Sorbitol production from lactose by engineered Lactobacillus casei deficient in sorbitol transport system and mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase.

Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol largely used in the food industry as a low-calorie sweetener. We have previously described a sorbitol-producing Lactobacillus casei (strain BL232) in which the gutF gene, encoding a sorbitol-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, was expressed from the lactose operon. Here, a complete deletion of the ldh1 gene, encoding the main L-lactate dehydrogenase, was performed in strain BL232. In a resting cell system with glucose, the new strain, named BL251, accumulated sorbitol in the medium that was rapidly metabolized after glucose exhaustion. Reutilization of produced sorbitol was prevented by deleting the gutB gene of the phosphoenolpyruvate: sorbitol phosphotransferase system (PTS(Gut)) in BL251. These results showed that the PTS(Gut) did not mediate sorbitol excretion from the cells, but it was responsible for uptake and reutilization of the synthesized sorbitol. A further improvement in sorbitol production was achieved by inactivation of the mtlD gene, encoding a mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase. The new strain BL300 (lac::gutF Deltaldh1 DeltagutB mtlD) showed an increase in sorbitol production whereas no mannitol synthesis was detected, avoiding thus a polyol mixture. This strain was able to convert lactose, the main sugar from milk, into sorbitol, either using a resting cell system or in growing cells under pH control. A conversion rate of 9.4% of lactose into sorbitol was obtained using an optimized fed-batch system and whey permeate, a waste product of the dairy industry, as substrate.