Yeast Yeast 2011; 28: 645–660. Published online 1 August 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/yea.1893 Research Article Saccharomyces cerevisiae engineered for xylose metabolism requires gluconeogenesis and the oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway for aerobic xylose assimilation§ Ronald E. Hector1*, Jeffrey A. Mertens1, Michael J. Bowman1, Nancy N. Nichols1, Michael A. Cotta1 and Stephen R. Hughes2 1Bioenergy Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, IL, USA 2Renewable Product Technology Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, IL, USA *Correspondence to: Abstract Ronald E. Hector, Bioenergy Research Unit, National Center Saccharomyces strains engineered to ferment xylose using Scheffersomyces stipitis for Agricultural Utilization xylose reductase (XR) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) genes appear to be limited Research, Agricultural Research by metabolic imbalances, due to differing cofactor specificities of XR and XDH. The Service, US Department of S. stipitis XR, which uses both NADH and NADPH, is hypothesized to reduce the Agriculture†,1815North cofactor imbalance, allowing xylose fermentation in this yeast. However, unadapted University Street, Peoria, IL S. cerevisiae strains expressing this XR grow poorly on xylose, suggesting that 61604, USA. metabolism is still imbalanced, even under aerobic conditions. In this study, we E-mail: investigated the possible reasons for this imbalance by deleting genes required for
[email protected] NADPH production and gluconeogenesis in S. cerevisiae. S. cerevisiae cells expressing †Mention of trade names or the XR–XDH, but not a xylose isomerase, pathway required the oxidative branch of commercial products in this the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) and gluconeogenic production of glucose-6-P article is solely for the purpose of for xylose assimilation.