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A rare sugar xylitol. Part I: the biochemistry and biosynthesis of xylitol

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Abstract

The rare sugar xylitol is a five-carbon polyol (pentitol) that has beneficial health effects. Xylitol has global markets and, therefore, it represents an alternative to current dominant sweeteners. The research on microbial reduction of d-xylose to xylitol has been focused on metabolically engineered Saccharomycess cerevisiae and Candida strains. The Candida strains have an advantage over the metabolically engineered S. cerevisiae in terms of d-xylose uptake and maintenance of the intracellular redox balance. Due to the current industrial scale production of xylitol, it has become an inexpensive starting material for the production of other rare sugar. The first part of this mini-review concentrates on the biochemistry of xylitol biosynthesis and the problems related to intracellular redox balance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rare Sugar Research Center, Kagawa University, Miki-cho, Kagawa, 761-0795, Japan

    Tom Birger Granström & Ken Izumori

  2. Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering, Helsinki University of Technology, P.O. Box 6100, 02015 HUT, Otaniemi, Finland

    Matti Leisola

Authors
  1. Tom Birger Granström
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  2. Ken Izumori
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  3. Matti Leisola
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Correspondence to Tom Birger Granström.

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Granström, T.B., Izumori, K. & Leisola, M. A rare sugar xylitol. Part I: the biochemistry and biosynthesis of xylitol. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 74, 277–281 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0761-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0761-3

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