Cells and methods for producing rhamnolipids

1. A genetically modified cell, which is able to form at least one rhamnolipid of general formula (I),

wherein

m=2, 1 or 0,

n=1 or 0,

R 1 and R 2 are organic residues having 2 to 24 carbon atoms,

said cell having been genetically modified such that, compared to its wild-type, the cell has increased activity of at least one of the enzymes E 1 , E 2 and E 3 , wherein:

the enzyme E 1 has at least 95% amino acid identity to a sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 18, 78, 80, 82, or 2;

the enzyme E 2 has at least 95% amino acid identity to a sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 20, 84, 86, 88, or 4;

the enzyme E 3 has at least 95% amino acid identity to a sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 22, 90, 92, or 6;

wherein said cell, compared to its wild-type further has increased activity of an enzyme E 8 , which catalyses rhamnolipid export from the cell into the surrounding medium; and

wherein E 8 has at least 95% amino acid identity to SEQ ID NO: 8.

2. The genetically modified cell of claim 1 , wherein said cell has increased activities of an enzyme combination selected from E 1 E 2 , E 2 E 3 and E 1 E 2 E 3 .

3. The genetically modified cell of claim 2 , wherein said cell has an increased activity of the enzyme combination E 1 E 2 E 3 and n is =1.

4. The genetically modified cell of claim 1 , wherein said cell is selected from a genus of the group consisting of Aspergillus, Corynebacterium, Brevibacterium, Bacillus, Acinetobacter, Alcaligenes, Lactobacillus, Paracoccus, Lactococcus, Candida, Pichia, Hansenula, Kluyveromyces, Saccharomyces, Escherichia, Zymomonas, Yarrowia, Methylobacterium, Ralstonia, Pseudomonas, Rhodospirillum, Rhodobacter, Burkholderia, Clostridium and Cupriavidus.

5. The genetically modified cell of claim 1 , wherein said cell is a bacterial cell.

6. The genetically modified cell of claim 1 , wherein the wild-type of said cell forms polyhydroxyalkanoates having chain lengths of C 6 to C 16 .

7. The genetically modified cell of claim 6 , wherein said cell, compared to its wild-type, has a decreased activity of at least one enzyme E 9 or E 10 , wherein

E 9 has at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 30 or SEQ ID NO: 32, and

E 10 has at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 34 or SEQ ID NO: 36.

8. The genetically modified cell of claim 1 , wherein said cell, compared to its wild-type, has increased activity of at least one enzyme selected from the group consisting of:

E 4 , which has at least 95% amino acid identity to SEQ ID NO: 10,

E 5 , which has at least 95% amino acid identity to SEQ ID NO: 12,

E 6 , which has at least 95% amino acid identity to SEQ ID NO: 16, and

E 7 , which has at least 95% amino acid identity to SEQ ID NO: 14.

9. The genetically modified cell of claim 8 , wherein said cell has increased activity of each of the enzymes E 4 , E 5 , E 6 , and E 7 .

10. The genetically modified cell of claim 1 , wherein said genetic modification comprises introduction into said cell of at least one vector comprising at least one nucleic acid sequence selected from:

a sequence with at least 95% identity to SEQ ID NO: 17, 77, 79, 81, or 1;

a sequence with at least 95% identity to SEQ ID NO: 19, 83, 85, 87, or 3; and

a sequence with at least 95% identity to SEQ ID NO: 21, 89, 91, or 5.

11. A method for producing rhamnolipids of general formula (I)

wherein

m=2, 1 or 0,

n=1 or 0

R 1 and R 2 are organic residues having 2 to 24 carbon atoms,

said method comprising:

I) contacting the genetically modified cell of claim 1 with a medium containing a carbon source; and

II) culturing the cell under conditions in which the cell forms rhamnolipids from the carbon source.