Patent ID: 8476049

Claim:
A method of producing isoprene, the method comprising (a) culturing recombinant cells in culture medium for the production of isoprene, wherein said culture medium comprises a prenyl derivative of Formula (I): wherein R 1 is hydrogen or —C(O)R 2 ; and R 2 is a C1-C5 linear or branched alkyl; and wherein said recombinant cells comprise: (i) a heterologous nucleic acid that encodes an isoprene synthase polypeptide in operable combination with a promoter, (ii) nucleic acids encoding all of the polypeptides of the mevalonate (MVA) pathway, and (iii) a heterologous gene encoding a polypeptide having prenol kinase activity; and (b) recovering said isoprene.