Deciphering bacterial xylose metabolism and metabolic engineering of industrial microorganisms for use as efficient microbial cell factories

The goal of sustainable production of biochemicals and biofuels has driven the engineering of microbial cell as factories that convert low-value substrates to high-value products. Xylose is the second most abundant sugar substrate in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. We analyzed the mechanisms of xylose metabolism using genome sequencing data of 492 industrially relevant bacterial species in the mini-review. The analysis revealed the xylose isomerase and Weimberg pathways as the major routes across diverse routes of bacterial xylose metabolism. In addition, we discuss recent developments in metabolic engineering of xylose metabolism in industrial microorganisms. Genome-scale analyses have revealed xylose pathway-specific flux landscapes. Overall, a comprehensive understanding of bacterial xylose metabolism could be useful for the feasible development of microbial cell factories.