Levoglucosan is a major product of cellulosic biomass pyrolysis. However, many organisms lack the ability to metabolize this anhydrosugar. Here we use heterologous expression of levoglucosan kinase from Lipomyces starkeyi to ferment levoglucosan in the lactic acid bacterium Lactococcus lactis. This provides a direct conversion from levoglucosan to pure L-lactic acid which has myriad downstream applications for biobased products. In addition, we use high-throughput genomic screens to investigate the mechanism of levoglucosan transport. Finally, we examine tolerance to bio-oil (cellulosic pyrolysate) tolerance in L. lactis and discuss genomic factors that influence tolerance to this unrefined substrate.

Lactic acid production from the pyrolytic sugar levoglucosan

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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