Enhanced xylitol production: Expression of xylitol dehydrogenase from Gluconobacter oxydans and mixed culture of resting cell

Advanced technological approaches and market status analysis of xylose bioconversion and utilization: Xylooligosacharides and xylonic acid as emerging products

The efficient conversion of xylose is a short board of cask effect to lignocellulosic biorefining, by markedly affecting the total economic and environmental benefits. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the current commercial status of traditional xylose utilization and industrial technology development, this review outlines new technological avenues for the efficient utilization of xylose from lignocellulosic biomass, focusing on super prebiotic xylo-oligosaccharides and multifunctional platform compound xylonic acid. Firstly, the traditional products that can be derived from lignocellulosic xylose, including xylitol (447.88 billion USD in 2022), furfural (662 million USD in 2023), and bioethanol (46.18 billion USD in 2022), are introduced along with the current market status and latest production technologies. Then, the discussion covers the industrial development and production methods of xylo-oligosaccharides, and highlights the potential of xylonic acid, focusing on innovative whole-cell catalysis in a sealed oxygen supply-bioreactor system. Finally, other directions for efficient and high-value utilization of lignocellulosic xylose are summarized, including lactic acid, succinic acid, and 2,3-butanediol. This review aims to provide new perspectives on the utilization and valorization of xylose by summarizing main traditional industrial products and emerging products, thereby promoting the development of the entire lignocellulosic biomass field.

Mixed culture biocatalytic production of the high-value biochemical 7-methylxanthine

BACKGROUND

7-Methylxanthine, a derivative of caffeine noted for its lack of toxicity and ability to treat and even prevent myopia progression, is a high-value biochemical with limited natural availability. Attempts to produce 7-methylxanthine through purely chemical methods of synthesis are faced with complicated chemical processes and/or the requirement of a variety of hazardous chemicals, resulting in low yields and racemic mixtures of products. In recent years, we have developed engineered microbial cells to produce several methylxanthines, including 3-methylxanthine, theobromine, and paraxanthine. The purpose of this study is to establish a more efficient biosynthetic process for the production of 7-methylxanthine from caffeine.

RESULTS

Here, we describe the use of a mixed-culture system composed of Escherichia coli strains engineered as caffeine and theobromine "specialist" cells. Optimal reaction conditions for the maximal conversion of caffeine to 7-methylxanthine were determined to be equal concentrations of caffeine and theobromine specialist cells at an optical density (600 nm) of 50 reacted with 2.5 mM caffeine for 5 h. When scaled-up to 560 mL, the simple biocatalytic reaction produced 183.81 mg 7-methylxanthine from 238.38 mg caffeine under ambient conditions, an 85.6% molar conversion. Following HPLC purification and solvent evaporation, 153.3 mg of dried 7-methylxanthine powder was collected, resulting in an 83.4% product recovery.

CONCLUSION

We present the first report of a biocatalytic process designed specifically for the production and purification of the high-value biochemical 7-methylxanthine from caffeine using a mixed culture of E. coli strains. This process constitutes the most efficient method for the production of 7-methylxanthine from caffeine to date.

Oxidative Fermentation of Acetic Acid Bacteria and Its Products

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are a group of Gram-negative, strictly aerobic bacteria, including 19 reported genera until 2021, which are widely found on the surface of flowers and fruits, or in traditionally fermented products. Many AAB strains have the great abilities to incompletely oxidize a large variety of carbohydrates, alcohols and related compounds to the corresponding products mainly including acetic acid, gluconic acid, gulonic acid, galactonic acid, sorbose, dihydroxyacetone and miglitol via the membrane-binding dehydrogenases, which is termed as AAB oxidative fermentation (AOF). Up to now, at least 86 AOF products have been reported in the literatures, but no any monograph or review of them has been published. In this review, at first, we briefly introduce the classification progress of AAB due to the rapid changes of AAB classification in recent years, then systematically describe the enzymes involved in AOF and classify the AOF products. Finally, we summarize the application of molecular biology technologies in AOF researches.

Biological and Pharmacological Potential of Xylitol: A Molecular Insight of Unique Metabolism

Xylitol is a white crystalline, amorphous sugar alcohol and low-calorie sweetener. Xylitol prevents demineralization of teeth and bones, otitis media infection, respiratory tract infections, inflammation and cancer progression. NADPH generated in xylitol metabolism aid in the treatment of glucose-6-phosphate deficiency-associated hemolytic anemia. Moreover, it has a negligible effect on blood glucose and plasma insulin levels due to its unique metabolism. Its diverse applications in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food and polymer industries fueled its market growth and made it one of the top 12 bio-products. Recently, xylitol has also been used as a drug carrier due to its high permeability and non-toxic nature. However, it become a challenge to fulfil the rapidly increasing market demand of xylitol. Xylitol is present in fruit and vegetables, but at very low concentrations, which is not adequate to satisfy the consumer demand. With the passage of time, other methods including chemical catalysis, microbial and enzymatic biotransformation, have also been developed for its large-scale production. Nevertheless, large scale production still suffers from high cost of production. In this review, we summarize some alternative approaches and recent advancements that significantly improve the yield and lower the cost of production.

Characterisation of a catalytic triad and reaction selectivity in the dual mechanism of the catalyse hydride transfer in xylitol phosphate dehydrogenase

Xylitol is a high-value low-calorie sweetener used as sugar substitute in food and pharmaceutical industry. Xylitol phosphate dehydrogenase (XPDH) catalyses the conversion of d-xylulose 5-phosphate (XU5P) and d-ribulose 5-phosphate (RU5P) to xylitol and ribitol respectively in the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydride (NADH). Although these enzymes have been shown to produce xylitol and ribitol, there is an incomplete understanding of the mechanism of the catalytic events of these reactions and the detailed mechanism has yet to be elucidated. The main goal of this work is to analyse the conformational changes of XPDH-bound ligands such as zinc^, NADH, XU5P, and RU5P to elucidate the key amino acids involved in the substrate binding. In silico modelling, comparative molecular dynamics simulations, interaction analysis and conformational study were carried out on three XPDH enzymes of the Medium-chain dehydrogenase (MDR) family in order to elucidate the atomistic details of conformational transition, especially on the open and closed state of XPDH. The analysis also revealed the possible mechanism of substrate specificity that are responsible in the catalyse hydride transfer are the residues His58 and Ser39 which would act as the proton donor for reduction of XU5P and RU5P respectively. The structural comparison and MD simulations displayed a significant difference in the conformational dynamics of the catalytic and coenzyme loops between Apo and XPDH-complexes and highlight the contribution of newly found triad residues. This study would assist future mutagenesis study and enzyme modification work to increase the catalysis efficiency of xylitol production in the industry.

Random mutagenesis of Clostridium butyricum strain and optimization of biosynthesis process for enhanced production of 1,3-propanediol

The aim of this work was to study the random mutagenesis of Clostridium butyricum strain. A high 1,3-PD tolerant mutant strain, designated as C. butyricum YP855, was developed from the wild strain C. butyricum XYB11, using combined chemical (NTG, N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine,) and plasma-based mutagenesis (ARTP, atmospheric and room temperature plasma). The YP855 showed a maximum tolerance of 85 g/L to 1,3-PD (up to 30.8% increase) when compared with the tolerance exhibited by the wild strain. Under the optimum conditions as established by the response surface methodology (RSM), the mutant strain produced 37.20 g/L of 1,3-PD, which is 29.48% higher than the concentration obtained from the wild strain (28.73 g/L). This research would offer information for further development of the biosynthesis of 1,3-PD by the mutant strain of C. butyricum.

Production of xylitol by expressing xylitol dehydrogenase and alcohol dehydrogenase from Gluconobacter thailandicus and co-biotransformation of whole cells

In the present study, recombinant strains were constructed for xylitol production by cloning and expressing the novel xylitol dehydrogenase (xdh) and alcohol dehydrogenase (adh) genes in E. coli BL21 (DE3) from Gluconobacter thailandicus CGMCC1.3748. The optimum pH, temperature, specific activity and kinetic parameters were further investigated for purified XDH. The co-culture of G. thailandicus (30 g/L), BL21-xdh (20 g/L) and BL21-adh (20 g/L) produced 34.34 g/L of xylitol after 48 h in the presence of 40 g/L d-arabitol and 2% ethanol. The concentration of xylitol produced in this co-biotransformation was found to be 2.7-folds higher than the xylitol yield of G. thailandicus alone, while the yield was increased by 4.8% when compared to that of G. thailandicus mixed with BL21-xdh under the similar experimental conditions.

Improved xylitol production by expressing a novel d-arabitol dehydrogenase from isolated Gluconobacter sp. JX-05 and co-biotransformation of whole cells

In the present study, a novel ardh gene encoding d-arabitol dehydrogenase (ArDH) was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli from a new isolated strain of Gluconobacter sp. JX-05. Sequence analysis revealed that ArDH containing a NAD(P)-binding motif and a classical active site motif belongs to the short-chain dehydrogenase family. Subsequently, the optimal pH and temperature, specific activities and kinetic parameter of ArDH were determined. In the co-biotransformation by the whole cells of BL21-ardh and BL21-xdh, 26.1g/L xylitol was produced from 30g/L d-arabitol in 22h with a yield of 0.87g/g. The xylitol production was increased by more than two times as compared with that of Gluconobacter sp. alone, and was improved 10.1% than that of Gluconobacter sp. mixed with BL21-xdh.