National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Kureha Corporation

Akinori Matsushika

Tomotake Morita

Masahiro Watanabe

Hironaga Akita

Yuusuke Nakamichi

Keisuke Makino

Hiroyuki Inoue

Shigeki Sawayama

Tsutomu Kodaki

Seiya Watanabe

An enzyme having the following characteristics (a) and (b):

D-type amino acid dehydrogenase

An enzyme has an activity of reversible dehydrogenation of D-amino acid and is a hexamer of polypeptides having an amino acid sequence that has 80% or more identity with the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2. The amino acid sequence of the polypeptide can include one or more amino acid substitutions for one or more amino acid residues of SEQ ID NO: 2.

Genetic recombinant yeast expressing xylose reductase (XR), (wild-type or mutant) xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH), and xylulokinase (XK) and a method for highly efficiently producing ethanol from xylose using the yeast are provided.-derived XR and (wild-type or modified-type) XDH genes and-derived XK gene were introduced via chromosomal integration. Thus, a genetic recombinant yeast having a high xylose fermentation rate, being capable of producing ethanol from xylose in high yields, and having high xylose fermentability in the presence of glucose, as well as a method using the recombinant yeast for highly efficiently producing ethanol from xylose or a saccharified solution from lignocellulose-based biomass are provided. Furthermore, a method for improving the xylose fermentability of the genetic recombinant yeast of the present invention via acclimatization treatment is also provided herein.

Hexose-pentose cofermenting yeast having excellent xylose fermentability and method for highly efficiently producing ethanol using the same

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Higashihiroshima, Japan

Akinori Matsushika