Production of 1,3-propanediol by Klebsiella pneumoniae using raw glycerol from Zygosacharomyces rouxii

The conversion of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) is an environmentally friendly biological process and has attracted great interests worldwide. Efficient utilization of raw glycerol could bring significant economic benefits for 1,3-PD production. In the present study, the glycerol broth from strain Zygosacharomyces rouxii JL2011 was first used as the sole carbon source for 1,3-PD production by Klebsiella pneumoniae.The result indicates that the glycerol broth affected K. pneumoniae growth and 1,3-PD yield dramatically. Therefore, the raw glycerol was further prepared by extraction and purification, and the effect of raw glycerol on 1,3-PD production was investigated. The results obtained showed that the purified glycerol could be directly utilized in shake-flask culture by K. pneumoniae with a result comparable with that attained from pure glycerol. In addition, the fed-batch culture using raw glycerol as the substrate was conducted giving 56.1 g×L-1 with a yield of 0.40 g×g-1 glycerol and productivity of 1.12 g×L-1×h-1. Key words: 1,3-propanediol, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Zygosacharomyces rouxii, raw glycerol.