The potential of Burkholderia thailandensis E264 for co-valorization of C5 and C6 sugars into multiple value-added bio-products

Despite known metabolic versatility of Burkholderia spp., sugar metabolism and end-product synthesis patterns in Burkholderia thailandensis have been poorly characterized. This work has demonstrated that B. thailandensis is capable of simultaneously uptaking glucose and xylose and accumulating up to 64% of its dry mass as poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA) biopolymers, resulting in a PHA titer of up to 3.8 g L-1 in shake flasks. Rhamnoli-pids - mainly (68-75%) in the form of Rha-Rha-C14-C14 - were produced concomitantly with a titer typically in the range of 0.2-0.4 g L-1. Gluconic and xylonic acids were also detected in titers of up to 5.3 g L-1, and while gluconic acid appeared to be back consumed, xylonic acid formed as a major end product. This first example of co-production of three products from mixed sugars using B. thailandensis paves the way for improving biorefinery economics.

Automated summary

This study found that Burkholderia thailandensis can simultaneously uptake glucose and xylose and accumulate up to 64% of its dry mass as poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA) biopolymers, with a PHA titer of up to 3.8 g L-1 in shake flasks. Concomitantly, it also produced rhamnolipids, mainly Rha-Rha-C14-C14, with a titer typically in the range of 0.2-0.4 g L-1. Gluconic and xylonic acids were detected in titers of up to 5.3 g L-1, with xylonic acid being the major end product. This co-production of three products from mixed sugars using B. thailandensis can improve biorefinery economics.