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l-Arabinose metabolism in Candida arabinofermentans PYCC 5603T and Pichia guilliermondii PYCC 3012: influence of sugar and oxygen on product formation

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Abstract

l-Arabinose utilization by the yeasts Candida arabinofermentans PYCC 5603T and Pichia guilliermondii PYCC 3012 was investigated in aerobic batch cultures and compared, under similar conditions, to d-glucose and d-xylose metabolism. At high aeration levels, only biomass was formed from all the three sugars. When oxygen became limited, ethanol was produced from d-glucose, demonstrating a fermentative pathway in these yeasts. However, pentoses were essentially respired and, under oxygen limitation, the respective polyols accumulated—arabitol from l-arabinose and xylitol from d-xylose. Different l-arabinose concentrations and oxygen conditions were tested to better understand l-arabinose metabolism. P. guilliermondii PYCC 3012 excreted considerably more arabitol from l-arabinose (and also xylitol from d-xylose) than C. arabinofermentans PYCC 5603T. In contrast to the latter, P. guilliermondii PYCC 3012 did not produce any traces of ethanol in complex l-arabinose (80 g/l) medium under oxygen-limited conditions. Neither sustained growth nor active metabolism was observed under anaerobiosis. This study demonstrates, for the first time, the oxygen dependence of metabolite and product formation in l-arabinose-assimilating yeasts.

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Acknowledgement

This work was funded in part by the European Project “Novel bioprocesses for hemicellulose up-grading” (BIO-HUG), “Quality of Life” Programme (QLK3-00080-1999).

C.F. was a recipient of Marie Curie Fellowships, Program “Quantitative Characterization of Industrial Microorganisms (QCIM)–Marie Curie Training Site” (QLK3-CT-1999-51355 and QLK3-CT-2001-60077) and a Ph.D. fellowship (SFRH/BD/6794/2001) from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Recursos Microbiológicos (CREM), Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal

    César Fonseca & Isabel Spencer-Martins

  2. Department of Applied Microbiology, Lund University, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden

    César Fonseca & Bärbel Hahn-Hägerdal

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  1. César Fonseca
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  2. Isabel Spencer-Martins
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  3. Bärbel Hahn-Hägerdal
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Correspondence to Bärbel Hahn-Hägerdal.

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Fonseca, C., Spencer-Martins, I. & Hahn-Hägerdal, B. l-Arabinose metabolism in Candida arabinofermentans PYCC 5603T and Pichia guilliermondii PYCC 3012: influence of sugar and oxygen on product formation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 75, 303–310 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0830-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0830-7

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