the fact that they possess a methionine metabolism which permits an increased flux towards methionine by either exclusively using phosphohomoserine accepting enzymes and thus reducing the amount of α- ketobutyrate produced or by using phosphohomoserine accepting enzymes in addition to acylhomoserine accepting enzymes thus increasing the flow towards methionine.

In particular the invention relates to the preparation of L-methionine, its precursors or compounds derived thereof, by means of cultivating novel microorganisms and isolating the produced sulfur containing compounds. An increase in the production of L-methionine, its precursors or compounds derived thereof, can be achieved by reducing the expression levels or deleting one of the following genes.

Gene Genbankentry activity ackA 1788633 acetate kinase ppttaa 1 1778888663355 phosphotransacetylase acs 1790505 acetate synthase aceE 1786304 pyruvate deydrogenase El aceF 1786305 pyruvate deydrogenase E2 lpd 1786307 pyruvate deydrogenase E3 ssuuccCC 1 1778866994488 succinyl-CoA synthetase, beta subunit sucD 1786949 succinyl-CoA synthetase, alpha subunit pck 1789807 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase pykA 1788160 pyruvate kinase II pykF 1787965 pyruvate kinase I ppooxxBB 1 1778877009966 pyruvate oxidase

UvB 1790104 acetohydroxy acid synthase I, large subunit

UvN 1790103 acetohydroxy acid synthase I, small subunit

UvG 1790202 acetohydroxy acid synthase II, large subunit 1790203

Ϊ7VM 1790204 acetohydroxy acid synthase II, small subunit

UvI 1786265 acetohydroxy acid synthase III, large subunit

UvR 1786266 acetohydroxy acid synthase III, small subunit aroF 1788953 DAHP synthetase aroG 1786969 DAHP synthetase aroR 1787996 DAHP synthetase

An additional increase in the production of L-methionine, its precursors or compounds derived thereof can be achieved by overexpressing one or several of the following genes: the pyruvate carboxylase from Rhizobium etli (pyc, U51439), or one of its homologs, the homoserine synthesizing enzymes encoded by the genes thrA (homoserine dehydrogenase/ aspartokinase, 1786183), preferably with reduced feed-back sensitivity, meiL (homoserine dehydrogenase/aspartokinase, gl 790376) or lysC (aspartokinase, 1790455) and asd (aspartate semialdehyde dehydrogenase, 1789841) or a combination thereof.

A further increase in the production of L-methionine, its precursors or compounds derived thereof, is possible by overexpressing genes involved in sulfate assimilation and production of cysteine. An increased amount of sulfur containing compounds will equally reduce the γ-eliminase activity. This can be achieved by overexpressing the following genes (see below) or by deregulating the pathway through the introduction of a constitutive cysB allele as described by Coyler and Kredich (1994 MoI Microbiol 13 797-805) and by introducing a cysE allele encoding a serine acetyl transferase with decreased sensitivity for its inhibitor L-cysteine (US patent application US 6,218,168, Denk & Bock 1987 J Gen Microbiol 133 515-25). The following genes need to be overexpressed.

QwA 1788761 sulfate permease

QwU 1788764 cysteine transport system

CysW 1788762 membrans bound sulphate transport system CysL 1788753 ORF upstream of cysK cysN 1789108 ATP sulfurylase cysD 1789109 sulfate adenylyltransferase cysC 1789107 adenylylsulfate kinase cysH 1789121 adenylylsulfate reductase cysl 1789122 sulfite reductase, alpha subunit cysJ 1789123 sulfite reductase, beta subunit cysE 1790035 serine acetyltransferase cysK. 1788754 cysteine synthase cysM 2367138 O-acetyl-sulfhydrolase cysW 1788762 sulfate transport cysT sulfate transport cysZ 1788753 sulfate transport sbp 1790351 Periplasmic sulfate-binding protein

In addition genes involved in the production of Cl (methyl) groups may be enhanced by overexpressing the following genes: serA 1789279 phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, preferably feed- back resistant serB 1790849 phosphoserine phosphatase serC 1787136 phosphoserine aminotransferase glyA 1788902 serine hydroxymethyltransferase metV 1790377 5, 10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase I Inn aaddddiittiioonn ggeenr es directly involved in the production of methionine may be overexpressed: metB 1790375 Cystathionine-γ-synthase metC 1789383 Cystathionine-β-lyase metH 1790450 B12-dependent homocysteine-N5- methyltetrahydrofolate transmethylase metE 2367304 Tetrahydropteroyltriglutamate methyltransferase metV 1790377 5, 10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase metR 1790262 Positive regulatory gene for metE and metR and autogenous regulation Furthermore expression of genes in pathways degrading methionine or deviating from the methionine production pathway may be reduced or the genes may be deleted. speD 1786311 S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase speC 1789337 Ornithine decarboxylase astA 1788043 Arginine succinyltransferase dap A 1788823 Dihydrodipicolinate synthase

Anaplerotic reactions may be boosted by expressing ppc 1790393 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase pps 1787994 phosphoenolpyruvate synthase

A further increase in the production of L-methionine, its precursors or compounds derived thereof, is achieved by means of deleting the gene for the repressor protein MetJ, responsible for the down-regulation of the methionine regulon as was suggested in JP 2000157267-A/3 (see also GenBank 1790373). Production of methionine may be further increased by using an altered metB allele that uses preferentially or exclusively H₂S and thus produces homocysteine from O- succinyl-homoserine as has been described in the patent application PCT N° PCT/FR04/00354, which content is incorporated herein by reference. In a preferred application the organism is either E. coli or C. glutamicum or

Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The invention also concerns the process for the production of L-methionine, its precursors or compounds derived thereof, which is/are usually prepared by fermentation of the designed bacterial strain. According to the invention, the terms 'culture' and 'fermentation' are used indifferently to denote the growth of a microorganism on an appropriate culture medium containing a simple carbon source.

According to the invention a simple carbon source is a source of carbon that can be used by those skilled in the art to obtain normal growth of a microorganism, in particular of a bacterium. In particular it can be an assimilable sugar such as glucose, galactose, sucrose, lactose or molasses, or by-products of these sugars. An especially preferred simple carbon source is glucose. Another preferred simple carbon source is sucrose.

Those skilled in the art are able to define the culture conditions for the microorganisms according to the invention. In particular the bacteria are fermented at a temperature between 20°C and 55°C, preferentially between 25°C and 40°C, and more specifically about 30°C for C. glutamicum and about 37°C for E. coli.

The fermentation is generally conducted in fermenters with an inorganic culture medium of known defined composition adapted to the bacteria used, containing at least one simple carbon source, and if necessary a co-substrate necessary for the production of the metabolite.

In particular, the inorganic culture medium for E. coli can be of identical or similar composition to an M9 medium (Anderson, 1946, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sd. USA 32:120-128), an M63 medium (Miller, 1992; A Short Course in Bacterial Genetics: A Laboratory Manual and Handbook for Escherichia coli and Related Bacteria, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, New York) or a medium such as defined by Schaefer et al. (1999, Anal. Biochem. 270: 88-96).

Analogously, the inorganic culture medium for C. glutamicum can be of identical or similar composition to BMCG medium (Liebl et al., 1989, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol.

32: 205-210) or to a medium such as that described by Riedel et al. (2001, J. MoI. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 3: 573-583). The media can be supplemented to compensate for auxotrophies introduced by mutations.

After fermentation L-methionine, its precursors or compounds derived thereof, is/are recovered and purified if necessary. The methods for the recovery and purification of the produced compound such as methionine in the culture media are well known to those skilled in the art.

The sulfur source used for the fermentative production of L-methionine, its precursors or compounds derived thereof, may be any of the following:, sulfate, thiosulfate, hydrogen sulfide, methylmercaptam.

Figure legends:

Fig. 1. Metabolic pathways converting oxaloacetate into threonine, isoleucine and methionine. MetB homologs can catalyze at least three reactions: synthesis of γ- cystathionine, sulfhydrylation or γ-elimination of activated homoserine. MetB homologs accepting preferentially phosphohomoserine are shown in red, succinylhomo serine accepting enzymes are represented in blue and acetylhomo serine transforming enzymes (MetB/metZ) are indicated in green.

Fig. 2. Alignment of enzymes with cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acetylhomoserine sulfhydrylase activity of plants and bacterial species. The residues shown in grey boxes render the enzyme specific for the binding of phosphohomoserine. Highly conserved amino acids are shown in red, conserved residues in blue.

Example 1: Construction of a strain using exclusively plant phosphohomoserine accepting METB with low γ-eliminase activity for methionine production

To verify that plant CGS have a lower γ-eliminase activity than the E. coli enzyme, ratios between γ-eliminase activity and CGS activity of the Arabidopsis METB enzyme and the E. coli enzyme were determined in crude extracts. For this purpose E. coli strains were constructed in which the chromosomal copy of the metB gene was deleted and either E. coli or Arabidopsis CGS was expressed from a plasmid. Concomitantly with the metB deletion the meύ gene was also eliminated (see below).

E. coli AmetJB strains carrying either wild-type or heterologous acylhomoserine or phosphohomoserine accepting cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or sulfhydrylases were cultured in minimal medium with 5 g/1 glucose and harvested at late log phase. Cells were resuspended in cold potassium phosphate buffer and sonicated on ice (Branson sonifier, 70W). After centrifugation, proteins contained in the supernatants were quantified (Bradford, 1976).

Ten μl of the extracts were incubated for 10 minutes at 30°C with either 5 mM O- succinyl-homoserine or O-acetyl-homoserine and either 1.5 mM sodium sulfide or cysteine. Proteins were precipitated with acetone and homocysteine or γ-cystathionine produced during the enzymatic reaction was quantified by GC-MS, after derivatization with tert-butyldimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide (TBDMSTFA). L-Serine [1-13C] was included as an internal standard. Alternatively the disappearance of cysteine was measured using the same protocol.

To inactivate the metB and meύ gene the homologous recombination strategy described by Datsenko & Wanner (2000) was used. This strategy allowed the insertion of a chloramphenicol resistance cassette, while deleting most of the genes concerned. For this purpose the following oligonucleotides were used:

DmetJR (SEQ ID NO 2): tgacgtaggc ctgataagcg tagcgcatca ggcgattcca ctccgcgccg ctcttttttg ctttagtatt cccacgtctc TGT AGGCTGG AGCTGCTTCG with - a region (lower case) homologous to the sequence (4125596-4125675) of the gene meύ (reference sequence on the website http://genolist.pasteur.fr/Colibri/), a region (upper case) for the amplification of the chloramphenicol resistance cassette (reference sequence in Datsenko, K.A. & Wanner, B.L., 2000, PNAS, 97: 6640-6645), DmetJBF (SEQ ID NO 3): tatgcagctg acgacctttc gcccctgcct gcgcaatcac actcattttt accccttgtt tgcagcccgg aagccatttt CAGGCACCAG AGT AAACATT with

- a region (lower case) homologous to the sequence (4127460-4127381) of the gene metB and a region (4126116-4126197) homologous to the promoter ofmeiL

- a region (upper case) for the amplification of the chloramphenicol resistance cassette. The oligonucleotides DmetJBR and DmetJBF were used to amplify the chloramphenicol resistance cassette from the plasmid pKD3. The PCR product obtained was then introduced by electroporation into the strain MGl 655 (pKD46) in which the Red recombinase enzyme was expressed permitting the homologous recombination. Chloramphenicol resistant transformants were selected and the insertion of the resistance cassette was verified by a PCR analysis with the oligonucleotides MetJR and MetJF defined below. The strain retained was designated MGl 655 (AmeύBy.Cm). MetJR (SEQ ID NO 4): ggtacagaaa ccagcaggct gaggatcagc (homologous to the sequence from 4125431 to 4125460). MetLR (SEQ ID NO 5): aaataacact tcacatcagc cagactactgc caccaaattt (homologous to the sequence from 4127500 to 4157460).

The chloramphenicol resistance cassette was then eliminated. The plasmid pCP20 carrying recombinase FLP acting at the FRT sites of the chloramphenicol resistance cassette was introduced into the recombinant strains by electroporation. After a series of cultures at 42°C, the loss of the chloramphenicol resistance cassette was verified by a PCR analysis with the same oligonucleotides as those used previously.

For the production of methionine using phosphohomoserine-accepting METB from Arabidopsis thaliana the following Escherichia coli strain was constructed. The methionine repressor meύ together with E. coli metB were deleted as described above. Subsequently the gene metA encoding succinyl-homoserine transferase and/or the gene thrC encoding threonine synthase were deleted. The deletion strategy has been exemplified for the metJB deletion. The deletion of all other genes was based on the same strategy using the oligonucleotides indicated. The oligonucleotides for the deletions of the metA and thrC genes are indicated below. The numbers in parentheses indicate the regions that are homologous to the E. coli chromosome. Oligonucleotides beginning with D were used for the actual deletion, other oligonucleotides for the verification of the constructs or for specific purposes as indicated.

For the deletion of the metA gene the following oligonucleotides were used: DmetAF (4211866-4211945 ; SEQ ID NO 6): ttcgtgtgcc ggacgagcta cccgccgtca atttcttgcg tgaagaaaac gtctttgtga tgacaacttc tcgtgcgtct TGTAGGCTGG AGCTGCTTCG DmetAR (4212785-4212706; SEQ ID NO 7): atccagcgtt ggattcatgt gccgtagatc gtatggcgtg atctggtaga cgtaatagtt gagccagttg gtaaacagta CATATGAATA TCCTCCTT AG MetAF (4211759-4211788; SEQ ID NO 8): tcaccttcaa catgcaggct cgacattggc MetAR (4212857-4212828; SEQ ID NO 9): ataaaaaagg cacccgaagg tgcctgaggt

For the deletion of the thrC gene the following oligonucleotides were used: DthrCF (3740-3821; SEQ ID NO 10): ctctacaatc tgaaagatca caacgagcag gtcagctttg cgcaagccgt aacccagggg ttgggcaaaa atcaggggcT GTAGGCTGGAG CTGCTTCG DthrCR (5012-4932; SEQ ID NO 11): gattcatcat caatttacgca acgcagcaaa atcggcgggc agattatgtg aaagcaaggg taaatcagca cgttctgcCA TATGAATATC CTCCTTAG thrCF (3490-3511; SEQ ID NO 12): cgctgaaccc taccgtgaac gg thrCR (5284-5260; SEQ ID NO 13): gcgaccagaa ccagggaaag tgcg

To iurther boost the production of homoserine the aspartokinase/homoserine a thrA* allele with reduced feed-back resistance to threonine was expressed from the plasmid pCL1920 (Lerner & Inouye, 1990, NAR 18, 15 p 4631) using the promoter Ptrc. For the construction of plasmid pME101-thrA*l thrA was PCR amplified from genomic DNA using the following oligonucleotides:

^HlthrA (SEQ ID NO 14): ttaTCATGAgagtgttgaagttcggcggtacatcagtggc Stool thrA (SEQ ID NO 15): ttaCCCGGGccgccgccccgagcacatcaaacccgacgc The PCR amplified fragment was cut with the restriction enzymes BspRI and Smal and cloned into the Ncol I Smal sites of the vector pTRC99A (Stratagene). For the expression from a low copy vector the plasmid pMElOl was constructed as follows. The plasmid pCL1920 was PCR amplified using the oligonucleotides PMElOlF and PMElOlR and the BstZllI-Xmnl fragment from the vector pTRC99A harboring the lad gene and the Ptrc promoter was inserted into the amplified vector. The resulting vector and the vector harboring the thrA gene were restricted by Apal and Smal and the thrA containing fragment was cloned into the vector pMElOl. To relieve ThrA from feed-back inhibition the mutation F318S was introduced by site-directed mutagenesis (Stratagene) using the oligonucleotides ThrAF F318S and ThrAR F318S, resulting in the vector pME101-thrA*l, called pSBl.

PMElOlF (SEQ ID NO 16): Ccgacagtaagacgggtaagcctg

PMElOlR (SEQ ID NO 17): Agcttagtaaagccctcgctag ThrAF F318S (Smal) (SEQ ID NO 18):

Ccaatctgaataacatggcaatgtccagcgtttctggcccggg

ThrAR F318S (Smal) (SEQ ID NO 19):

Cccgggccagaaacgctggacattgccatgttattcagattgg

To transform part of the homoserine produced into phosphohomoserine the thrB gene was cloned into the vector pSBl. thrB was PCR amplified using the oligonucleotides thrA'BF and thrA'BR thrA'BF (SEQ ID NO 20): tacgatgtac atggccttaa tctggaaaac tggc thrA'BR (SEQ ID NO 21): tcccccgggT TAGTTTTCCA GTACTCGTGC GCCC The PCR fragment was digested with BsrGl and Smal and cloned into the vector pSBl cut by the same restriction enzymes resulting in plasmid pSB2.

Subsequently the enzyme METB from Arabidopsis thaliana was PCR amplified from a cDNA clone that is commercially available (TAIR, http://arabidopsis.org/contact/) using the oligonucleotides gapA-cgsAF and cgsAR. The oligonucleotides gapA-cgsAF consisted of nucleotides 1 to 38 of METB (fat) and nucleotides 1860761 to 1960799

(underlined) of E. coli pertaining to the Gap A promoter region. gapA-cgsAF (SΕQ ID NO 22): ccttttattc actaacaaat agctggtgga atatatgttg agctccgatg ggagcctcac tgttcatgcc gg cgsAR (SΕQ ID NO 23): AATCGCGGAT CCGAATCCGG TCAGATGGCT TCGAGAGCTT GAAGAATGTC AGC

At the same time the GapA promoter region of the E. coli gene GapA was amplified using the oligonucleotides gapA-cgsAR and Gap AF. The oligonucleotide gap A- cgsAR harbors base 1 to 39 of the MetB gene and bases 1860799 to 1860761 from the E. coli chromosome corresponding to the GapA promoter region. The oligonucleotide GapAF corresponds to bases 1860639 to 1860661 of the E. coli genome. gapA-cgsAR (SΕQ ID NO 24): ccggcatgaa cagtgaggct cccatcggag ctcaacatat attccaccag ctatttgtta gtgaataaaag g

GapAF (SΕQ ID NO 25): acgtcccggg caagcccaaa ggaagagtga ggc

Both fragments were subsequently fused using the oligonucleotides cgsAR and GapAF (Horton et al. 1989 Gene 77:61-68 ), cut with the restriction enzymes BamRI and

Smal and cloned into the corresponding restriction sites of vectors pSBl and pSB2 giving vector pSB3 (pMΕlOlthrA* -metBAt) and pSB4 (pMΕlOlthrA* -thrB-metBΛt), respectively. The vectors pSB3 and pSB4 were subsequently introduced into the strain AmetBJ AmetA AthrC.

Example 2: Construction of a strain using exclusively plant METB with low γ- eliminase activity for methionine production via O-succinylhomoserine.

For the use of plant METB for the production of methionine via succinyl homoserine the strain ΔmetBJ metA* was constructed. The construction is initiated with the strains described in example 1 in which a feed-back resistant homoserine transsuccinylase metA* W (described in patent application PCT IB2004/001901) is introduced into the genome. For this purpose the metA* 11 allele was amplified from the E. coli chromosome using the following oligonucleotides.

MetArcF (4211786-4211883 ; SEQ ID NO 26): ggcaaatttt ctggttatct tcagctatct ggatgtctaa acgtataagc gtatgtagtg aggtaatcag gttatgccga ttcgtgtgcc ggacgagc MetArcR (4212862-4212764; SEQ ID NO 27): cggaaataaa aaaggcaccc gaaggtgcct gaggtaaggt gctgaatcgc ttaacgatcg actatcacag aagattaatc cagcgttgga ttcatgtgc

The plasmid pKD46 was introduced into strains MGl 655 AmetA AthrC and MGl 655 AmetA and transformed with the DNA fragment harboring the met A* W allele. Clones were selected for methionine prototrophy on modified M9 plates. Subsequently the mutation ΔrøetBJ was added as described above. The plasmid pSB3 and pSB4 were introduced into the two strains.

Example 3: Construction of a strain using plant phosphohomoserine accepting METB with low γ-eliminase activity and simultaneous use of E. coli MetB.

In order to further boost methionine synthesis a strain was constructed that simultaneously produces methionine via O-succinyl homoserine and phosphohomoserine. The construction was initiated with the strains ΔmetA and ΔmetA ΔthrC described in example 1 in which the gene meύ was deleted using the following oligonucleotides: DmetJF with 100 bases (SEQ ID NO 28): caggcaccag agtaaacatt gtgttaatgg acgtcaatac atctggacat ctaaacttct ttgcgtatag attgagcaaa CAT ATGAATA TCCTCCTTAG DmetJR with 100 bases (SEQ ID NO 29): tgacgtaggc ctgataagcg tagcgcatca ggcgattcca ctccgcgccg ctcttttttg ctttagtatt cccacgtctc TGTAGGCTGG AGCTGCTTCG MetJR (SEQ ID NO 30): ggtacagaaa ccagcaggct gaggatcagc (homologous to the sequence from 4125431 to 4125460).

MetBR (SEQ ID NO 31): ttcgtcgtca tttaacccgc tacgcactgc (homologous to the sequence from 4126305 to 4126276).

Subsequently a feed-back resistant homoserine transsuccinylase metA*\ \ (described in patent application PCT IB2004/001901) was introduced into the genome. For this purpose the metA*\ \ allele was amplified from the E. coli chromosome using the following oligonucleotides.

MetArcF (4211786-4211883 ; SEQ ID NO 32): ggcaaatttt ctggttatct tcagctatct ggatgtctaa acgtataagc gtatgtagtg aggtaatcag gttatgccga ttcgtgtgcc ggacgagc MetArcR (4212862-4212764; SEQ ID NO 33): cggaaataaa aaaggcaccc gaaggtgcct gaggtaaggt gctgaatcgc ttaacgatcg actatcacag aagattaatc cagcgttgga ttcatgtgc

The plasmid pKD46 was introduced into strains MGl 655 Ameύ AmetA AthrC and

MGl 655 Ameύ AmetA that were transformed with the DNA fragment harboring the metA*\ \ allele. Clones were selected for methionine prototrophy on modified M9 plates (supplemented with threonine if necessary).

Similarly to the construction of pSB3 and pSB4 using metBAt in example 1, the metB gene of E. coli with its proper promoter was cloned into vectors pSBl and pSB2 by amplifying it with the oligonucleotides MetBF and MetBR and cloning the PCR amplificate into the restriction sites Pstl and HindUl. MetBF (4125957-4125982) (SΕQ ID NO 34): ttagacagaa ctgcagcgcc gctccattca gccatgagat ac

MetBR (4127500-4127469) (SΕQ ID NO 35): cgtaacgccc aagcttaaat aacacttcac atcagccaga ctactgcc

The resulting vectors are named pSB5 (pMΕ101thrA*-metBEc) and pSB6 (pMΕlOlthrA* -thrB-metBEc).

Subsequently the plasmids pSB3, pSB4, pSB5 and pSB6 were introduced into the

MGl 655 Ameύ met A*U AthrC and MGl 655 Ameύ met A* U strains.

Example 4: Production of methionine via phosphohomoscrinc and/or O- succinylhomoserine using sulfate or hydrogen sulfide as sulfur source

Amino acid production of the strains constructed in example 1 to 3 is analyzed in small Erlenmeyer flask cultures using modified M9 medium (Anderson, 1946, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sd. USA 32:120-128) that is supplemented with 5 g/1 MOPS 5 g/1 glucose and possibly 2 mM threonine. If hydrogensulfide is used as sulfur source all sulfate containing salts are replaced by equal molar amounts of chloride containing salts. Sulfide is supplied as ammonium sulfide (10 mM). Spectinomycin is added if necessary at a concentration of 100 mg/1. An overnight culture is used to inoculate a 30 ml culture to an OD600 of 0.2. After the culture has reached an OD600 of 4.5 to 5, 1,25 ml of a 50% glucose solution and 0.75 ml of a 2M MOPS (pH 6.9) are added and the culture is agitated for 1 hour. Subsequently IPTG is added if necessary.

Extracellular metabolites are analyzed during the batch phase. Amino acids are quantified by HPLC after OPA/Fmoc derivatization and other relevant metabolites are analyzed using GC-MS after silylation.

Table 2 Specific methionine production of strains harboring E. coli (pSB5) and Arabidopsis (pSB3) MetB and their corresponding Cystathionine-γ-synthase (CGS) and γ- elimination activities.

Production of methionine using METB from A. thaliana having low γ-eliminase activity significantly reduces the production of isoleucine through the γ-eliminase reaction, while methionine production is not strongly affected. This is in contrast to experiments in which exclusively the E. coli pathway is used and significant amounts of the by product isoleucine are produced via γ-elimination.

Example 5: Construction and evaluation of a strain producing methionine using the yeast MetB enzyme that accepts acetyl-homoserine and H₂S as substrates In order to test the γ-eliminase activity of yeast in vivo and to evaluate its potential for the production of methionine the following strain was constructed. The homoserine acetyl transferase encoding the MET2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was amplified by

PCR from genomic DNA using the following oligonucleotides:

Ptac-metAlevF (SEQ ID NO 36): tgctacagct ggagctgttg acaattaatc atcggctcgt ataatgtgtg gaaggaggac agaccatgtc gcatacttta aaatcgaaaa cgctccaaga gc

Ptac-metAlevR (SEQ ID NO 37): CGTACTGACG ACCGGGTCCT ACCAGTTGGT

AACTTCTTCG GCCTCACC

Subsequently the PCR fragment was cloned into the restriction sites PvuII and Drdl of the vector pACYC184, resulting in vector pSB7. The oligonucleotide Ptac-metAlevF harbors the pTAC promoter that drives the expression of the yeast MET2 gene from the vector pACYC 184.

The yeast acetyl-homoserine sulfhydrylase (METl 7) was amplified using the oligonucleotides metBlev and gapA-metBlevF. Simultaneously the E. coli gap A promoter was amplified using the oligonucleotides gapA-metBlevR and GapAF. Subsequently the METl 7 gene was iused to the gap A promoter by fusion PCR using only oligonucleotides metBlev and GapAF (see above for details). gapA-metBlevR (38-75 : 1860797-1860761; SEQ ID NO 38): GGCCGGCGTG

TAGTTGAACA GTATCGAAAT GAGATGGCAT ATATTCCACC AGCTATTTGT

TAGTGAATAA AAGG gapA-metBlevF (1-38 : 1860761-1860797 ; (SEQ ID NO 39): ccttttattc actaacaaat agctggtgga atatatgcca tctcatttcg atactgttca actacacgcc ggcc metBlev (SEQ ID NO 40): TAATCGCGGAT CCGCGTCATG GTTTTTGGCC AGCG

GapAF (1860639-1860661; SEQ ID NO 41): acgtcccggg caagcccaaa ggaagagtga ggc

The fusion fragment was cloned into the Smal and BamHI site of the vector pSBl described in example 1, resulting in vector pSB8.

Both vectors pSB7 and pSB8 were transformed into the strain AmetJ AmetB AmetA resulting in DmetBJ DmetC DmetA pSB7 pSB8. This strain grew after a lag period with a growth rate of 0.21 h-1. Plasmids and mutations were verified and the amount of methionine quantified.

Table 3 Specific methionine production of strains harboring E. coli (pSB5) and yeast (pSB8) MetB and their corresponding O-succinyl homoserine sulfhydrylase (OSHS), O-acetyl homoserine sulfhydrylase (OAHS) and γ-elimination activities, values were obtained in strain ΔmetBJ metA*l 1 pSB5.

Table 3 shows that the amount of methionine produced is significantly increased in the presence of the yeast MET2 and MET 17 gene. At the same time the amount of isoleucine produced was reduced. This was explained by the low γ-eliminase activity of the METl 7 enzyme (The γ-eliminase activity of the yeast acetyl-homoserine sulfhydrylase was determined in vitro as described in example 1).

Example 6: Construction and evaluation of a methionine producing strain expressing archaeal metB from Methanosarcina barken (strain Fusaro)

As in plants, in archaea methionine biosynthesis is supposed to proceed via phosphohomoserine. Therefore we presume that similar to the plant enzyme, MetB from Methanosarcina may also have a low γ-eliminase activity. Methanosarcina metB is therefore PCR amplified using the oligonucleotides metBmethano and gapA- metBmethanoR. As described previously the gap A promoter from E. coli is subsequently fused to the metB gene using the oligonucleotides gapA-metBmethanoF and GapAF for the amplification of the promoter and metBmethano and GapAF for the actual fusion. The resulting fragment is cloned into the restriction site Smal of the vector pJB137, resulting in plasmid pSB9.

MetBmethano (SEQ ID NO 42): GTCCCCCGGG AATCTAGTCT AGATTAAATT

ACTTCAAGG GCCTGTTTGA GG gapA-metBmethanoR (32-69 : 1860797-1860761) (SEQ ID NO 43): cacattttgt tgcaaacttc acttctcttt ccatatattc caccagctat ttgttagtga ataaaagg gapA-metBmethanoF (1-38 : 1860761-1860797) (SEQ ID NO 44): ccttttattc actaacaaat agctggtgga atatatggaaa gagaagtgaa gtttgcaaca aaatgtg

GapAF (1860639-1860661) (SEQ ID NO 45): acgtcccggg caagcccaaa ggaagagtga ggc

Plasmid pSB9 is introduced into strains Ameύ metA*\ \, Ameύ AmetA AmetB and

Ameύ AmetA AmetB AthrC and the resulting strains are fermented as described in example 2. Methionine production is increased and iso leucine production decreased when compared to the strain Ameύ met A*l 1 harboring the plasmid pSB5 with the E. coli metB gene. This is most likely due to the low γ-eliminase activity of the archaeal metB enzyme.

Example 7: Construction and evaluation of a strain expressing the metB gene of Chloroflexus aurantiacus

The alignment in figure 2 shows that the MetB enzyme of Chloroflexus aurantiacus harbors several amino acids at positions required for the recognition of phosphohomoserine as a substrate. Therefore we presume that this enzyme like plant METB may have a lower γ-eliminase activity compared to the E. coli enzyme. To determine if the use of the metB enzyme confers an advantage in the production of methionine Chloroflexus metB is PCR amplified using the oligonucleotides metBchloro and gapA-metBchloroR. As described previously the gapA promoter from E. coli is subsequently fused to the metB gene using the oligonucleotides gapA-metBchloroF and GapAF for the amplification of the promoter and metBchloro and GapAF for the actual fusion. The resulting fragment is cloned into the restriction sites BamHI and Smal of the vector pACYC177 (Biolabs), resulting in vector pSBlO. metBchloro (SEQ ID NO 46): ACGTGGATCC GAATTCCTTA TTCGTCGGCA AGAGCCTGTT GC gapA-metBchloroR (33-70 : 1860797-1860761) (SEQ ID NO 47): ggccgtacgg gtccggtaaa ctgatcgata gccatatatt ccaccagcta tttgttagtg aataaaagg gapA-metBchloroF (1-38 : 1860761-1860797) (SEQ ID NO 48): ccttttattc actaacaaat agctggtgga atatatggct atcgatcagt ttaccggacc cgtacggcc

GapAF (1860639-1860661) (SEQ ID NO 49): acgtcccggg caagcccaaa ggaagagtga ggc To evaluate the enzyme in methionine biosynthesis the plasmid pSBlO is introduced into the strains Ameύ met A* 11, Ameύ AmetA AmetB and Ameύ AmetA AmetB

AthrC and the resulting strains are fermented as described in example 2. Methionine production is significantly increased when compared to the strain Ameύ metA*\ \ harboring the plasmid pSB6 with the E. coli metB gene.

Example 8: Construction of a strain expressing yeast homoserine acetyltransferase and acetylhomoserine sulfhydrylase metY from Corynebacterium glutamicum

In order to test the γ-eliminase activity of C. glutamicum in vivo and to evaluate its potential for the production of methionine the following strain is constructed.

The codon usage of the C. glutamicum acetyl-homoserine sulfhydrylase gene, metY, is adapted to E. coli and it is synthesized in vitro. Simultaneously the gapA promoter of E. coli is added.

The fusion fragment is subsequently cloned into the Smal and BamHI site of the vector pSB 1 described in example 1 , resulting in vector pSB 11.

Both vector pSB7 carrying the yeast homoserine acetyltransferase and pSBl l are transformed into the strains MGl 655 Ameύ met A^* W and Ameύ AmetB AmetA and the amount of methionine produced determined. It can be shown that the amount of methionine produced is significantly increased in the presence of the yeast homoserine acetyltransferase and the codon adapted Corynebacterial acetylhomoserine sulfhydrylase, metY, when grown with hydrogen sulfide or sulfate as sulfur source. At the same time the amount of isoleucine produced is significantly reduced. Alternatively a codon adapted homoserine transacetylase from Corynebacterium may be used instead of the yeast enzyme.

Example 9: Construction of a strain expressing an E. coli homoserine succinyltransferase with reduced γ-elimination activity

To assure that isoleucine is not produced via its classic biosynthesis pathway the gene UvA and the operon tdcABCDEFG harbouring a second threonine deaminase were deleted.

The UvA gene was deleted using the deletion strategy described above and the following oligonucleotides:

DiIvAF (SEQ ID NO 50)

GgctgactcgcaacccctgtccggtgctccggaaggtgccgaatatttaagagcagtgctgcgcgcgccggtttacgaggTGT AGGCTGGAGCTGCTTCG with

- a region (lower case) homologous to the sequence (3952954-3953033) of the gene UvA

(reference sequence on the website http://genolist.pasteur.fr/Colibri/), - a region (upper case) for the amplification of the chloramphenicol resistance cassette (reference sequence in Datsenko, K.A. & Wanner, B.L., 2000, PNAS, 97: 6640-6645), DiIvAR (SEQ ID NO 51) cctgaacgccgggttattggtttcgtcgtggcaatcgtagcccagctcattcagccgggtttcgaaatccggttcatggCATAT GAATATCCTCCTTAG with

- a region (lower case) homologous to the sequence 3954478-3954400) of the gene UvA

- a region (upper case) for the amplification of the chloramphenicol resistance cassette.

The oligonucleotides DiIvAR and DiIvAF were used to amplify the chloramphenicol resistance cassette from the plasmid pKD3. The PCR product obtained was then introduced by electroporation into the strains MGl 655 ΔmetBJ metAλ 1 (pKD46) and ΔmetJ metAl 1 (pKD46) in which the Red recombinase enzyme expressed permitted the homologous recombination. The chloramphenicol resistant transformants were then selected and the insertion of the resistance cassette was verified by a PCR analysis with the oligonucleotides ilvAR and ilvAF defined below. The resulting strains was ΔmetBJ met A* U AiIvA. ilvAR (3954693-3954670) (SEQ ID NO 52): gccccgaaccggtgcgtaaccgcg ilvAF (3952775-3952795) (SEQ ID NO 53): ggtaagcgatgccgaactggc

In addition to HvA the threonine dehydratase (TdcB) is known to catalyze the deamination of threonine to α-ketobutyrate under anaerobic or microaerobic conditions. To eliminate the possible contribution of this enzyme to α-ketobutyrate production the gene was deleted from the genome of the strain AmetBJ met A* W AiIvA. TdcB is part of the operon tøfcABCDEFG that was deleted in a similar way as described for previous mutants using the four oligonucleotides described below. DtdcGR and DtdcAF were used to amplify the cassette and tdcGR and tdcGF for the verification

DtdcGR (3255915-3255993) (SEQ ID NO 54) gctgacagcaatgtcagccgcagaccactttaatggccagtcctccgcgtgatgtttcgcggtatttatcgttcatatcCATATG

AATATCCTCCTTAG DtdcAF (3264726-3264648) (SEQ ID NO 55)

GgtaattaacgtaggtcgttatgagcactattcttcttccgaaaacgcagcacctggtagtctttcaggaagtcattagTGT AGGCTGG

AGCTGCTTCG tdcGR (3255616-3255640) (SEQ ID NO 56) gcgtctgcaatgacgcctttattcg tdcAF (3264922-3264899) (SEQ ID NO 57)

Cgccataaaatatggttatccccg

The resulting strain was called AmetBJ met A* U AiIvA ΔfcfcABCDEFG. To decrease the γ-eliminase activity of E. coli cystathionine-γ-synthase/ sulfhydrylase (MetB), mutations were introduced into regions that are involved in the binding of the substrate cysteine. To this end Escherichia coli metB was PCR-amplified from genomic DNA using the oligonucleotides MetBF and MetBR (numbers in parentheses correspond to positions on the E. coli genome). The PCR fragment was restricted by Pstl and HindlII and cloned into pUCl 8 into the same restriction sites. MetBF (4125957-4125982) (SEQ ID NO 58): ttagacagaa ctgcagcgcc gctccattca gccatgagat ac

MetBR (4127500-4127469) (SEQ ID NO 59): cgtaacgccca agcttaaata acacttcaca tcagccagac tactgcc

Subsequently mutations were introduced into the Escherichia coli cystathionine-γ- synthase/ sulfhydrylase that result in the amino acid changes T335A/A337P, R49L and D45V. The following pairs of oligonucleotides were used for the introduction of each mutation using site directed mutagenesis according to Stratagene's Quick change™ site directed mutagenesis KIT. Restriction sites (bold) were introduced for verification. metBT335A/A337PF (SEQ ID NO 60): cgcgcttctg gtgccatgcc cggatgtgcc atggttgcgg eg metBT335A/A337PR (SEQ ID NO 61): cgccgcaacc atggcacatc cgggcatggc accagaagcg eg metBR49LF (SEQ ID NO 62): gaacctcgagcgcatgattactcgcgtctgggcaacccaacgcgcg metBR49LR (SEQ ID NO 63): cgcgcgttgggttgcccagacgcgagtaatcatgcgctcgaggttc metBD45VF (SEQ ID NO 64): gaacctcgagcgcatgtgtactcgcgtcgcggcaacccaacgcgcgat metBD45VR (SEQ ID NO 65): atcgcgcgttgggttgccgcgacgcgagtacacatgcgctcgaggttc

The resulting modified metB sequences were verified by sequencing, restricted with Pstl and HindlII and cloned into the same sites of vector pSBl. The resulting plasmids were transformed into the strain AmetBJ metA*\ 1 AiIvA ΔtøfcABCDEFG. Strains were evaluated in small Erlenmeyer flask cultures as described above. The amount of isoleucine produced by γ-elimination was significantly reduced, whereas methionine synthesis was only slightly affected. This correlates with the low γ-elimination activity and the retention of a significant cystathionine-γ-synthase activity.

Claims

1) A microorganism in which enzymes are expressed that have one or several of the following activities cystathionine-γ-synthases and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomo serine sulfhydrylases and that have at the same time low γ- elimination activity.

2) The microorganism of claim 1 wherein cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase have a γ- elimination activity that is at least two times inferior, preferentially at least 10 times inferior when compared to the E. coli cystathionine-γ-synthase.

3) The microorganism of one of claims 1 or 2 wherein phosphohomoserine accepting cystathionine-γ-synthase/phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase is expressed.

4) The microorganism of claim 3 wherein the cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase is the METB gene of plants, preferentially of Arabidopsis thaliana.

5) The microorganism of one of claims 1 or 2 wherein the cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or O-acetyl homoserine sulfhydrylase is the METB gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

6) The microorganism of one of claims 1 or 2 wherein the cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase is derived from archaea, preferentially from Methanosarcina barken.

7) The microorganism of one of claims 1 or 2 wherein the cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase is derived from Chloroflexaceae, preferentially from Chloroflexus aurantiacus. 8) The microorganism of one of claims 1 or 2 wherein the enzyme has at least two of the following amino acids at positions 107E, 11 IY, 165K, 403S.

9) The microorganism of one of claims 1 or 2 wherein the cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase is the metY and/or the metB gene of gram- positive bacteria. 10) The microorganism of one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the native or heterologous cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase enzyme is optimized and as a consequence has a lower γ- eliminase activity and thus allows increased methionine selectivity at the expense of isoleucine . 11) The microorganism of claim 1 wherein an optimized cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase enzyme is expressed that has a proline at position 337. 12) The microorganism of claim 1 wherein an optimized cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase enzyme is expressed that has an alanine at position 335.

13) The microorganism of claim 1 wherein an optimized cystathionine-γ- synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase enzyme is expressed that has an alanine at position 335 and a proline at position 337 .

14) The microorganism of one of claims 1 to 13 wherein the polynucleotide, which codes for the cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase is overexpressed. 15) The microorganism of one of claim 1 to 13 wherein the catalytic properties of the cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or the phosphohomoserine sulfhydrylase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylase are improved.

16) The microorganisms of one of claims 1 to 15 wherein heterologous homoserine acyltransferases are introduced that permit the use of a corresponding acylhomoserine accepting cystathionine-γ-synthase and/or acylhomoserine sulfhydrylases.

17) The microorganism of one of claims 1 to 16 wherein several different hybrid pathways are actively producing homocysteine and/or cystathionine from homoserine.

18) The microorganism of one of claims 1 to 17 wherein further genes of the biosynthesis pathway of the desired amino acid to be produced are additionally enhanced.

19) The microorganism of one of claims 1 to 17 wherein the metabolic pathways that reduce the production of the desired amino acids are at least partially reduced.

20) A method for the fermentative preparation of an amino acid, in particular methionine its precursors or derivatives using a microorganism as described in one of claims 1 to 19 comprising the steps of: a) fermentation of the microorganism producing the desired amino acid b) Concentration of the desired product in the cells of the bacteria or in the medium and c) isolation of the desired amino acids/ constituents of the fermentation broth and/or the biomass optionally remaining in portions or in the total amount (0-100%) in the end product.

21) The method of claim 20 wherein the sulfur molecule/compound is transferred to any activated homoserine from cysteine. 22) The method of claim 20 wherein the sulfur molecule/compound is transferred directly from H₂S to any activated homoserine.

23) The method of claim 20 wherein the sulfur source in the medium is sulfate or a derivative. 24) The method of claim 20 wherein the sulfur source in the medium is thiosulfate.

25) The method of claim 20 wherein the sulfur source in the medium is H2S.

26) The method of claim 20 wherein the sulfur source in the medium is methylmercaptan.