Screening of high α-arbutin producing strains and production of α-arbutin by fermentation.

A mutant Xanthomonas maltophilia BT-112 with high α-anomer-selective glycosylation activity was screened by a series of mutation methods including UV light, N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitroso-guanidine treatment and quick neutron mutation. The α-arbutin titer increased 15-folds compared with the parent strain. The optimal conditions for culture medium and the operational conditions for lab-scale fermenter were investigated.