Xylose reductase from Pichia stipitis with altered coenzyme preference improves ethanolic xylose fermentation by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Background: Xylose reductase (XR) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) from Pichia stipitis are the two enzymes most commonly used in recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains engineered for xylose utilization. The availability of NAD+ for XDH is limited during anaerobic xylose fermentation because of the preference of XR for NADPH. This in turn results in xylitol formation and reduced ethanol yield
