Abstract:

Osmophilic yeasts were isolated from honey, pollen and soil by using the medium containing 30% glucose. Two strains producing erythritol but not producing glycerol were identified by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Strain E54 with high ability to produce erythritol was selected by periodic acid oxidation method. The productivity and conversion rate of erythritol were 41.1 g/L and 22.8% after fermentation for 90 h using strain E54 in the medium containing 20% glucose and 0.5% yeast extract. This strain was identified as Moniliella acetoabutans through the analyses of morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, 5.8S rDNA sequence and the established phylogenetic tree.

Key words: erythritol, screening, identification, Moniliella, phylogenetic tree