Open AccessMicrobial Production of Glyceric Acid, an Organic Acid That Can Be Mass Produced from Glycerol
Author(s) -
Hiroshi Habe,
Yuko Shimada,
Toshiharu Yakushi,
Hirotsugu Hattori,
Yoshitaka Ano,
Tokuma Fukuoka,
Daï Kitamoto,
Masayuki Itagaki,
Kunihiro Watanabe,
Hiroshi Yanagishita,
Kazunobu Matsushita,
Keiji Sakaki
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
applied and environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.552
H-Index - 324
eISSN - 1070-6291
pISSN - 0099-2240
DOI - 10.1128/aem.01535-09
Subject(s) - glycerol , 1,3 propanediol , dihydroxyacetone , chemistry , acetic acid , fermentation , biodiesel production , glyceric acid , food science , biochemistry , chromatography , bioproduction , biodiesel , catalysis
Glyceric acid (GA), an unfamiliar biotechnological product, is currently produced as a small by-product of dihydroxyacetone production from glycerol byGluconobacter oxydans . We developed a method for the efficient biotechnological production of GA as a target compound for new surplus glycerol applications in the biodiesel and oleochemical industries. We investigated the ability of 162 acetic acid bacterial strains to produce GA from glycerol and found that the patterns of productivity and enantiomeric GA compositions obtained from several strains differed significantly. The growth parameters of two different strain types,Gluconobacter frateurii NBRC103465 andAcetobacter tropicalis NBRC16470, were optimized using a jar fermentor.G. frateurii accumulated 136.5 g/liter of GA with a 72%d -GA enantiomeric excess (ee) in the culture broth, whereasA. tropicalis produced 101.8 g/liter ofd -GA with a 99% ee. The 136.5 g/liter of glycerate in the culture broth was concentrated to 236.5 g/liter by desalting electrodialysis during the 140-min operating time, and then, from 50 ml of the concentrated solution, 9.35 g of GA calcium salt was obtained by crystallization. Gene disruption analysis usingG. oxydans IFO12528 revealed that the membrane-bound alcohol dehydrogenase (mADH)-encoding gene (adhA ) is required for GA production, and purified mADH fromG. oxydans IFO12528 catalyzed the oxidation of glycerol. These results strongly suggest that mADH is involved in GA production by acetic acid bacteria. We propose that GA is potentially mass producible from glycerol feedstock by a biotechnological process.