Deleting the para-nitrophenyl phosphatase (pNPPase), PHO13, in recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae improves growth and ethanol production on D-xylose

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2008

Overexpression of D-xylulokinase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae engineered for assimilation of xylose results in growth inhibition that is more pronounced at higher xylose concentrations. Mutants deficient in the para-nitrophenyl phosphatase, PHO13, resist growth inhibition on xylose. We studied this inhibition under aerobic growth conditions in well-controlled bioreactors using engineered S. cerevisiae CEN.PK. Growth on glucose was not significantly affected in pho13∆ mutants, but acetate production increased by 75%. Cell growth, ethanol production, and xylose consumption all increased markedly in pho13∆ mutants. The specific growth rate and rate of specific xylose uptake were approximately 1.5 times higher in the deletion strain than in the parental strain when growing on glucose-xylose mixtures and up to 10-fold higher when growing on xylose alone. In addition to showing higher acetate levels, pho13∆ mutants also produced less glycerol on xylose, suggesting that deletion of Pho13p could improve growth by altering redox levels when cells are grown on xylose.