Construction and characterization of recombinant Bacillus subtilis JY123 able to transport xylose efficiently

It has been known that wild type Bacillus subtilis cannot grow rapidly in a minimal medium containing xylose as a sole carbon source because it does not have a xylose-specific transporter. In this study, the arabinose:H+ symporter, AraE protein from B. subtilis was expressed in B. subtilis 168 in order to transport xylose efficiently. The AraE expression cassette was constructed to contain the xylose-inducible xylA promoter, araE gene and fba terminator, and integrated into the chromosomal amyE gene in B. subtilis 168. Batch cultures in a defined medium with xylose only or a mixture of xylose and glucose showed that expression of AraE led to fast and complete consumption of initially added xylose and hence a considerable increase in cell growth of the recombinant B. subtilis JY123 expressing AraE. Considering the systematic analysis of cell growth, sugar consumption, respiratory quotient and xylulokinase activity, it was certain that AraE protein could transport xylose into B. subtilis efficiently.

► Bacillus subtilis 168 does not have a xylose-specific transporter.
► B. subtilis AraE was expressed in B. subtilis 168 for efficient xylose transportation.
► AraE expression cassette was made to transcribe the araE gene by the xylA promoter.
► AraE expression in B. subtilis JY123 led to fast and complete consumption of xylose.
► It was clearly uncovered that AraE could deliver xylose into B. subtilis efficiently.