Patent ID: 8889387

Claim:
A method of producing isoprene, the method comprising: (a) culturing a composition comprising a recombinant cell of an Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) strain, or progeny thereof, under suitable culture conditions for the production of isoprene, wherein the cell comprises (i) one or more copies of a heterologous nucleic acid(s) encoding a 6-phosphogluconolactonase (PGL) polypeptide, wherein the nucleic acid is integrated in the E. coli chromosome and (ii) one or more heterologous nucleic acid(s) encoding isoprene synthase, wherein prior to the integration, the E. coli does not contain nucleic acids(s) encoding a PGL polypeptide, and wherein the resulting cell produces isoprene at a greater titer than that of the same cells that do not comprise (i); and (b) producing isoprene.