Production of D‐arabitol by a metabolic engineered strain of Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

A novel method for D-arabitol production with a metabolically engineered Bacillus subtilis strain is described. A known transketolase-deficient and D-ribose-producing mutant of B. subtilis (ATCC 31094) was further modified by disruption of its rpi (D-ribose phosphate isomerase) gene to create a D-ribulose- and D-xylulose-producing B. subtilis strain. Expression of the D-arabitol phosphate dehydrogenase gene of Enterococcus avium in the D-ribulose- and D-xylulose-producing strain resulted in a strain of B. subtilis capable of converting D-glucose to D-arabitol with a high yield (38%) and little by-product formation.

Production of d-arabitol by a newly isolated Zygosaccharomyces rouxii

“…Escalante et al [5] reported a yield of 0.14 g D-arabitol per gram glucose utilized in a fed batch culture of Hansenula polymorpha after 60 h at 45°C, pH 4.8, stirring rate 1,000 rpm, and using air at 1 vvm in a 2-l fermenter. Recently, Povelainen and Miasnikov [11] reported that expression of the arabitol phosphate dehydrogenase gene of Enterococcus ovium in the D-ribulose and D-xylulose-producing Bacillus subtilis strain resulted in a strain of capable of converting glucose to D-arabitol with a yield of 38%. Nozaki et al [9] reported 42% yield of D-arabitol from glucose by Xask fermentation with Metschnikowia reukauW.…”

Microbial production of xylitol and other polyols

“…Xylitol phosphate dehydrogenase (XPDH) genes from several Gram-positive bacteria were isolated and expressed in Bacillus subtilis. Expression of XPDH enzyme in d-ribulose and d-xylulose producing B. subtilis strain resulted in d-glucose conversion into xylitol at around 23% yield (Povelainen and Miasnikov, 2006). Genetically engineered S. cerevisae was able to produce only 3.6% sugar alcohols from glucose of which 50% were xylitol (Toivari et al, 2007).…”

Biosynthesis of Xylitol from Glucose: Microorganism, Key Enzymes and Genetically Engineered Strains

“…Xylitol can be produced from glucose using yeast plus Gluconobacter sp. Since glucose can be derived from the starch of resource-rich cassava, corn and other crops, the production of xylitol using glucose as substrate has attracted the attention of many researchers and motivated the sustainable development of xylitol industry [17,18]. During this process, D-arabitol is generated through conversion of glucose by osmophilic yeast first.…”