How carbon sources drive cellulose synthesis in two Komagataeibacter xylinus strains

Bacterial cellulose synthesis from defined media and waste products has attracted increasing interest in the circular economy context for sustainable productions. In this study, a glucose dehydrogenase-deficient Δgdh K2G30 strain of Komagataeibacter xylinus was obtained from the parental wild type through homologous recombination. Both strains were grown in defined substrates and cheese whey as an agri-food waste to assess the effect of gene silencing on bacterial cellulose synthesis and carbon source metabolism. Wild type K2G30 boasted higher bacterial cellulose yields when grown in ethanol-based medium and cheese whey, although showing an overall higher d-gluconic acid synthesis. Conversely, the mutant Δgdh strain preferred d-fructose, d-mannitol, and glycerol to boost bacterial cellulose production, while displaying higher substrate consumption rates and a lower d-gluconic acid synthesis. This study provides an in-depth investigation of two K. xylinus strains, unravelling their suitability for scale-up BC production.