Utilization of economical substrate-derived carbohydrates by solventogenic clostridia: pathway dissection, regulation and engineering

Solventogenic clostridia can produce acetone, butanol and ethanol (ABE) by using different carbohydrates. For economical reasons, the utilization of cheap and renewable biomass in clostridia-based ABE fermentation has recently attracted increasing interests. With the study of molecular microbiology and development of genetic tools, the understanding of carbohydrate metabolism in clostridia has increased in recent years. Here, we review the pioneering work in this field, with a focus on dissecting the pathways and describing the regulation of the metabolism of economical substrate-derived carbohydrates by clostridia. Recent progress in the metabolic engineering of carbohydrate utilization pathways is also described.