Zymomonas mobilis subsp. pomaceae ATCC 29192

Zymomonas mobilis subsp. mobilis (strain NCIB 11163) is a facultative aerobic, ethanol-producing bacterium. The natural habitat of this organism includes sugar-rich plant saps where the bacterium ferments sugar such as glucose or sucrose into ethanol and carbon dioxide. It is useful in industrial production systems, particularly in production of bioethanol for fuel. Genetically engineered strains that ferment pentoses in addition to naturally utilized hexoses also hold great promise for use in lignocellulosic biomass degradations. Z. mobilis is utilized for the conversion of sugars, particularly xylose, which is not utilized by another common sugar-fermenting organism such as yeast, to ethanol. Since xylose is a common breakdown product of cellulose or a waste component of the agricultural industry, it is an attractive source for ethanol production. Z. mobilis was chosen for this process as it is ethanol-tolerant (up to 120 grams of ethanol per litre) and productive (5-10% more ethanol than Saccharomyces). This bacterium ferments using the Enter-Doudoroff pathway, with the result that less carbon is used in cellular biomass production and more ends up as ethanol, another factor that favors this organism for ethanol production. Besides ethanol, Z. mobilis can produce other high-value chemicals such as sorbitol, levan, or phenylacetylcarbinol and has attracted interest for its unusual membrane steroid content. Lastly, Z. mobilis is regarded as a safe organism and is even used for medicinal purposes, which further facilitates its employment in large-scale biotechnological endeavors. (Adaptated from PMID: 19767433). (EBI Integr8)