Patents by Inventor Yoshihiro Usuda

Yoshihiro Usuda 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: 20230212503
    Abstract: A method for producing a protein is provided. An objective protein is produced by culturing in a culture medium Talaromyces cellulolyticus having an objective protein-producing ability, which has been modified so that the activity of a Pep4 protein is reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2022
    Publication date: July 6, 2023
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Nobuhisa Nitta, Hiroaki Fukada, Kazutaka Shimbo, Akiko Matsudaira, Toshiki Watanabe, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 10563234
    Abstract: A method for producing an L-amino acid is provided. An L-amino acid is produced by culturing a bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae and having an L-amino acid-producing ability, wherein the bacterium has been modified so that the activity of aconitase is increased, or the activities of aconitase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase are increased, in a medium, and collecting the L-amino acid from the medium or cells of the bacterium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Hidetaka Doi, Akiko Matsudaira, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Publication number: 20180044703
    Abstract: An acidic substance having a carboxyl group is produced by culturing in a medium a microorganism which has been modified to enhance expression of the ybjL gene, and collecting the acidic substance having a carboxyl group from the medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2017
    Publication date: February 15, 2018
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Hara, Keita Fukui, Yoshinori Tajima, Kazue Kawamura, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Patent number: 9822385
    Abstract: An acidic substance having a carboxyl group is produced by culturing in a medium a microorganism which has been modified to enhance expression of the ybjL gene, and collecting the acidic substance having a carboxyl group from the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Hara, Keita Fukui, Yoshinori Tajima, Kazue Kawamura, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Patent number: 9644009
    Abstract: An L-amino acid is produced by culturing a microorganism of the family Enterobacteriaceae which has the ability to produce an L-amino acid and which has been modified so as to increase the expression of the evgA gene, the gadE gene, and/or the ydeO gene. These genes encode a transcription factor involved in the EvgAS two-component system regulon. The culture takes place in a medium, and the L-amino acid is collected from the medium or cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Shintaro Iwatani, Akira Imaizumi, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Publication number: 20170073714
    Abstract: A method for producing an L-amino acid is provided. An L-amino acid is produced by culturing a bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae and having an L-amino acid-producing ability, wherein the bacterium has been modified so that the activity of aconitase is increased, or the activities of aconitase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase are increased, in a medium, and collecting the L-amino acid from the medium or cells of the bacterium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2016
    Publication date: March 16, 2017
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Hidetaka Doi, Akiko Matsudaira, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Publication number: 20150259717
    Abstract: An acidic substance having a carboxyl group is produced by culturing in a medium a microorganism which has been modified to enhance expression of the ybjL gene, and collecting the acidic substance having a carboxyl group from the medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2015
    Publication date: September 17, 2015
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Hara, Keita Fukui, Yoshinori Tajima, Kazue Kawamura, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Publication number: 20150203881
    Abstract: A method for producing an L-amino acid is described, for example L-threonine, L-lysine, L-histidine, L-phenylalanine, L-arginine, L-tryptophan, or L-glutamic acid, using a bacterium of the Enterobacteriaceae family, wherein the bacterium has been modified to enhance an activity of a wild-type alcohol dehydrogenase encoded by the adhE gene or a mutant alcohol dehydrogenase which is resistant to aerobic inactivation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2015
    Publication date: July 23, 2015
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Leonid Romanovich Ptitsyn, Irina Borisovna Altman, Veronika Aleksandrovna Kotliarova, Olga Nikolaevna Mokhova, Tatyana Abramovna Yampolskaya, Yury Ivanovich Kozlov, Masaru Terashita, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Publication number: 20150175954
    Abstract: A medium component for more efficiently culturing a microorganism or microalga is provided. A nutrient additive useful in culturing a microorganism or microalga is produced by culturing a microalga in a medium to produce biomass derived from the microalga in the medium, adding an acid to the biomass to hydrolyze the biomass, and preparing the hydrolysate of the biomass as a nutrient additive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 24, 2014
    Publication date: June 25, 2015
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Kunita, Tomoaki Tanaka, Yoko Kuwabara, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8975045
    Abstract: A method for efficiently producing an L-amino acid utilizing a bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae from a fatty acid or an alcohol such as glycerol as a raw material is provided. A bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae which is able to produce L-amino acid and harbors an RpsA protein which has a mutation such that the native aspartic acid residue at position 210 is replaced with another amino acid residue is used. This bacterium is cultured in a medium containing a carbon source selected from a fatty acid and an alcohol, and the produced L-amino acid is collected from the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Hidetaka Doi, Yusuke Hagiwara, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8951760
    Abstract: A method for producing an L-amino acid includes culturing a bacterium which belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae and has an L-amino acid-producing ability in a medium containing a carbon source selected from a fatty acid and an alcohol, and collecting the L-amino acid from the medium. A bacterium which has been subjected to a modification including at least one of enhancement of oxyS gene expression, enhancement of fixABC gene expression, and combination thereof, is used as the bacterium, or a substance that reduces intracellular hydrogen peroxide concentration of the bacterium is added to the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Hidetaka Doi, Yasushi Hoshino, Yuri Masumitsu, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8932834
    Abstract: A method for producing an L-amino acid which includes the steps of culturing a bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae and having an L-amino acid producing ability in a medium to produce and accumulate an L-amino acid in the medium, and collecting the L-amino acid from the medium, wherein the bacterium has been modified so that an activity or activities of one or two or more enzymes of the arginine succinyltransferase pathway, such as arginine succinyltransferase, succinylarginine dihydrolase, succinylornithine aminotransferase, succinylglutamate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase, and succinylglutamate desuccinylase, is/are decreased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Hidetaka Doi, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8728772
    Abstract: An L-amino acid is produced by culturing a bacterium having an L-amino acid-producing ability in a medium containing a processed product of a microalga which promotes production and accumulation of the L-amino acid by the bacterium. The process product is produced by disrupting the culture of the microalga, and/or extracting the culture of the microalga, or fractionating the culture of the microalga or the disrupted culture. The processed product contains a mixture of organic substances produced by the microalga, a hydrolysate of the disrupted microalga culture, and/or an extract or fractionation product of the microalga culture. The processed product can also contain a saccarification product of starch or a hydrolysate of fats and oils. The bacterium is cultured to produce and accumulate the L-amino acid in culture, and the L-amino acid is collected from the culture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Shigeo Suzuki, Yoshihiro Usuda, Shuhei Hashiro
  • Publication number: 20140045228
    Abstract: An L-amino acid is produced by culturing an Enterobacteriaceae which is able to produce an L-amino acid in a medium containing glycerol, especially crude glycerol, as the carbon source to produce and accumulate the L-amino acid in the culture, and collecting the L-amino acid from the culture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2013
    Publication date: February 13, 2014
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Publication number: 20130316401
    Abstract: A method for improving the thermostability of a protein includes introducing, into the protein, two or more amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of: (i) substitution of an arginine residue for a lysine residue, (ii) substitution of a threonine residue for a serine residue, and (iii) substitution of an alanine residue for a serine residue.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2013
    Publication date: November 28, 2013
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Yosuke Nishio, Eiichiro Kimura, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuho Ikeo, Yoji Nakamura, Takashi Gojobori, Yutaka Kawarabayashi, Yumi Hino, Eiichi Hori, Jun Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20130288313
    Abstract: An L-amino acid is produced by culturing a microorganism belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae having an L-amino acid-producing ability and modified so that glycerol dehydrogenase and dihydroxyacetone kinase activities are increased, in a medium containing glycerol as a carbon source to produce and accumulate an L-amino acid in the medium or cells, and collecting the L-amino acid from the medium or the cells.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2013
    Publication date: October 31, 2013
    Inventors: Yuri Nagai, Kazuyuki Hayashi, Takuji Ueda, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Patent number: 8551741
    Abstract: An L-amino acid is produced by culturing a bacterium of the Enterobacteriaceae family which has an L-amino acid-producing ability in a medium containing fatty acids as the carbon source, particularly fatty acids which have been subjected to emulsification or homogenization, to thereby produce and accumulate the L-amino acid in a culture medium; and collecting the L-amino acid from the culture medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Usuda, Seizaburo Shiraga, Kazuhiko Matsui, Shigeo Suzuki
  • Publication number: 20130260425
    Abstract: A method for producing an L-amino acid includes culturing a bacterium which belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae and has an L-amino acid-producing ability in a medium containing a carbon source selected from a fatty acid and an alcohol, and collecting the L-amino acid from the medium. A bacterium which has been subjected to a modification including at least one of enhancement of oxyS gene expression, enhancement of fixABC gene expression, and combination thereof, is used as the bacterium, or a substance that reduces intracellular hydrogen peroxide concentration of the bacterium is added to the medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2013
    Publication date: October 3, 2013
    Inventors: Hidetaka Doi, Yasushi Hoshino, Yuri Masumitsu, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8512987
    Abstract: An L-amino acid is produced by culturing a microorganism belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae having an L-amino acid-producing ability and modified so that glycerol dehydrogenase and dihydroxyacetone kinase activities are increased, in a medium containing glycerol as a carbon source to produce and accumulate an L-amino acid in the medium or cells, and collecting the L-amino acid from the medium or the cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Yuri Nagai, Kazuyuki Hayashi, Takuji Ueda, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Patent number: 8510054
    Abstract: A method for intracellular metabolic flux analysis comprising (a) culturing cells in a medium not containing any isotope-labeled substrate to a target phase of the metabolic flux analysis, (b) adding an isotope-labeled substrate to the medium, and continuing culture and collecting samples from the medium in time course, (c) measuring isotope distribution in an intracellular metabolite contained in the samples collected in time course, (d) performing a regression analysis for measured data and calculating an isotope distribution ratio in a steady state, and (e) analyzing a metabolic flux of the cultured cells by using the calculated isotope distribution ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Shintaro Iwatani, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui