Construction of an efficient Escherichia coli whole-cell biocatalyst for D-mannitol production.

Mannitol is a six carbon sugar alcohol that finds applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries. A novel Escherichia coli strain capable of converting D-glucose to D-mannitol has been constructed, wherein native mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (MtlD) and codon-optimized Eimeria tenella mannitol-1-phosphatase (M1Pase) have been overexpressed. Codon-optimized Pseudomonas stutzeri phosphite dehydrogenase (PtxD) was overexpressed for cofactor (NADH) regeneration with the concomitant oxidation of phosphite to phosphate.