Patent ID: 8911978

Claim:
A microorganism genetically modified for the bioproduction of a hydroxy acid of formula (I) wherein the microorganism comprises a two-step metabolic pathway for said hydroxy acid from a hydroxy-2-keto-aliphatic acid of formula (II) through an intermediate hydroxy-aldehyde of formula (III): with n =0, 1, or 2, wherein EA1 is an enzyme having a 2-keto-acid decarboxylase activity, and EA2 is an enzyme having hydroxy aldehyde dehydrogenase activity, wherein said enzyme EA1 is encoded by a heterologous gene, and wherein producing said hydroxy-2-keto-aliphatic acid of formula (II) is increased in said microorganism by increasing the level of expression of at least one of the following enzymes: serine transaminase, serine oxidase, 3-phosphohydroxypyruvate phosphatase, homoserine transaminase, homoserine oxidase, 4-oxoglutaryl-CoA synthetase, and alcohol dehydrogenase.