Patent ID: 7514243

Claim:
A process for producing a dipeptide represented by formula (I): R 1 —R 2 (I) wherein R 1 is L-alanine, glycine, L-methionine, L-serine, L-threonine, β-alanine, L-cysteine or L-α-aminobutyric acid, and R 2 is L-alanine, L-glutamine, L-glutamic acid, glycine, L-leucine, L-isoleucine, L-proline, L-tryptophan, L-methionine, L-serine, L-theanine, L-cysteine, L-asparagine, L-lysine, L-arginine, L-histidine, L-aspartic acid, L-α-aminobutyric acid, , β-alanine, L-azaserine, L-threonine, L-4-hydroxyproline, L-3-hydroxyproline, L-ornithine, L-citrulline or L-6-diazo-5-oxo-norleucine, provided that both R 1 and R 2 be L-alanine at the same time, said method comprising: culturing in a medium a microorganism which produces a protein having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, or a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence which has 95% or more homology to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and having the activity of forming a dipeptide from one or more amino acids, and which has the ability to produce at least one of said one or more of said amino acids; allowing the dipeptide to form and accumulate in the medium; and recovering the dipeptide from the medium.