Patent ID: 8852903

Claim:
A recombinant microorganism comprising a promoter operably linked to a native or non-native nucleotide sequence, wherein the recombinant microorganism is PTS (phosphoenolpyruvate-suqar phosphotransferase) minus and has increased fructokinase activity, and wherein the native or non-native nucleotide sequence is selected from the group consisting of: (a) a nucleotide sequence encoding a fucose: H + symporter polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide has at least 95% amino acid identity, based on the Clustal V method of alignment, when compared to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2; (b) a nucleotide sequence encoding a fucose: H + symporter polypeptide wherein the nucleotide sequence has at least 95% sequence identity, based on the BLASTN method of alignment, when compared to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1; and (c) a nucleotide sequence encoding a fucose: H + symporter polypeptide, wherein the nucleotide sequence hybridizes under stringent conditions to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 wherein stringent conditions comprise hybridization in 40 to 45% formamide, 1 M NaCl, 1% SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate) at 37° C., and a wash in 0.5×to 1×SSC at 55 to 60 ° C.; wherein the promoter is one that is not normally associated with the nucleotide sequence encoding a fucose: H + symporter polypeptide, the nucleotide sequence is overexpressed in the recombinant microorganism, the recombinant microorganism has an improved ability to co-metabolize in medium both fructose and glucose compared to an equivalent microorganism lacking the promoter operably linked to the nucleotide sequence, and further wherein the recombinant microorganism produces an increased amount of 1,3-propanediol, glycerol, or 3-hydroxypropionic acid when grown in a medium containing glucose and fructose as compared to an equivalent microorganism lacking the promoter operably linked to the nucleotide sequence.