Glucose uptake in Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 and the solvent-hyperproducing mutant BA101

Glucose uptake and accumulation by Clostridium beijerinckii BA101, a butanol hyperproducing mutant, were examined during various stages of growth. Glucose uptake in C. beijerinckii BA101 was repressed 20% by 2-deoxyglucose and 25% by mannose, while glucose uptake in C. beijerinckii 8052 was repressed 52 and 28% by these sugars, respectively. We confirmed the presence of a phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)-dependent phosphotransferase system (PTS) associated with cell extracts of C. beijerinckii BA101 by glucose phosphorylation by PEP. The PTS activity associated with C. beijerinckii BA101 was 50% of that observed for C. beijerinckii 8052. C. beijerinckii BA101 also demonstrated lower PTS activity for fructose and glucitol. Glucose phosphorylation by cell extracts derived from both C. beijerinckii BA101 and 8052 was also dependent on the presence of ATP, a finding consistent with the presence of glucokinase activity in C. beijerinckii extracts. ATP-dependent glucose phosphorylation was predominant during the solventogenic stage, when PEP-dependent glucose phosphorylation was dramatically repressed. A nearly twofold-greater ATP-dependent phosphorylation rate was observed for solventogenic stage C. beijerinckii BA101 than for solventogenic stage C. beijerinckii 8052. These results suggest that C. beijerinckii BA101 is defective in PTS activity and that C. beijerinckii BA101 compensates for this defect with enhanced glucokinase activity, resulting in an ability to transport and utilize glucose during the solventogenic stage.