Impact of overexpressing NADH kinase on glucose and xylose metabolism in recombinant xylose-utilizing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis>

During growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on glucose, the redox cofactors NADH and NADPH are predominantly involved in catabolism and biosynthesis, respectively. A deviation from the optimal level of these cofactors often results in major changes in the substrate uptake and biomass formation. However, the metabolism of xylose by recombinant S. cerevisiae carrying xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase from the fungal pathway requires both NADH and NADPH and creates cofactor imbalance during growth on xylose. As one possible solution to overcoming this imbalance, the effect of overexpressing the native NADH kinase (encoded by the POS5 gene) in xylose-consuming recombinant S. cerevisiae directed either into the cytosol or to the mitochondria was evaluated. The physiology of the NADH kinase containing strains was also evaluated during growth on glucose. Overexpressing NADH kinase in the cytosol redirected carbon flow from CO₂ to ethanol during aerobic growth on glucose and to ethanol and acetate during anaerobic growth on glucose. However, cytosolic NADH kinase has an opposite effect during anaerobic metabolism of xylose consumption by channeling carbon flow from ethanol to xylitol. In contrast, overexpressing NADH kinase in the mitochondria did not affect the physiology to a large extent. Overall, although NADH kinase did not increase the rate of xylose consumption, we believe that it can provide an important source of NADPH in yeast, which can be useful for metabolic engineering strategies where the redox fluxes are manipulated.     

A genetic overhaul of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> 424A(LNH-ST) to improve xylose fermentation

Robust microorganisms are necessary for economical bioethanol production. However, such organisms must be able to effectively ferment both hexose and pentose sugars present in lignocellulosic hydrolysate to ethanol. Wild type Saccharomyces cerevisiae can rapidly ferment hexose, but cannot ferment pentose sugars. Considerable efforts were made to genetically engineer S. cerevisiae to ferment xylose. Our genetically engineered S cerevisiae yeast, 424A(LNH-ST), expresses NADPH/NADH xylose reductase (XR) that prefer NADPH and NAD⁺-dependent xylitol dehydrogenase (XD) from Pichia stipitis, and overexpresses endogenous xylulokinase (XK). This strain is able to ferment glucose and xylose, as well as other hexose sugars, to ethanol. However, the preference for different cofactors by XR and XD might lead to redox imbalance, xylitol excretion, and thus might reduce ethanol yield and productivity. In the present study, genes responsible for the conversion of xylose to xylulose with different cofactor specificity (1) XR from N. crassa (NADPH-dependent) and C. parapsilosis (NADH-dependent), and (2) mutant XD from P. stipitis (containing three mutations D207A/I208R/F209S) were overexpressed in wild type yeast. To increase the NADPH pool, the fungal GAPDH enzyme from Kluyveromyces lactis was overexpressed in the 424A(LNH-ST) strain. Four pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) genes, TKL1, TAL1, RKI1 and RPE1 from S. cerevisiae, were also overexpressed in 424A(LNH-ST). Overexpression of GAPDH lowered xylitol production by more than 40%. However, other strains carrying different combinations of XR and XD, as well as new strains containing the overexpressed PPP genes, did not yield any significant improvement in xylose fermentation.     

Metabolic pathway optimization for biosynthesis of 1,2,4-butanetriol from xylose by engineered Escherichia coli

1,2,4-Butanetriol (BT) and related derivatives have been widely used in many fields, especially in the military and in medicine. In this paper, we systematically optimized the BT biosynthetic pathway. We first investigated the activities of various NADH dependent aldehyde reductases (ALRs), which catalyze the fourth reaction in the four-step pathway for BT production from xylose in E. coli, and found that a combination of multiple endogenous enzymes catalyzed aldehyde reduction in the BT production bioprocess and that YqhD in E. coli was a main ALR for BT production. In addition, ADH2 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae can effectively catalyze 3,4-dihydroxybutanal to BT. Also, YjhG was identified as the major xylonate dehydratase and was co-overexpressed with YqhD, resulting in an improvement of BT production by 30%. Moreover, we identified and eliminated the competing branch pathway by inactivating 2-keto acid reductases (yiaE). Finally, the combination of these approaches led to BT production of 5.1 g/L. In summary, our study provides insights into the biosynthetic pathway for BT production, demonstrates an effective strategy to enhance BT production, and paves the way toward in-depth research on BT biosynthesis.     

Enhanced production of 3,4-dihydroxybutyrate from xylose by engineered yeast via xylonate re-assimilation under alkaline condition

To realize lignocellulose-based bioeconomy, efficient conversion of xylose into valuable chemicals by microbes is necessary. Xylose oxidative pathways that oxidize xylose into xylonate can be more advantageous than conventional xylose assimilation pathways because of fewer reaction steps without loss of carbon and ATP. Moreover, commodity chemicals like 3,4-dihydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxybutyrolactone can be produced from the intermediates of xylose oxidative pathway. However, successful implementations of xylose oxidative pathway in yeast have been hindered because of the secretion and accumulation of xylonate which is a key intermediate of the pathway, leading to low yield of target product. Here, high-yield production of 3,4-dihydroxybutyrate from xylose by engineered yeast was achieved through genetic and environmental perturbations. Specifically, 3,4-dihydroxybutyrate biosynthetic pathway was established in yeast through deletion of ADH6 and overexpression of yneI. Also, inspired by the mismatch of pH between host strain and key enzyme of XylD, alkaline fermentations (pH ≥ 7.0) were performed to minimize xylonate accumulation. Under the alkaline conditions, xylonate was re-assimilated by engineered yeast and combined product yields of 3,4-dihydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxybutyrolactone resulted in 0.791 mol/mol-xylose, which is highest compared with previous study. These results shed light on the utility of the xylose oxidative pathway in yeast.     

副产物途径的缺失对大肠杆菌合成D-1,2,4-丁三醇的影响

【目的】敲除副产物途径,提高重组大肠杆菌D-1,2,4-丁三醇(D-1,2,4-Butanetriol,BT)产量。【方法】利用Red重组技术敲除木糖途径xyl AB基因及2-酮-3-脱氧木糖酸代谢途径的yag E及yjh H基因,考察其对重组菌生长、BT生产及副产物积累的影响。【结果】敲除xyl AB基因后,重组菌生物量降低57%,BT产量降低20%,单位菌体产量提高84%,木糖酸积累量提高52%。yag E或yjh H基因单独缺失重组菌生物量分别提高10%和5%,BT产量提高36%和14%。基因共同缺失后重组菌生物量降低了21%,BT产量提高184%,达到2.44 g/L,单位菌体产量提高258%。而共同敲除两途径,生物量降低了72%,虽然单位菌体产量提高了约4倍,但BT产量仅提高43%。p H调控下,重组菌木糖酸积累量下降,BT产量进一步提高,最高达3.11 g/L。【结论】xyl AB基因缺失后,虽有利于提高BT途径的效率,但由于木糖无法进入PPP途径及木糖酸积累,造成生物量降低,不利于BT合成。单独敲除yag E或yjh H后BT产量略有提高,而共同敲除这两基因更为有效地调整碳流向BT合成偏转。两途径共同敲除利于BT的合成,但由于菌体量的减少,无法大量获得BT。     

Fermentation of mixed glucose-xylose substrates by engineered strains of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis>: role of the coenzyme specificity of xylose reductase,and effect of glucose on xylose utilization

Background  

In spite of the substantial metabolic engineering effort previously devoted to the development of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains capable of fermenting both the hexose and pentose sugars present in lignocellulose hydrolysates, the productivity of reported strains for conversion of the naturally most abundant pentose, xylose, is still a major issue of process efficiency. Protein engineering for targeted alteration of the nicotinamide cofactor specificity of enzymes catalyzing the first steps in the metabolic pathway for xylose was a successful approach of reducing xylitol by-product formation and improving ethanol yield from xylose. The previously reported yeast strain BP10001, which expresses heterologous xylose reductase from Candida tenuis in mutated (NADH-preferring) form, stands for a series of other yeast strains designed with similar rational. Using 20 g/L xylose as sole source of carbon, BP10001 displayed a low specific uptake rate q _xylose (g xylose/g dry cell weight/h) of 0.08. The study presented herein was performed with the aim of analysing (external) factors that limit q _xylose of BP10001 under xylose-only and mixed glucose-xylose substrate conditions. We also carried out a comprehensive investigation on the currently unclear role of coenzyme utilization, NADPH compared to NADH, for xylose reduction during co-fermentation of glucose and xylose.     

Altering the coenzyme preference of xylose reductase to favor utilization of NADH enhances ethanol yield from xylose in a metabolically engineered strain of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis>

Background  

Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for xylose fermentation into fuel ethanol has oftentimes relied on insertion of a heterologous pathway that consists of xylose reductase (XR) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) and brings about isomerization of xylose into xylulose via xylitol. Incomplete recycling of redox cosubstrates in the catalytic steps of the NADPH-preferring XR and the NAD⁺-dependent XDH results in formation of xylitol by-product and hence in lowering of the overall yield of ethanol on xylose. Structure-guided site-directed mutagenesis was previously employed to change the coenzyme preference of Candida tenuis XR about 170-fold from NADPH in the wild-type to NADH in a Lys²⁷⁴→Arg Asn²⁷⁶→Asp double mutant which in spite of the structural modifications introduced had retained the original catalytic efficiency for reduction of xylose by NADH. This work was carried out to assess physiological consequences in xylose-fermenting S. cerevisiae resulting from a well defined alteration of XR cosubstrate specificity.     

Altering coenzyme specificity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pichia stipitis</Emphasis> xylose reductase by the semi-rational approach CASTing

Background  

The NAD(P)H-dependent Pichia stipitis xylose reductase (PsXR) is one of the key enzymes for xylose fermentation, and has been cloned into the commonly used ethanol-producing yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In order to eliminate the redox imbalance resulting from the preference of this enzyme toward NADPH, efforts have been made to alter the coenzyme specificity of PsXR by site-directed mutagenesis, with limited success. Given the industrial importance of PsXR, it is of interest to investigate further ways to create mutants of PsXR that prefers NADH rather than NADPH, by the alternative directed evolution approach.     

Exploiting the NADPH pool for xylitol production using recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that has a variety of uses in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In xylose assimilating yeasts, NAD(P)H-dependent xylose reductase (XR) catalyzes the reduction of xylose to xylitol. In the present study, XR with varying cofactor specificities was overexpressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to screen for efficient xylitol production. Xylose consumption and xylitol yields were higher when NADPH-dependent enzymes (Candida tropicalis XR and S. cerevisiae Gre3p aldose reductase) were expressed, indicating that heterologous enzymes can utilize the intracellular NADPH pool more efficiently than the NADH pool, where they may face competition from native enzymes. This was confirmed by overexpression of a NADH-preferring C. tropicalis XR mutant, which led to decreased xylose consumption and lower xylitol yield. To increase intracellular NADPH availability for xylitol production, the promoter of the ZWF1 gene, coding for the first enzyme of the NADPH-generating pentose phosphate pathway, was replaced with the constitutive GPD promoter in a strain expressing C. tropicalis XR. This change led to a ~12% increase in xylitol yield. Deletion of XYL2 and SOR1, whose gene products can use xylitol as substrate, did not further increase xylitol yield. Using wheat stalk hydrolysate as source of xylose, the constructed strain efficiently produced xylitol, demonstrating practical relevance of this approach.     

代谢改造克雷伯氏菌合成D-1,2,4-丁三醇

【背景】D-1,2,4-丁三醇(D-1,2,4-butanetriol,BT)是一种重要的四碳多元醇,应用范围广,以木糖为底物的四步生化反应是目前最高效的BT生物合成路线。但大肠杆菌宿主存在严重的碳代谢抑制,限制了工程菌在木糖葡萄糖混合糖下的生长和BT合成。然而克雷伯氏菌具有生长速度更快、葡萄糖木糖混合糖利用效果好等优点。【目的】在碳代谢抑制效应较弱的克雷伯氏菌中构建以木糖为底物的BT合成途径,以提高混合糖下BT合成能力。【方法】将来源于Clostridium crescenti的木糖脱氢酶基因xdh和来源于Lactococcus lactis的2-酮异戊酸脱羧酶基因kivD及来源于Escherichia coli W3110的木糖酸脱水酶基因yjhG克隆至KlebsiellapneumoniaeZG25,得到重组菌K.pneumoniae ZG25-BT,对重组菌进行培养条件和培养基优化,进一步敲除xylA以提高BT产量。【结果】在37°C、200 r/min、接种量1%、诱导时间2 h、添加10.0 g/L CaCO3控制pH条件下,敲除xylA的重组菌在1.5倍LB培养基中以30.0 g/L木糖和10.0 g/L葡萄糖为底物,BT的产量达到4.52 g/L,摩尔转化率为0.21mol/mol,收率为15%,较优化前分别提高150%、62%和67%。【结论】实现了BT在K.pneumoniaeZG25中的发酵生产,同时通过培养条件和培养基的优化及xylA的敲除提高了BT合成能力,为进一步实验奠定了基础。     

Reduced Oxidative Pentose Phosphate Pathway Flux in Recombinant Xylose-Utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains Improves the Ethanol Yield from Xylose

In recombinant, xylose-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae, about 30% of the consumed xylose is converted to xylitol. Xylitol production results from a cofactor imbalance, since xylose reductase uses both NADPH and NADH, while xylitol dehydrogenase uses only NAD⁺. In this study we increased the ethanol yield and decreased the xylitol yield by lowering the flux through the NADPH-producing pentose phosphate pathway. The pentose phosphate pathway was blocked either by disruption of the GND1 gene, one of the isogenes of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, or by disruption of the ZWF1 gene, which encodes glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Decreasing the phosphoglucose isomerase activity by 90% also lowered the pentose phosphate pathway flux. These modifications all resulted in lower xylitol yield and higher ethanol yield than in the control strains. TMB3255, carrying a disruption of ZWF1, gave the highest ethanol yield (0.41 g g⁻¹) and the lowest xylitol yield (0.05 g g⁻¹) reported for a xylose-fermenting recombinant S. cerevisiae strain, but also an 84% lower xylose consumption rate. The low xylose fermentation rate is probably due to limited NADPH-mediated xylose reduction. Metabolic flux modeling of TMB3255 confirmed that the NADPH-producing pentose phosphate pathway was blocked and that xylose reduction was mediated only by NADH, leading to a lower rate of xylose consumption. These results indicate that xylitol production is strongly connected to the flux through the oxidative part of the pentose phosphate pathway.     

Metabolic Engineering of a Phosphoketolase Pathway for Pentose Catabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Low ethanol yields on xylose hamper economically viable ethanol production from hemicellulose-rich plant material with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A major obstacle is the limited capacity of yeast for anaerobic reoxidation of NADH. Net reoxidation of NADH could potentially be achieved by channeling carbon fluxes through a recombinant phosphoketolase pathway. By heterologous expression of phosphotransacetylase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in combination with the native phosphoketolase, we installed a functional phosphoketolase pathway in the xylose-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain TMB3001c. Consequently the ethanol yield was increased by 25% because less of the by-product xylitol was formed. The flux through the recombinant phosphoketolase pathway was about 30% of the optimum flux that would be required to completely eliminate xylitol and glycerol accumulation. Further overexpression of phosphoketolase, however, increased acetate accumulation and reduced the fermentation rate. By combining the phosphoketolase pathway with the ald6 mutation, which reduced acetate formation, a strain with an ethanol yield 20% higher and a xylose fermentation rate 40% higher than those of its parent was engineered.     

Improved 1, 2, 4-butanetriol production from an engineered <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> by co-expression of different chaperone proteins

1, 2, 4-Butanetriol (BT) is a high-value non-natural chemical and has important applications in polymers, medical production and military industry. In the constructed BT biosynthesis pathway from xylose in Escherichia coli, the xylose dehydrogenase (Xdh) and the benzoylformate decarboxylase (MdlC) are heterologous enzymes and the activity of MdlC is the key limiting factor for BT production. In this study, six chaperone protein systems were introduced into the engineered E. coli harboring the recombinant BT pathway. The chaperone GroES–GroEL was beneficial to Xdh activity but had a negative effect on MdlC activity and BT titer. The plasmid pTf16 containing the tig gene (trigger factor) was beneficial to Xdh and MdlC activities and improved the BT titer from 0.42 to 0.56 g/l from 20 g/l xylose. However, co-expression of trigger factor and GroES–GroEL simultaneously reduced the activity of MdlC and had no effect on the BT production. The plasmid pKJE7 harboring dnaK–dnaJ–grpE showed significant negative effects on these enzyme activities and cell growth, leading to completely restrained the BT production. Similarly, co-expression of DnaKJ–GrpPE and GroES–GroEL simultaneously reduced Xdh and MdlC activities and decreased the BT titer by 45.2 %. The BT production of the engineered E. coli harboring pTf16 was further improved to the highest level at 1.01 g/l under pH control (pH 7). This work showed the potential application of chaperone proteins in microorganism engineering to get high production of target compounds as an effective and valuable tool.     

Engineering of a matched pair of xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase for xylose fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for xylose fermentation has often relied on insertion of a heterologous pathway consisting of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) NAD(P)H-dependent xylose reductase (XR) and NAD⁺-dependent xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH). Low ethanol yield, formation of xylitol and other fermentation by-products are seen for many of the S. cerevisiae strains constructed in this way. This has been ascribed to incomplete coenzyme recycling in the steps catalyzed by XR and XDH. Despite various protein-engineering efforts to alter the coenzyme specificity of XR and XDH individually, a pair of enzymes displaying matched utilization of NAD(H) and NADP(H) was not previously reported. We have introduced multiple site-directed mutations in the coenzyme-binding pocket of Galactocandida mastotermitis XDH to enable activity with NADP⁺, which is lacking in the wild-type enzyme. We describe four enzyme variants showing activity for xylitol oxidation by NADP⁺ and NAD⁺. One of the XDH variants utilized NADP⁺ about 4 times more efficiently than NAD⁺. This is close to the preference for NADPH compared with NADH in mutants of Candida tenuis XR. Compared to an S. cerevisiae-reference strain expressing the genes for the wild-type enzymes, the strains comprising the gene encoding the mutated XDH in combination a matched XR mutant gene showed up to 50% decreased glycerol yield without increase in ethanol during xylose fermentation.     

Xylose fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We have performed a comparative study of xylose utilization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformants expressing two key enzymes in xylose metabolism, xylose reductase (XR) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH), and in a prototypic xylose-utilizing yeast, Pichia stipitis. In the absence of respiration (see text), baker's yeast cells convert half of the xylose to xylitol and ethanol, whereas P. stipilis cells display rather a homofermentative conversion of xylose to ethanol. Xylitol production by baker's yeast is interpreted as a result of the dual cofactor dependence of the XR and the generation of NADPH by the pentose phosphate pathway. Further limitations of xylose utilization in S. cerevisiae cells are very likely caused by an insufficient capacity of the non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, as indicated by accumulation of sedoheptulose-7-phosphate and the absence of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate and pyruvate accumulation. By contrast, uptake at high substrate concentrations probably does not limit xylose conversion in S. cerevisiae XYL1/XYL2 transformants. Correspondence to: M. Ciriacy     

Enzymatic and physiological study of d-xylose metabolism by Candida shehatae

Summary Candida shehatae carbon metabolic pathways were correlated with fermentative activity under different growth conditions. Reduced nicotine adenine dinucleotide (NADPH) is the coenzyme preferred for xylose reductase by C. shehatae under in vitro anoxic cell culture conditions. To prevent a redox imbalance derived from intracellular accumulation of NADH in the second enzymatic step of xylose metabolism, the operation of phosphoketolase via in addition the classic pentose phosphate pathway essential for NADH dissimilation is suggested. Variation in cultivation conditions showed a different NADH/NADPH ratio coupled to xylose reductase activity. The existence of two xylose reductases is discussed. Like ethanol, xylitol accumulates only under oxygen-limited or anaerobic conditions. Xylitol accumulaiton under unaerobic conditions was higher when using respiring cells than respirofermentative cells. This fact suggests that cells pregrown under oxygen limitation are better adapted to starting alcoholic fermentation than cells previously grown under aerobic conditions.Offprint requests to: M. T. Amaral-Collaço     

Metabolic Engineering of Escherichia coli for the Production of Xylonate

Xylonate is a valuable chemical for versatile applications. Although the chemical synthesis route and microbial conversion pathway were established decades ago, no commercial production of xylonate has been obtained so far. In this study, the industrially important microorganism Escherichia coli was engineered to produce xylonate from xylose. Through the coexpression of a xylose dehydrogenase (xdh) and a xylonolactonase (xylC) from Caulobacter crescentus, the recombinant strain could convert 1 g/L xylose to 0.84 g/L xylonate and 0.10 g/L xylonolactone after being induced for 12 h. Furthermore, the competitive pathway for xylose catabolism in E. coli was blocked by disrupting two genes (xylA and xylB) encoding xylose isomerase and xylulose kinase. Under fed-batch conditions, the finally engineered strain produced up to 27.3 g/L xylonate and 1.7 g/L xylonolactone from 30 g/L xylose, about 88% of the theoretical yield. These results suggest that the engineered E. coli strain has a promising perspective for large-scale production of xylonate.     

Redirection of the Glycolytic Flux Enhances Isoprenoid Production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Sufficient supply of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) is a prerequisite of the overproduction of isoprenoids and related bioproducts in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although S. cerevisiae highly depends on the oxidative pentose phosphate (PP) pathway to produce NADPH, its metabolic flux toward the oxidative PP pathway is limited due to the rigid glycolysis flux. To maximize NADPH supply for the isoprenoid production in yeast, upper glycolytic metabolic fluxes are reduced by introducing mutations into phosphofructokinase (PFK) along with overexpression of ZWF1 encoding glucose‐6‐phosphate (G6P) dehydrogenase. The PFK mutations (Pfk1 S724D and Pfk2 S718D) result in less glycerol production and more accumulation of G6P, which is a gateway metabolite toward the oxidative PP pathway. When combined with the PFK mutations, overexpression of ZWF1 caused substantial increases of [NADPH]/[NADP⁺] ratios whereas the effect of ZWF1 overexpression alone in the wild‐type strain is not noticeable. Also, the introduction of ZWF1 overexpression and the PFK mutations into engineered yeast overexpressing acetyl‐CoA C‐acetyltransferase (ERG10), truncated HMG‐CoA reductase isozyme 1 (tHMG1), and amorphadiene synthase (ADS) leads to a titer of 497 mg L^–1 of amorphadiene (3.7‐fold over the parental strain). These results suggest that perturbation of upper glycolytic fluxes, in addition to ZWF1 overexpression, is necessary for efficient NADPH supply through the oxidative PP pathway and enhanced production of isoprenoids by engineered S. cerevisiae.     

Xylitol does not inhibit xylose fermentation by engineered <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> expressing <Emphasis Type="Italic">xylA</Emphasis> as severely as it inhibits xylose isomerase reaction in vitro

Efficient fermentation of xylose, which is abundant in hydrolysates of lignocellulosic biomass, is essential for producing cellulosic biofuels economically. While heterologous expression of xylose isomerase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been proposed as a strategy to engineer this yeast for xylose fermentation, only a few xylose isomerase genes from fungi and bacteria have been functionally expressed in S. cerevisiae. We cloned two bacterial xylose isomerase genes from anaerobic bacteria (Bacteroides stercoris HJ-15 and Bifidobacterium longum MG1) and introduced them into S. cerevisiae. While the transformant with xylA from B. longum could not assimilate xylose, the transformant with xylA from B. stercoris was able to grow on xylose. This result suggests that the xylose isomerase (BsXI) from B. stercoris is functionally expressed in S. cerevisiae. The engineered S. cerevisiae strain with BsXI consumed xylose and produced ethanol with a good yield (0.31 g/g) under anaerobic conditions. Interestingly, significant amounts of xylitol (0.23 g xylitol/g xylose) were still accumulated during xylose fermentation even though the introduced BsXI might not cause redox imbalance. We investigated the potential inhibitory effects of the accumulated xylitol on xylose fermentation. Although xylitol inhibited in vitro BsXI activity significantly (K _I = 5.1 ± 1.15 mM), only small decreases (less than 10%) in xylose consumption and ethanol production rates were observed when xylitol was added into the fermentation medium. These results suggest that xylitol accumulation does not inhibit xylose fermentation by engineered S. cerevisiae expressing xylA as severely as it inhibits the xylose isomerase reaction in vitro.