Fermentation process for producing monosaccharides in free form from nucleotide-activated sugars

1. A process for producing L-fucose in free form using a recombinant host microorganism, the process comprising:

A) obtaining a microorganism comprising GDP-L-fucose, wherein the microorganism comprises a recombinant nucleic acid sequence encoding a 1,2-fucosyltransferase that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the GDP-L-fucose to release the L-fucose from the GDP-L-fucose to produce free L-fucose in the absence of an acceptor molecule, wherein the 1,2-fucosyltransferase is an alpha-1,2-fucosyltransferase encoded by a wbgL gene from Escherichia coli set forth in SEQ ID NO: 3 or a 1,2-fucosyltransferase encoded by a futC gene from Helicobacter pylori set forth in SEQ ID NO: 4, or a gene encoding a 1,2-fucosyltransferase having at least 90% amino acid identity to the 1,2-fucosyltransferase encoded by the wbgL gene set forth in SEQ ID NO: 3 or the futC gene set forth in SEQ ID NO: 4;

B) cultivating the recombinant microorganism in a medium suitable for growing the microorganism, and

C) recovering the free L-fucose from the medium, wherein the microorganism is unable to metabolize the free L-fucose, and wherein the microorganism is Escherichia coli or a Saccharomyces spp.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the microorganism has inactivated, reduced expression, or lacks one or more genes encoding an enzyme that catabolizes L-fucose, and wherein the gene is a fucose isomerase (fukI) or a fuculose kinase (fucK).

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein at least one gene involved in encoding a protein for the biosynthesis of GDP-L-fucose is overexpressed, wherein the gene is selected from the group consisting of a gene encoding a phosphomannomutase (manB), a mannose-1-phosphate guanosyltransferase (manC), a GDP-mannose-4,6-dehydratase (gmd), and a GDP-L-fucosesynthase (wcaG), and wherein the man B, manC, gmd, and wcaG genes are from Escherichia coli.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is further modified to have inactivated or reduced competing pathways for the GDP-L-fucose.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is cultivated in a medium containing a carbon source selected from the group consisting of glycerol, sucrose, glucose, fructose, molasse, xylose, cellulose, syngas, corn-syrup or lactose.

6. An Escherichia coli comprising a recombinant nucleic acid sequence encoding an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of GDP-L-fucose to release L-fucose from the GDP-L-fucose in the absence of an acceptor molecule, wherein the enzyme is a bacterial alpha-1,2-fucosyltransferase, wherein the bacterial alpha-1,2-fucosyltransferase is encoded by a wbgL gene from Escherichia coli set forth in SEQ ID NO: 3 or the futC gene from H. pylori set forth in SEQ ID NO: 4, or a gene encoding a 1,2-fucosyltransferase having at least 90% sequence identity to the 1,2-fucosyltransferase encoded by the wbgL gene set forth in SEQ ID NO: 3 or the futC genes set forth in SEQ ID NO: 4, and wherein the microorganism is unable to metabolize the released L-fucose because of a disruption in a fucose isomerase (fukI) gene or fuculose kinase (fucK) gene.

7. The Escherichia coli of claim 6 , which further comprises recombinant genes encoding a phosphomannomutase (manB), a mannose-1-phosphate guanosyltransferase (manC), a GDP-mannose-4,6-dehydratase (gmd), and a GDP-L-fucose synthase (wcaG), wherein the manB, manC, gmd, and wcaG genes are from Escherichia coli and wherein the genes are overexpressed.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the recombinant microorganism is Escherichia coli.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the 1,2-fucosyltransferase is a variant 1,2-fucosyltransferase comprising at least one of an asparagine to serine modification at amino acid residue 69 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3; a histidine to alanine modification at amino acid residue 124 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3; a glutamate to glycine modification at amino acid residue 215 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3; or an isoleucine to proline modification at amino acid residue 268 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3.

10. The recombinant Escherichia coli of claim 6 , wherein the fucosyltransferase is a variant 1,2-fucosyltransferase comprising at least one of an asparagine to serine modification at amino acid residue 69 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3; a histidine to alanine modification at amino acid residue 124 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3; a glutamate to glycine modification at amino acid residue 215 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3; or an isoleucine to proline modification at amino acid residue 268 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3.

11. A recombinant Escherichia coli comprising a gene of SEQ ID NO: 3 or SEQ ID NO: 4 encoding a 1,2-fucosyltransferase of, and further comprising overexpression of a gene encoding a phosphomannomutase (manB), a mannose-1-phosphate guanosyltransferase (manC), a GDP-mannose-4,6- dehydratase (gmd), and a GDP-L-fucose synthase (wcaG), and wherein the Escherichia coli is unable to metabolize L-fucose because of a disruption in a fucose isomerase (fukI) gene or fuculose kinase (fucK) gene.

12. The recombinant Escherichia coli of claim 11 , wherein the fucosyltransferase is a variant 1,2-fucosyltransferase comprising at least one of an asparagine to serine modification at amino acid residue 69 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3; a histidine to alanine modification at amino acid residue 124 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3; a glutamate to glycine modification at amino acid residue 215 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3; or an isoleucine to proline modification at amino acid residue 268 in the amino acid sequence encoded by SEQ ID NO: 3.