Breeding of a Cyclic Imide-Assimilating Bacterium, Pseudomonas putidas52, for High Efficiency Production of Pyruvate

A succinimide-assimilating bacterium, Pseudomonas putidas52, was found to be a potent producer of pyruvate from fumarate. Using washed cells from P. putidas52 as catalyst, 400 mMpyruvate was produced from 500 mMfumarate in a 36-h reaction. Bromopyruvate, a malic enzyme inhibitor, was used for the selection of mutants with higher pyruvate productivity. A bromopyruvate-resistant mutant, P. putida15160, was found to be an effective catalyst for pyruvate production. Moreover, under batch bioreactor conditions, 767 mMof pyruvate was successfully produced from 1,000 mMfumarate in a 72-h reaction with washed cells from P. putida15160 as catalyst.