BIOPRODUCTION OF ISOPRENOIDS

1 . An isolated, truncated enzyme, comprising an amino acid sequence with at least about 90% identity with any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1 (tAgHMGR_543), 2 (tDmHMGR_390), 3 (tEcHMGR_466), 4 (tFfHMGR_610), and 5 (tUnHMGR_487), or a variant thereof with up to 20 amino acids deleted from the N-terminus; or an amino acid sequence with at least about 90% identity but less than 100% identity with SEQ ID NO: 6 (tHMGR 531), or a variant thereof with up to 20 amino acids deleted from the N-terminus.

2 - 14 . (canceled)

15 . A nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding the isolated enzyme of claim 1 .

16 . A transgenic cell, comprising a first nucleic acid encoding a first heterologous 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) enzyme that (i) lacks an inhibitory domain, (ii) utilizes NAD or NADP as a cofactor, or (iii) a combination thereof.

17 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 , wherein the transgenic cell comprises only one copy of the first nucleic acid.

18 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 further comprising a second, third, fourth, or fifth nucleic acid encoding a second, third, fourth, or fifth heterologous HMGR enzyme that (i) lacks an inhibitory domain, (ii) utilizes NAD or NADP as a cofactor, or (iii) a combination thereof.

19 . The transgenic cell of claim 18 , wherein the transgenic cell comprises only one copy of each of the second, third, fourth, or fifth nucleic acid.

20 . The transgenic cell of claim 18 , wherein the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth nucleic acid each independently comprises a different nucleic acid sequence or encodes a different heterologous HMGR enzyme.

21 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 , wherein the heterologous HMGR enzyme increases flux to mevalonate compared to a native yeast HMGR enzyme.

22 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 , wherein the transgenic cell does not comprise multiple copies of nucleic acid sequences encoding a native yeast HMGR enzyme.

23 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 , wherein the first heterologous HMGR enzyme comprises an amino acid sequence with at least about 90% identity with any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-5 or 8-16.

24 - 52 . (canceled)

53 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 further comprising a single copy of a second nucleic acid encoding a second, different heterologous HMGR enzyme that comprises an amino acid sequence with at least about 90% identity with any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-16.

54 . (canceled)

55 . The transgenic cell of claim 53 further comprising a single copy of a third nucleic acid encoding a third, different heterologous HMGR enzyme that comprises an amino acid sequence with at least about 90% identity with any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-16.

56 - 82 . (canceled)

83 . A method of producing an isoprenoid, comprising culturing the transgenic cell according to claim 16 .

84 . The method of claim 83 , wherein the isoprenoid is a sesquiterpene, a monoterpene, a diterpene, or a meroterpene.

85 . The method of claim 83 , wherein the isoprenoid is selected from bakuchiol, farnesene, farnesol, geosmin, geraniol, terpineol, limonene, myrcene, linalool, hinokitiol, pinene, cafestol, kahweol, cembrene, taxadiene, α-bisabolol, α-guaiene, bergamontene, and valencene.

86 - 104 . (canceled)

105 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 , wherein the transgenic cell is Saccharomyces cerevisiae ( S. cerevisiae ).

106 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 , wherein the first nucleic acid is integrated into the transgenic cell's genome.

107 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 , wherein the first nucleic acid is not integrated into the transgenic cell's genome.

108 . The transgenic cell of claim 16 , wherein the first heterologous HMGR enzyme comprises an amino acid sequence with at least about 90% identity to SEQ ID NO: 7.

109 . The transgenic cell of claim 105 , wherein the first heterologous HMGR enzyme comprises an amino acid sequence with at least about 90% identity to SEQ ID NO: 7.