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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2002, p. 4534-4538, Vol. 68, No. 9
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.9.4534-4538.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Fumarate-Mediated Inhibition of Erythrose Reductase, a Key Enzyme for Erythritol Production by Torula corallina

Jung-Kul Lee,1* Bong-Seong Koo,1 and Sang-Yong Kim2

BioNgene Co., Ltd., Chongro-Ku, Seoul, Korea 110-521,1 Bolak Co., Ltd., Yangkam-Myun Hwasung-Si Kyongki-Do, Korea 445-9302

Received 26 December 2001/ Accepted 25 June 2002

Torula corallina, a strain presently being used for the industrial production of erythritol, has the highest erythritol yield ever reported for an erythritol-producing microorganism. The increased production of erythritol by Torula corallina with trace elements such as Cu2+ has been thoroughly reported, but the mechanism by which Cu2+ increases the production of erythritol has not been studied. This study demonstrated that supplemental Cu2+ enhanced the production of erythritol, while it significantly decreased the production of a major by-product that accumulates during erythritol fermentation, which was identified as fumarate by instrumental analyses. Erythrose reductase, a key enzyme that converts erythrose to erythritol in T. corallina, was purified to homogeneity by chromatographic methods, including ion-exchange and affinity chromatography. In vitro, purified erythrose reductase was significantly inhibited noncompetitively by increasing the fumarate concentration. In contrast, the enzyme activity remained almost constant regardless of Cu2+ concentration. This suggests that supplemental Cu2+ reduced the production of fumarate, a strong inhibitor of erythrose reductase, which led to less inhibition of erythrose reductase and a high yield of erythritol. This is the first report that suggests catabolite repression by a tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate in T. corallina.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: BioNgene Co., Ltd., 10-1, 1Ka Myungryun-dong, Chongro-Ku, Seoul, Korea 110-521. Phone: 82-2-747-0700. Fax: 82-2-747-0750. E-mail: jkrhee{at}biongene.com.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2002, p. 4534-4538, Vol. 68, No. 9
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.9.4534-4538.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Lee, J.-K., Kim, S.-Y., Ryu, Y.-W., Seo, J.-H., Kim, J.-H. (2003). Purification and Characterization of a Novel Erythrose Reductase from Candida magnoliae. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 3710-3718 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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