Patent ID: 7329514

Claim:
A process for producing N-acetylneuraminic acid which comprises: allowing a culture of a microorganism which has the ability to produce a protein having N-acetylneuraminic acid synthase activity, the ability to produce a protein having N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase activity and the ability to produce phosphoenolpyruvic acid and in which sialic acid aldolase activity is lost or reduced compared with a wild-type strain or a treated matter of the culture as an enzyme source, N-acetylglucosamine, and a carbon source required by the microorganism for the production of phosphoenolpyruvic acid to be present in an aqueous medium; allowing N-acetylneuraminic acid to form and accumulate in the aqueous medium; and recovering N-acetylneuraminic acid from the aqueous medium.