Downscale fermentation for xylooligosaccharides production by recombinant Bacillus subtilis 3610

The global demand of prebiotics such as xylooligosaccharides (XOS) has been growing over the years, motivating the search for different production processes with increased efficiency. In this study, a cloned Bacillus subtilis 3610, containing the xylanase gene xyn2 of Trichoderma reesei coupled with an endogenous secretion tag, was selected for XOS production through direct fermentation of beechwood xylan. A mixture of XOS with a degree of polymerization ranging from 4 to 6 was obtained, presenting high stability after a static in vitro digestion (98.5 +/- 0.2%). The maximum production yield expressed as total XOS per amount of xylan (306 +/- 4 mg/g) was achieved after 8 h of fermentation operating under one-time impulse fed-batch. The optimal conditions found were pH 6.0 and 42.5 degrees C, using 2.5 g/L of initial concentration of xylan increased up to 5.0 g/L at 3 h. Xylopentaose was the major oligosaccharide produced, representing 47% of the total production yield.