Combined mutagenesis and metabolic regulation to enhance D-arabitol production from Candida parapsilosis.

D-Arabitol is an important pentitol that is widely used in the food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. It is mainly produced by yeasts during the biotransformation of glucose. To obtain strains with high D-arabitol production, Candida parapsilosis was mutated using atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP). Among the screened mutants, mutant A6 had the highest yield at 32.92 g/L, a 53.98% increase compared with the original strain (21.38 g/L). Furthermore, metabolic regulators were added to the medium to improve D-arabitol production. Pyrithioxin dihydrochloride increased D-arabitol production by 34.4% by regulating glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and 4-methylpyrazole increased D-arabitol production by 77.4% compared with the control group by inhibiting alcohol dehydrogenase activity. Amphotericin B and Triton X-100 increased D-arabitol production by 23.8% and 42.2% by improving the membrane permeability and dissolved oxygen content, respectively. This study may provide important implications for obtaining high-yield D-arabitol strains.