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Progress in L-Malic Acid Biosynthesis

WU Jun-lin, WU Qing-ping, ZHANG Ju-mei, ZHANG Wen, MO Shu-ping, BAI Jian-ling   

  1. 1. Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology of Southern China, Guangdong Provincial
    Key Laboratory of Microbial Culture Collection and Application, Guangdong Open Laboratory of Applied Microbiology,
    Guangzhou 510070, China; 2. Guangdong Huankai Microbial Sci. & Tech. Co. Ltd., Guangzhou 510643, China
  • Online:2014-02-13 Published:2014-03-17

Abstract:

L-malate, an important organic acid in the process of metabolism, is greatly beneficial to human health owning
to its diverse biological functions. In recent years, the advantages of microbial fermentation for producing L-malic acid by
are gradually emerging. The metabolic pathway of L-malic acid has been clarified and many related genes have been cloned.
Therefore, the development of genetic engineering technologies has made it possible to improve the biosynthesis of L-malic
acid. In this paper, the recent progress in the biosynthesis pathway of L-malic acid and the cloning of the genes encoding
key enzymes involved in L-malic acid biosynthesis in microorganisms is reviewed, and the latest research on malic acidproducing
strains is summarized. At last, we propose further directions and prospects in the construction of genetically
engineered strains for malic acid biosynthesis.

Key words: microorganism, fermentation, L-malic acid, biosynthesis