Patent ID: 7232664

Claim:
A process comprising a) determining a range of specific oxygen uptake rate (OUR) values at which a recombinant microorganism ferments a carbohydrate to a fermentation product; b) growing said microorganism in a medium comprising a carbohydrate that the microorganism is capable of metabolizing and one or more nutrients, while aerating the medium such that as the cells grow and reproduce, the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the medium is reduced to less than 1% of saturation and the cells exhibit a specific oxygen uptake rate of at least 10 mmol O 2 /g dry weight of cells/hour (mmol O 2 /gdw/h); and then c) culturing the microorganism GeMs in a buffered medium to produce said fermentation product under fermentation conditions including microaeration conditions sufficient to provide the culture with a specific oxygen uptake rate (OUR) within the range of OUR values.