Patent ID: 8329472

Claim:
A method for producing an acetic acid bacterium with suppressed foaming ability, wherein said method comprises the step of modifying an endogenous gene in an acetic acid bacterium, wherein said modifying comprises the introduction of an inactivating deletion, insertion, substitution, or addition to the endogenous gene, wherein said endogenous gene encodes a protein involved in foam formation when said acetic acid bacterium is cultured, wherein said protein prior to said modifying is a protein selected from the group consisting of: (i) a protein that consists of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2; (ii) a protein that consists of an amino acid sequence which is a variant of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein said variant is the result of substituting, deleting, inserting or adding 1 to 20 amino acids in SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein said protein is involved in foam formation; and (iii) a protein which consists of an amino acid sequence that is at least 90% identical to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, wherein said protein is involved in foam formation.