Production of ethanol from L-arabinose by Saccharomyces cerevisiae containing a fungal L-arabinose pathway

Peter Richard, Ritva Verho, Mikko Putkonen, John Londesborough, Merja Penttilä

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    110 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The fungal pathway for L-arabinose catabolism converts L-arabinose to D-xylulose 5-phosphate in five steps. The intermediates are, in this order: L-arabinitol, L-xylulose, xylitol and D-xylulose. Only some of the genes for the corresponding enzymes were known. We have recently identified the two missing genes for L-arabinitol 4-dehydrogenase and L-xylulose reductase and shown that overexpression of all the genes of the pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae enables growth on L-arabinose. Under anaerobic conditions ethanol is produced from L-arabinose, but at a very low rate. The reasons for the low rate of L-arabinose fermentation are discussed.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)185-189
    Number of pages5
    JournalFEMS Yeast Research
    Volume3
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2003
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

    Keywords

    • L-Arabinitol 4-dehydrogenase
    • L-Arabinose
    • L-Xylulose reductase
    • Pentose fermentation
    • Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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