GENETICALLY MODIFIED MICROORGANISMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BETA-GLUCANS AND METHODS FOR PRODUCING BETA-GLUCANS

摘要

The present invention relates to genetically modified microorganisms capable of producing beta-glucans, characterized in that said genetically modified microorganism overexpresses (i) a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase-activity, and/or (ii) a polypeptide having 1,3-beta-glucan synthase-activity, compared to a corresponding non-modified control microorganism of the same strain. The present invention also relates to the use of a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase-activity or the use of such a polypeptide for producing beta-glucans. Furthermore, the present invention relates to methods for producing beta-glucans comprising the introduction of a promoter upstream of a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase-activity thereby increasing the expression of said polynucleotide, or a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase-activity into a microorganism being able to synthesize beta-glucans.