Simultaneous consumption of glucose and fructose from sugar mixtures during batch growth of Corynebacterium glutamicum

Abstract

Growth of Corynebacterium glutamicum on mixtures of glucose and fructose leads to simultaneous consumption of both sugars in which the uptake of each sugar is directly related to the expression of the corresponding sugar uptake mechanism. The overall rate of sugar uptake was higher on sugar mixtures than on either glucose or fructose alone and was similar to that observed during sucrose metabolism. The results suggest that sugar uptake limits metabolic rates though, in the case of fructose, overflow metabolism of both lactate and dihydroxyacetone was observed. Such products could reflect a higher flux through glycolysis rather than the pentose pathway during catabolism of fructose.