Improvement of Erythrose Reductase Activity, Deletion of By-products and Statistical Media Optimization for Enhanced Erythritol Production from Yarrowia lipolytica Mutant 49

The purpose of the present investigation was to produce erythritol by Yarrowia lipolytica mutant without any by-products. Mutants of Y. lipolytica were generated by ultra-violet for enhancing erythrose reductase (ER) activity and erythritol production. The mutants showing the highest ER activity were screened by triphenyl tetrazolium chloride agar plate assay. Productivity of samples was analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with the refractive index detector. One of the mutants named as mutant 49 gave maximum erythritol production without any other by-products (particularly glycerol). Erythritol production and specific ER activity in mutant 49 increased to 1.65 and 1.47 times, respectively, in comparison with wild-type strain. The ER gene of wild and mutant strains was sequenced and analyzed. A general comparison of wild and mutant gene sequences showed the replacement of Asp270 with Glu270 in ER protein. In order to enhance erythritol production, we used a three component-three level-one response Box–Behnken of response surface methodology model. The optimum medium composition for erythritol production was found to be (g/l) glucose 279.49, ammonium sulfate 9.28, and pH 5.41 with 39.76 erythritol production.