Bacteria with reduced genome

The present invention provides a bacterium having a genome entirely operation oil to its to 2 than the genome of the native parent strain more at least about 20% less. Bacteria having fewer genomes are able to produce a commercial product more efficiently. The invention also provides a method for deletion of genes and other DNA sequences from a bacterial genome. The method provides a precise deletion and does not substantially introduce a mutation in the gene of the DNA sequence around the deleted region. Thus, the present method for making a series of deletions in without increasing the possibility of homologous recombination within the genome that do not object standing bacteria may be used. In addition, some methods provided by the present invention can also be used to replace the region of the bacterial genome with a DNA sequence of interest.