title: Sporulation and spore stability of Bacillus megaterium enhance Ketogulonigenium vulgare propagation and 2-keto-L-gulonic acid biosynthesis.
abstract: Bacillus spp. is widely used as the companion bacterium in the two-step biosynthesis of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KLG), which is the direct precursor in the production of vitamin C by Ketogulonigenium vulgare. To understand the effects of sporulation and spore stability on 2-KLG production, the spo0A and spoVFA deletion mutants of Bacillus megaterium were constructed. The sorbose conversion rates of spo0A and spoVFA mutant co-culture systems were 33% and 70% lower, respectively, than that of the wild-type co-culture system. In addition, K. vulgare cell numbers in the two mutant systems declined by 15% and 49%, respectively, compared to the value in the wild-type system. Correlation analysis indicated that the 2-KLG concentration is positively related to sorbose dehydrogenase activity and the K. vulgare cell number. This study demonstrated that sporulation and spore stability of the wild-type companion play key roles in the enhancement of K. vulgare propagation and 2-KLG biosynthesis.
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China.
authors.forename: Yibo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Guocheng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Jingwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001410:Bacillus megaterium / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D010957:Plasmids; D020560:Proteobacteria / Q000166:cytology*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial; D013400:Sugar Acids / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D013400:Sugar Acids; C011491:provitamin C