Patent ID: 8771992

Claim:
A method for biotechnological production of chondroitin, comprising the following steps: a) cultivating in a suitable medium a recombinant microorganism producing chondroitin, defined as a linear glycosaminoglycan constituted by alternating residues of D-glucuronic acid (GlcUA) and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine (GalNAc) bound by β1-3 (GlcUA→GalNAc) and β1-4 (GalNAc→GlcUA) bonds, characterized in that in said microorganism the kfoE gene originally present which encodes an enzyme responsible for the addition of fructose residues to the linear chondroitin backbone is inactivated by deletion or substitution entirely or in part of said gene or disruption by insertion of an additional nucleotide sequence, and wherein the kfoE gene encodes a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No 2; and b) recovering and purifying the chondroitin present in the microbial culture.