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).

  • Patent number: 8510053
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for modifying a property of a protein. The present invention also relates to a method for producing a protein which has a modified property, and a method for producing a microorganism which has a modified property. The present invention is useful in the field of microbial industrial production and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Yosuke Nishio, Eiichiro Kimura, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuho Ikeo, Yoji Nakamura, Takashi Gojobori, Yutaka Kawarabayashi, Yumi Hino, Eiichi Hori, Jun Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 8389249
    Abstract: An L-amino acid can be produced by culturing a bacterium which belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family, and has an enhanced ability to use a fatty acid. The bacterium is capable of producing the L-amino acid in a culture medium containing a fatty acid or a hydrolysate of an oil-and-fat as a carbon source, thereby producing and accumulating the L-amino acid in a culture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Yasushi Hoshino, Hidetaka Doi, Masaru Terashita, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8367371
    Abstract: A bacterium which belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family and has an ability to produce an L-amino acid such as L-lysine, L-threonine and L-tryptophan and is modified to enhance glutamic acid decarboxylase activity is cultured in a medium to produce and accumulate the L-amino acid in the medium or cells of the bacterium. Then, the L-amino acid is collected from the medium or the cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshinori Tajima, Shintaro Iwatani, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Patent number: 8354254
    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: July 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Shigeo Suzuki, Yoshihiro Usuda, Shuhei Hashiro
  • Publication number: 20130005000
    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: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Inventors: Hidetaka Doi, Yusuke Hagiwara, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Publication number: 20120315678
    Abstract: Glucose is produced by hydrolyzing starch contained in a microalga which belongs to the genus Desmodesmus and accumulates 30% or more of starch in algae bodies based on dry weight of the algae bodies when it is cultured under suitable conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2012
    Publication date: December 13, 2012
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC.
    Inventors: Shuhei Hashiro, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Publication number: 20120219995
    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: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Inventors: Hidetaka Doi, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8192963
    Abstract: A bacterium is described which belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family, and has an ability to produce an L-amino acid, such as L-glutamic acid, L-arginine and L-threonine. The bacterium is modified so that the activity of a protein encoded by ydcI gene is decreased, thereby producing and accumulating the L-amino acid selected from L-glutamic acid, L-arginine, and L-threonine in the culture medium or cells of the bacterium when cultured in a culture medium. Subsequently, the L-amino acid is collected from the culture medium or the bacterium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Yousuke Nishio, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8137938
    Abstract: An L-amino acid is produced by culturing a bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, which is able to produce the L-amino acid, and is modified so that the activity of ribonuclease G is decreased in a medium containing glycerol as the carbon source, and collecting the L-amino acid from the culture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Yuri Nagai, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8080396
    Abstract: A microorganism is cultured in a medium, and is able to produce one or two or more kinds of L-amino acids including L-glutamic acid, L-glutamine, L-proline, L-ornithine, L-citrulline and L-arginine, and is modified to increase ?-ketoglutarate synthase activity. The L-amino acids are collected from the medium or the cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Seizaburo Shiraga, Noriko Murayama, Hiroshi Izui, Hisao Ito, Hisashi Yasueda, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Patent number: 8076111
    Abstract: An organic acid is produced by allowing a bacterium which has an ability to produce an organic acid and has been modified so that expression of yidE gene is enhanced, or a product obtained by processing the bacterium, to act on an organic raw material in a reaction mixture containing carbonate ions, bicarbonate ions, or carbon dioxide gas to produce the organic acid, and collecting the organic acid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Keita Fukui, Yoshinori Tajima, Kazue Kawamura, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Patent number: 8030036
    Abstract: A bacterium belonging to the genus Escherichia which has an ability to produce L-lysine or L-threonine and which is modified so that a malic enzyme does not function normally in a cell, and a method for producing L-lysine or L-threonine, comprising culturing the bacterium in a medium to produce and cause accumulation of L-lysine or L-threonine, and collecting the L-lysine or L-threonine from the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2011
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen Van Dien, Shintaro Iwatani, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui, Yuta Nakai, Tomoko Suzuki, Mika Moriya, Yuichiro Tsuji, Takuji Ueda
  • Patent number: 8017362
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for producing L-methionine by culturing a microorganism in a medium to produce and accumulate L-methionine in the medium, and collecting the L-methionine from the medium, where the microorganism is deficient in a repressor of L-methionine biosynthesis system and has L-methionine productivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2011
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Usuda, Osamu Kurahashi
  • Publication number: 20110201062
    Abstract: A bacterium is described which belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family, and has an ability to produce an L-amino acid, such as L-glutamic acid, L-arginine and L-threonine. The bacterium is modified so that the activity of a protein encoded by ydcl gene is decreased, thereby producing and accumulating the L-amino acid selected from L-glutamic acid, L-arginine, and L-threonine in the culture medium or cells of the bacterium when cultured in a culture medium. Subsequently, the L-amino acid is collected from the culture medium or the bacterium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2011
    Publication date: August 18, 2011
    Inventors: Yousuke Nishio, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Publication number: 20110117613
    Abstract: An L-amino acid can be produced by culturing a bacterium which belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family, and has an enhanced ability to use a fatty acid. The bacterium is capable of producing the L-amino acid in a culture medium containing a fatty acid or a hydrolysate of an oil-and-fat as a carbon source, thereby producing and accumulating the L-amino acid in a culture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2010
    Publication date: May 19, 2011
    Inventors: Yasushi Hoshino, Hidetaka Doi, Masaru Terashita, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Publication number: 20110014663
    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: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2010
    Publication date: January 20, 2011
    Inventors: Shigeo Suzuki, Yoshihiro Usuda, Shuhei Hashiro
  • Patent number: 7833761
    Abstract: A microorganism is provided which has an ability to produce an L-amino acid such as L-lysine, L-tryptophan, L-phenylalanine, L-valine, L-leucine, L-isoleucine and L-serine, and has been modified to increase the activity of pyruvate synthase or pyruvate:NADP+ oxidoreductase. This microorganism is cultured in a medium containing ethanol or an aliphatic acid as the carbon source to produce and accumulate the L-amino acid in the medium or cells, and the L-amino acid is collected from the medium or the cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2010
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Masaru Terashita, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui
  • Patent number: 7809511
    Abstract: A metabolic flux affecting substance production using cells is determined by 1) creating a stoichiometric matrix based on formulas of biochemical reactions from a substrate through a desired produced substance, 2) selecting the same number of independent metabolic fluxes from all metabolic fluxes as the degree of freedom of the stoichiometric matrix as free fluxes, 3) creating a sufficient number of random combinations of the free fluxes for a statistical analysis and calculating a metabolic flux distribution from each created combination based on the stoichiometric matrix, 4) obtaining a regression equation including a minimum number of free fluxes that shows a correlation with substance production from the calculated metabolic flux distributions by a multivariate statistical analysis, and 5) determining at least one metabolic flux affecting substance production based on a coefficient in the obtained regression equation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2010
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen Van Dien, Shintaro Iwatani, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui, Takuji Ueda, Yuichiro Tsuji
  • Publication number: 20100221792
    Abstract: An L-amino acid is produced by culturing a bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, which is able to produce the L-amino acid, and is modified so that the activity of ribonuclease G is decreased in a medium containing glycerol as the carbon source, and collecting the L-amino acid from the culture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2010
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Inventors: YURI NAGAI, YOSHIHIRO USUDA
  • Publication number: 20100112647
    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 15, 2009
    Publication date: May 6, 2010
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Hara, Keita Fukui, Yoshinori Tajima, Kazue Kawamura, Yoshihiro Usuda, Kazuhiko Matsui