Patents by Inventor Meijuan XU

Meijuan XU has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240110173
    Abstract: The invention provides a glutamate decarboxylase mutant with improved pH tolerance and use thereof in synthesis of gamma-aminobutyric acid. The mutant is obtained by mutating glutamate decarboxylase having an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO. 3. The enzyme activity of the mutant at pH 6.5 is improved to 178% of the original enzyme (SEQ ID NO. 3). The final yield of 1000 g of substrate fed in batches in a 5L tank for 12 h is up to 688.13 g/L, which is about 52% higher than the productivity of the original glutamate decarboxylase. The final molar conversion rate can reach 98.2%. The invention not only broadens the enzyme activity of GAD under the optimum pH, but also broadens the enzyme activity of GAD under the neutral pH, and enhances the capability of the GAD to synthesize gamma-aminobutyric acid, and therefore is more suitable for industrial production.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2023
    Publication date: April 4, 2024
    Inventors: Zhiming RAO, Jin Han, Taowei Yang, Meijuan Xu, Xian Zhang
  • Publication number: 20240018557
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a recombinant nucleic acid of Escherichia coli, a recombinant E. coli, a culturing method thereof, and a method for biosynthesizing L-threonine thereby, and relates to the technical field of bioengineering. The recombinant nucleic acid of E. coli of the present disclosure, including the gene encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pck), the gene encoding pyruvate carboxylase (pyc) and the gene encoding threonine operon, is transformed into E. coli to obtain a recombinant E. coli LMT4 strain that takes glucose as a substrate. Using the LMT4 for fermentative production may significantly improve the L-threonine yield and glucose conversion rate, laying a foundation for the industrial production of L-threonine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2022
    Publication date: January 18, 2024
    Applicant: Jiangnan University
    Inventors: Zhiming RAO, Zhenqiang ZHAO, Meijuan XU, Xian ZHANG, Taowei YANG
  • Publication number: 20240002867
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a Bacillus subtilis strain, a recombinant B. subtilis strain and use thereof, belongs to the technical field of microbial fermentation. B. subtilis strain RF1-6 provided by the present disclosure is a mutant strain with the highest riboflavin yield screened by gene modification and mutagenesis using a high riboflavin-producing strain RF1 as a starting strain, deposited at China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC) under accession number M 2022565. Riboflavin yield can be increased by 22.8% compared with that of the high riboflavin-producing strain RF1.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2022
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Inventors: Zhiming RAO, Jiajia YOU, Taowei YANG, Xuewei PAN, Xian ZHANG, Meijuan XU
  • Patent number: 11203742
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a sucrose phosphorylase mutant with improved enzyme activity, and construction method thereof and use thereof, and belongs to the technical field of genetic engineering. The amino acid sequence of the mutant of the disclosure is as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1. The mutant of the disclosure is based on sucrose phosphorylase derived from Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and subjected to site-directed mutagenesis to improve the enzyme activity of sucrose phosphorylase. The mutant is expressed in Corynebacterium glutamicum and used as a whole cell catalyst to produce 2-O-?-D-glycerol glucoside. At a 5 L fermentation tank level, a large quantity of 2-O-?-D-glycerol glucoside can be produced efficiently in a short time, which is conducive to expanding the prospect of industrial application of sucrose phosphorylase for the production of 2-O-?-D-glycerol glucoside and realizing its large-scale industrial application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: Jiangnan University
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Peifeng Duan, Jianing Zhang, Xian Zhang, Taowei Yang, Meijuan Xu, Minglong Shao, Yu Liu, Ziwei Wang, Yan Chen, Qi Chen
  • Patent number: 11098287
    Abstract: The disclosure discloses 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mutants and application thereof, and belongs to the technical field of biology. The disclosure provides 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mutants V107A, T155N, H164Y and V107A/T155N/H164Y with high specific enzyme activities, and the specific enzyme activities of the 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mutants V107A, T155N, H164Y and V107A/T155N/H164Y are as high as 1.85, 1.93, 2.06 and 5.15 U/mg, respectively, which are 1.11, 1.16, 1.24 and 3.10 times larger than that of wild-type 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (1.66 U/mg).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: JIANGNAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Minglong Shao, Yetong Wang, Yuling Wu, Taowei Yang, Xian Zhang, Meijuan Xu
  • Patent number: 11060076
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for producing a 1,2-amino alcohol compound by utilizing whole-cell transformation, and belongs to the technical field of gene engineering and microorganism engineering. According to the present invention, engineered Escherichia coli co-expresses epoxide hydrolase, alcohol dehydrogenase, ?-transaminase and glutamate dehydrogenase, is capable of realizing whole-cell catalysis of an epoxide in one step to synthesize a 1,2-amino alcohol compound, and meanwhile, can realize regeneration of coenzyme NADP+ and an amino doner L-Glu; alcohol dehydrogenase expressed by the engineered Escherichia coli is RBS optimized alcohol dehydrogenase, and such RBS optimization can control the expression quantity of alcohol dehydrogenase, so that the catalysis rate of alcohol dehydrogenase and transaminase can achieve an optimum ratio, to eliminate influence caused by a rate-limiting step in a catalyzing course.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: JIANGNAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Song Liu, Renjie Gao, Xian Zhang, Taowei Yang, Meijuan Xu
  • Patent number: 11001871
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a method for producing 9?-hydroxy androstane-4-alkene-3,17-diketone by enzymatic conversion, and belongs to the fields of gene engineering and enzyme engineering. According to the present disclosure, oxidation subunit KshA, reduction subunit KshB and unknown active subunit KshC of 3-ketosteroid-9?-hydroxylase sourcing from Mycobacterium sp. Strain VKM Ac-1817D are successfully expressed in E. coli BL21, and KshC is identified as an oxidation subunit, the enzyme activity of which is far higher than that of KshA. BL21/pET-28a(+)-fdh constructed in the laboratory is used for expressing formate dehydrogenase (FDH), and by using crude enzyme liquid of KSH (KshB+KshC) and FDH engineering bacteria as a biocatalyst and a steroidal compound (AD) as a substrate, optimum reaction temperature is determined as 30° C. and optimum pH is determined as 7.0. In optimum conditions, AD is converted to produce a product 9-OH-AD, and within 20 hours, the output of 9-OH-AD is 4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: Jiangnan University
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Zongyan Sha, Xian Zhang, Taowei Yang, Meijuan Xu
  • Patent number: 11001825
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a thermophilic L-asparaginase mutant and screening and fermentation methods thereof, and belongs to the field of gene engineering, enzyme engineering and fermentation engineering. In Bacillus subtilis 168, a Pyrococcus yayanosii CH1-derived L-asparaginase encoding gene is used as a template, and a mutation library is constructed by an error-prone PCR (epPCR) technology. A mutant strain with improved specific enzyme activity is screened through a high-flux screening method of synchronous cell disruption and enzyme activity measurement. Mutated residues included in a positive mutant are analyzed to construct a composite mutant strain S17G/A90S/R156S/K272A with improved specific enzyme activity and specific enzyme activity of 3108 U/mg. An expression quantity of the composite mutant strain in the Bacillus subtilis 168 is increased through measures of a strong promoter P43 and RBS optimization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: Jiangnan University
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Xu Li, Xian Zhang, Shuqin Xu, Jingyi Hu, Meijuan Xu, Taowei Yang
  • Publication number: 20210130797
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a sucrose phosphorylase mutant with improved enzyme activity, and construction method thereof and use thereof, and belongs to the technical field of genetic engineering. The amino acid sequence of the mutant of the disclosure is as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1. The mutant of the disclosure is based on sucrose phosphorylase derived from Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and subjected to site-directed mutagenesis to improve the enzyme activity of sucrose phosphorylase. The mutant is expressed in Corynebacterium glutamicum and used as a whole cell catalyst to produce 2-O-?-D-glycerol glucoside. At a 5L fermentation tank level, a large quantity of 2-O-?-D-glycerol glucoside can be produced efficiently in a short time, which is conducive to expanding the prospect of industrial application of sucrose phosphorylase for the production of 2-O-?-D-glycerol glucoside and realizing its large-scale industrial application.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Publication date: May 6, 2021
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Peifeng Duan, Jianing Zhang, Xian Zhang, Taowei Yang, Meijuan Xu, Minglong Shao, Yu Liu, Ziwei Wang, Yan Chen, Qi Chen
  • Publication number: 20210087539
    Abstract: The disclosure discloses 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mutants and application thereof, and belongs to the technical field of biology. The disclosure provides 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mutants V107A, T155N, H164Y and V107A/T155N/H164Y with high specific enzyme activities, and the specific enzyme activities of the 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mutants V107A, T155N, H164Y and V107A/T155N/H164Y are as high as 1.85, 1.93, 2.06 and 5.15 U/mg, respectively, which are 1.11, 1.16, 1.24 and 3.10 times larger than that of wild-type 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (1.66 U/mg).
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 11, 2020
    Publication date: March 25, 2021
    Inventors: Zhiming RAO, Minglong SHAO, Yetong WANG, Yuling WU, Taowei YANG, Xian ZHANG, Meijuan XU
  • Patent number: 10865404
    Abstract: The present invention provides an aspartase mutant, a recombinant expression vector and recombinant bacterium containing the aspartase mutant, and the use thereof, and belongs to the technical field of genetic engineering. The amino acid sequence of the aspartase mutant is as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1. In the aspartase mutant of the present invention, on the basis of wild type aspartase (with an amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 3), glutamic acid at position 427 is mutated into glutamine. In the present invention, by mutating the amino acid residue at position 427 into glutamine, the polar environment near an active site is changed, and thus ammonia supply during substrate reaction is further facilitated, thereby improving an enzyme activity, enhancing the ability of the enzyme in synthesizing a ?-amino acid, and providing a practical and effective strategy for industrial production of the ?-amino acid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: JIANGNAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Yaling Wang, Jiamin Chen, Taowei Yang, Meijuan Xu, Xian Zhang, Minglong Shao, Jianing Zhang, Anqi Peng, Shuping Xu, Meiqi Wu
  • Patent number: 10851352
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a Mycobacterium neoaurum-derived steroid C27-monooxygenase and an application thereof, which belong to the technical fields of genetic engineering and enzyme engineering. By the method of gene knockout and intensive expression, the present invention screens out three isoenzymes of a key enzyme SMO in the process of degrading sterol side chains from Mycobacterium neoaurum. The three isoenzymes are intensively expressed respectively in the Mycobacterium neoaurum for the high yield of androsta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione (ADD), the yield of ADD is increased remarkably, wherein the effect of SMO2 is most remarkable. By overexpressing SMO2, the final ADD yield is increased from 5.2 g·L?1 to 7.3 g·L?1. The present invention provides a helpful guidance for the industrialization of the microbial fermentation method for increasing the ADD yield.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: JIANGNAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Minglong Shao, Xian Zhang, Taowei Yang, Meijuan Xu
  • Patent number: 10731138
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a formate dehydrogenase mutant with improved enzyme activity and stability and a construction method thereof, which belongs to the technical field of genetic engineering. The mutant of the present invention is obtained by mutating alanine at a 10th site to cysteine based on the amino acid shown in SEQ ID NO. 2. The specific enzyme activity of the mutant enzyme obtained by the present invention is improved by 1.3 times compared with that before the mutation, a half-life period (t1/2) at 60° C. is increased by 6.8 times compared with that in the mutation period, the copper ion tolerance is increased by 30 times compared with that before the mutation, and when pH is 4, the stability is improved by 2.0 times, and the catalytic efficiency is increased by 1.4 times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: Jiangnan University
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Junxian Zheng, Taowei Tao, Junping Zhou, Xian Zhang, Meijuan Xu
  • Publication number: 20200149077
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for producing a 1,2-amino alcohol compound by utilizing whole-cell transformation, and belongs to the technical field of gene engineering and microorganism engineering. According to the present invention, engineered Escherichia coli co-expresses epoxide hydrolase, alcohol dehydrogenase, ?-transaminase and glutamate dehydrogenase, is capable of realizing whole-cell catalysis of an epoxide in one step to synthesize a 1,2-amino alcohol compound, and meanwhile, can realize regeneration of coenzyme NADP+ and an amino doner L-Glu; alcohol dehydrogenase expressed by the engineered Escherichia coli is RBS optimized alcohol dehydrogenase, and such RBS optimization can control the expression quantity of alcohol dehydrogenase, so that the catalysis rate of alcohol dehydrogenase and transaminase can achieve an optimum ratio, to eliminate influence caused by a rate-limiting step in a catalyzing course.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2019
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Applicant: JIANGNAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Zhiming RAO, Song LIU, Renjie GAO, Xian ZHANG, Taowei YANG, Meijuan XU
  • Patent number: 10612054
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a single-cell factory for efficiently synthesizing ?-aminobutyric acid and construction and application thereof, which belong to the technical field of microorganisms. The present invention expresses an L-threonine deaminase gene, an L-amino acid dehydrogenase gene and a dehydrogenase gene for providing cofactor NADH cycle in tandem to construct a recombinant Escherichia coli single-cell factory which is used for efficiently synthesizing ?-aminobutyric acid. The expression level of the L-threonine deaminase is optimized and controlled by an RBS sequence, so that the problem of transformation inhibition caused by the rapid accumulation of an intermediate product ketobutyric acid is solved, moreover, the expression level of the dehydrogenase for providing cofactor NADH cycle is optimized and controlled by a promoter and an RBS sequence, consequently, the NADH regeneration rate is increased, and ultimately, yield is increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: JIANGNAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Junping Zhou, Taowei Yang, Xian Zhang, Meijuan Xu, CaiZhe Zhang, Yunlong Qi, Junxian Zheng
  • Patent number: 10465218
    Abstract: The invention discloses a method for increasing the yield of L-arginine by knocking out flavin reductases, and belongs to the technical field of amino acid production by microbial fermentation. Genes frd1 and frd2 for encoding hypothetic NADPH-dependent FMN reductase in Corynebacterium crenatum SDNN403 are over-expressed in E. coli BL21 and are purified to form target proteins Frd181 and Frd188, and functions of the target proteins are identified to obtain a result showing that the proteins Frd181 and Frd188 both are NAD(P)H-dependent flavin reductases producing H2O2. By taking a genome of the Corynebacterium crenatum SDNN403 as a template, frd1 and frd2 gene deletion fragments are obtained by overlap extension PCR; connecting pK18mobsacB to obtain knockout plasmids pK18mobsacB-?frd1 and pK18mobsacB-?frd2; carrying out electric shock to transform the Corynebacterium crenatum SDNN403; and carrying out secondary screening to obtain recombinant strains 403?frd1 and 403?frd2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Jiangnan University
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Zaiwei Man, Meijuan Xu, Taowei Yang, Xian Zhang
  • Patent number: 10351816
    Abstract: The present invention relates to application of a novel signal peptide in L-arginine and its derivatives production from konjac powder, which belongs to the field of gene engineering, enzyme engineering and metabolism engineering. The present invention fused the signal peptide set forth in SEQ ID NO.1 with the ?-mannanase of Bacillus subtilis CCTCC M 209200, and expressed the fused gene in the strain with high L-arginine yield. The recombinant strain Corynebacterium crenatum CGMCC 0890/p MSPman had advantages on utilizing cheaper konjac powder as substrate, and after fermenting for 96 hours in a 5 L bioreactor, the L-arginine yield reached 45 g/L. Another two recombinant strains were constructed based on Corynebacterium crenatum CGMCC 0890/pMSPman, and after fermenting for 96 hours in a 5 L bioreactor, the L-ornithine yield and L-citrulline reached 23.5 g/L and 26.3 g/L respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2019
    Assignee: JIANGNAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Zhenghong Xu, Junxian Zheng, Meijuan Xu, Taowei Yang, Xian Zhang
  • Patent number: 10329592
    Abstract: The present invention relates to application of a novel signal peptide in L-glutamate and its derivatives production from konjac powder, which belongs to the field of gene engineering, enzyme engineering and metabolism engineering. The signal peptide which mediated secretion of ?-mannanase was invented, and the recombinant strain with this signal peptide had advantages on utilizing konjac powder to produce related products, and its utilization efficiency of konjac powder, production efficiency, and yield were higher than other signal peptides. The recombinant strain possessing this new signal peptide had advantages on utilizing cheaper konjac powder as substrate to lower the process costs on L-glutamic acid and its high-value-added products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Assignee: JIANGNAN UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Junxian Zheng, Meijuan Xu, Taowei Yang, Xian Zhang
  • Publication number: 20190185899
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a method for producing 9?-hydroxy androstane-4-alkene-3,17-diketone by enzymatic conversion, and belongs to the fields of gene engineering and enzyme engineering. According to the present disclosure, oxidation subunit KshA, reduction subunit KshB and unknown active subunit KshC of 3-ketosteroid-9?-hydroxylase sourcing from Mycobacterium sp. Strain VKM Ac-1817D are successfully expressed in E. coli BL21, and KshC is identified as an oxidation subunit, the enzyme activity of which is far higher than that of KshA. BL21/pET-28a(+)-fdh constructed in the laboratory is used for expressing formate dehydrogenase (FDH), and by using crude enzyme liquid of KSH (KshB+KshC) and FDH engineering bacteria as a biocatalyst and a steroidal compound (AD) as a substrate, optimum reaction temperature is determined as 30° C. and optimum pH is determined as 7.0. In optimum conditions, AD is converted to produce a product 9-OH-AD, and within 20 hours, the output of 9-OH-AD is 4.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2019
    Publication date: June 20, 2019
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Zongyan Sha, Xian Zhang, Taowei Yang, Meijuan Xu
  • Publication number: 20190185840
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a thermophilic L-asparaginase mutant and screening and fermentation methods thereof, and belongs to the field of gene engineering, enzyme engineering and fermentation engineering. In bacillus subtilis 168, a Pyrococcus yayanosii CH1-derived L-asparaginase encoding gene is used as a template, and a mutation library is constructed by an error-prone PCR (epPCR) technology. A mutant strain with improved specific enzyme activity is screened through a high-flux screening method of synchronous cell disruption and enzyme activity measurement. Mutated residues included in a positive mutant are analyzed to construct a composite mutant strain S17G/A90S/R156S/K272A with improved specific enzyme activity and specific enzyme activity of 3108 U/mg. An expression quantity of the composite mutant strain in the bacillus subtilis 168 is increased through measures of a strong promoter P43 and RBS optimization.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2019
    Publication date: June 20, 2019
    Inventors: Zhiming Rao, Xu Li, Xian Zhang, Shuqin Xu, Jingyi Hu, Meijuan Xu, Taowei Yang