Patent ID: 7667017

Claim:
An isolated nucleic acid suitable for production of an isoprenoid or isoprenoid precursor in a prokaryotic host cell that does not normally synthesize isopentenyl pyrophosphate via a mevalonate pathway, the nucleic acid comprising: a) an origin of replication; b) a promoter functional in a prokaryotic host cell; and c) a nucleotide sequence operably linked to the promoter and encoding a subset of mevalonate pathway enzymes consisting of: i) a eukaryotic enzyme that converts mevalonate into mevalonate 5-phosphate, ii) a eukaryotic enzyme that converts mevalonate 5-phosphate into mevalonate 5-pyrophosphate, and iii) a eukaryotic enzyme that converts mevalonate 5-pyrophosphate into isopentenyl pyrophosphate; wherein the nucleic acid does not include nucleotide sequences encoding an enzyme that condenses acetoacetyl-CoA with acetyl-CoA to form HMG-CoA, an enzyme that converts HMG-CoA to mevalonate, and an enzyme that condenses two molecules of acetyl-CoA to acetoacetyl-CoA.