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Ethanol production from xylose with a pyruvate-formate-lyase mutant of Klebsiella planticola carrying a pyruvate-decarboxylase gene from Zymomonas mobilis

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Summary

Grown anaerobically on d-xylose, Klebsiella planticola ATCC 33531 produced acetate, formate, lactate, CO2 and ethanol as major end-products. A Mu-insertion mutant which lacked pyruvate-formate-lyase showed among its fermentation products more than 70% d-lactate with residual acetate, 2,3-butanediol, and traces of ethanol, formate, and CO2. After the introduction of a plasmid carrying the gene for the enzyme pyruvate decarboxylase from Zymomonas mobilis, this Klebsiella mutant became an efficient ethanol producer. The recombinant strain produced 387 mM ethanol from 275 mM xylose in 80 h, about 83% of the theoretical maximal yield. Furthermore, this mutant consumed more than double the amount of xylose (41 g/l) compared to the wild-type, due to reduced production of inhibiting acids during growth.

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Dedicated to Professor Dr. Zähner on the occasion of his 60th birthday

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Feldmann, S., Sprenger, G.A. & Sahm, H. Ethanol production from xylose with a pyruvate-formate-lyase mutant of Klebsiella planticola carrying a pyruvate-decarboxylase gene from Zymomonas mobilis . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 31, 152–157 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00262454

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00262454

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