Succinic Acid Production from Corn Cob Hydrolysates by Genetically Engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum

• DOI: 10.1007/s12010-013-0539-x
• Publication Date: 2013-09-30T00:53:29Z
• Authors: Chen Wang; Hengli Zhang; Heng Cai; Zhihui Zhou; Yilu Chen; Yali Chen; Pingkai Ouyang
• Keywords: Corynebacterium glutamicum; Succinic acid; Metabolic Engineering; Xylose metabolism

Corynebacterium glutamicum wild type lacks the ability to utilize the xylose fractions of lignocellulosic hydrolysates. In the present work, we constructed a xylose metabolic pathway in C. glutamicum by heterologous expression of the xylA and xylB genes coming from Escherichia coli. Dilute-acid hydrolysates of corn cobs containing xylose and glucose were used as a substrate for succinic acid production by recombinant C. glutamicum NC-2. The results indicated that the available activated charcoal pretreatment in dilute-acid hydrolysates of corn cobs could be able to overcome the inhibitory effect in succinic acid production. Succinic acid was shown to be efficiently produced from corn cob hydrolysates (55 g l(-1) xylose and 4 g l(-1) glucose) under oxygen deprivation with addition of sodium carbonate. Succinic acid concentration reached 40.8 g l(-1) with a yield of 0.69 g g(-1) total sugars within 48 h. It was the first report of succinic acid production from corn cob hydrolysates by metabolically engineered C. glutamicum. This study suggested that dilute-acid hydrolysates of corn cobs may be an alternative substrate for the efficient production of succinic acid by C. glutamicum.