A strain JX23 was isolated from soil and identified as a species of Mucor according to the morphological characteristics and the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer sequence and designated as Mucor sp. JX23. Biotransformations of cinnamaldehyde (CMD), cinnamic acid (CMA) and acetophenone (ACP) catalyzed by JX23 were investigated. After JX23 was cultured for 48 h, the substrates CMD, CMA and ACP were added to the growth medium respectively and the products were analyzed by GC-MS and HPLC. Mucor sp. JX23 exhibited considerable redox capability and different catalytic specificity to CMD, CMA and ACP. CMD was selectively hydrogenated to cinnamyl alcohol. CMA was biotransformed to ACP with a, b-oxidation like degradation, and ACP could not be reduced further by JX23. When ACP was added as substrate, it could be asymmetrically reduced to (S)-(-)-1-phenylethyl alcohol (S-PEA) with high stereoselectivity (90%). Further, the biotransformations of different binary mixture substrates with JX23 were also studied. The biocatalytic selectivity depended on the relationship between the binary mixtures in above-mentioned reaction.

Kluyveromyces marxianus GX-15 was mutated multiple times by alternately treatment with UV irradiation and NTG for two cycles. Four mutant strains with improved ethanol yield were obtained. The maximum ethanol concentration, ethanol yield coefficient and theoretical ethanol yield of the best mutant strain, GX-UN120, was 69 g/l, 0.46 g/g and 91%, respectively, when fermenting 150 g glucose/l at 40°C. The corresponding values for GX-15 were 58 g/l, 0.39 g/g and 76%, respectively. GX-UN120 grew well in 11% (v/v) of ethanol, while GX-15 could not grow when ethanol was greater than 8% (v/v).

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BackgroundKluyveromyces marxianus has recently become a species of interest for ethanol production since it can produce ethanol at high temperature and on a wide variety of substrates. However, the reason why this yeast can produce ethanol at high temperature is largely unknown.ResultsThe ethanol fermentation capability of K. marxianus GX-UN120 at 40°С was found to be the same as that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 34°С. Zymogram analysis showed that alcohol dehydrogenase 1 (KmAdh1) was largely induced during ethanol production, KmAdh4 was constitutively expressed at a lower level and KmAdh2 and KmAdh3 were almost undetectable. The genes encoding the four alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) were cloned from strain GX-UN120. Each KmADH was expressed in Escherichia coli and each recombinant protein was digested with enterokinase to remove the fusion protein. The optimum pH of the purified recombinant KmAdh1 was 8.0 and that of KmAdh2, KmAdh3 and KmAdh4 was 7.0. The optimum temperatures of KmAdh1, KmAdh2, KmAdh3 and KmAdh4 were 50, 45, 55 and 45°C, respectively. The Km values of the recombinant KmAdh1 and KmAdh2 were 4.0 and 1.2 mM for acetaldehyde and 39.7 and 49.5 mM for ethanol, respectively. The Vmax values of the recombinant KmAdh1 and KmAdh2 were 114.9 and 21.6 μmol min-1 mg-1 for acetaldehyde and 57.5 and 1.8 μmol min-1 mg-1 for ethanol, respectively. KmAdh3 and KmAdh4 catalyze the oxidation reaction of ethanol to acetaldehyde but not the reduction reaction of acetaldehyde to ethanol, and the K m values of the recombinant KmAdh3 and KmAdh4 were 26.0 and 17.0 mM for ethanol, respectively. The Vmax values of the recombinant KmAdh3 and KmAdh4 were 12.8 and 56.2 μmol min-1 mg-1 for ethanol, respectively.ConclusionThese data in this study collectively indicate that KmAdh1 is the primary ADH responsible for the production of ethanol from the reduction of acetaldehyde in K. marxianus. The relatively high optimum temperature of KmAdh1 may partially explain the ability of K. marxianus to produce ethanol at high temperature. Understanding the biochemical characteristics of KmAdhs will enhance our fundamental knowledge of the metabolism of ethanol fermentation in K. marxianus.

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