Abstract
Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide, which can protect proteins, lipid membranes, and cells from desiccation, refrigeration, dehydration, and other harsh environments. Trehalose can be produced by different pathways and trehalose synthase pathway is a convenient, practical, and low-cost pathway for the industrial production of trehalose. In this study, 3 candidate treS genes were screened from genomic databases of Pseudomonas and expressed in Escherichia coli. One of them from P. stutzeri A1501 exhibited the best transformation ability from maltose into trehalose and the least byproduct. Thus, whole cells of this recombinant E. coli were used as biocatalyst for trehalose production. In order to improve the conversion rate of maltose to trehalose, optimization of the permeabilization and biotransformation were carried out. Under optimal conditions, 92.2 g/l trehalose was produced with a high productivity of 23.1 g/(l h). No increase of glucose was detected during the whole course. The biocatalytic process developed in this study might serve as a candidate for the large scale production of trehalose.
Highlights
Trehalose (α-D-glucopyranosyl α-D-glucopyranoside) is a non-reducing disaccharide formed by an α-1,1 linkage of two glucose molecules
Trehalose is synthesized within insects, yeasts, and plants, especially those living in extreme environment [1, 2]
Trehalose could be produced from levulinic acid, a cellulose-derived building block, by Burkholderia stabilis [29]
Summary
Trehalose (α-D-glucopyranosyl α-D-glucopyranoside) is a non-reducing disaccharide formed by an α-1,1 linkage of two glucose molecules. Trehalose is synthesized within insects, yeasts, and plants, especially those living in extreme environment [1, 2]. Because trehalose can protect proteins, lipid membranes, and cells from desiccation, refrigeration, dehydration, and other harsh environments, this disaccharide plays an important role in pharmaceuticals, foods, and cosmetics filed [3,4,5]. Because of the widely utilization, various methods, both chemical and biotechnological routes, have been developed for trehalose production [5]. As early as in 1954, the chemical synthesis of trehalose was created, but the method was difficult to realize industrialization. The chemical transformation had some disadvantages, such as low production rate, PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0140477. The chemical transformation had some disadvantages, such as low production rate, PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0140477 October 13, 2015
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
