Patent ID: 6913912

Claim:
A process for the preparation of D-pantothenic acid and/or salt thereof comprising: culturing an isolated or purified modified microorganism of Eseherichia coli for a time and under conditions suitable for production of D-pantothenic acid or a salt of D-pantothenic acid, and recovering D-pantothenic acid and/or salt of D-pantothenic acid; wherein said modified microorganism has been transformed with a polynucleotide encoding Escherichia coli adenylate kinase and wherein said modified microorganism expresses an increased amount of adenylate kinase compared to the unmodified starting strain, and wherein said polynucleotide encoding adenylate kinase comprises a polynucleotide sequence (i) obtained by PCR amplification of chromosomal DNA from Escherichia coli using primers adk5′ (SEQ ID NO: 1) and adk3′ (SEQ ID NO: 2) or (ii) which has exactly the same polynucleotide sequence as a polynucleotide encoding Escherichia coli adenylate kinase which is obtained by PCR amplification of chromosomal DNA from Eseherichia coli using primers adk5′ (SEQ ID NO: 1) and adk3′(SEQ ID NO: 2).