Genetics and genetic engineering ofZymomonas mobilis

Present knowledge on the genetics of the ethanologenic anaerobeZymomonas mobilis includes background information on: size, restriction, and to some extent hybridization, analysis of indigenous plasmids; mutagenesis and isolation of a wide variety of auxotrophic, drug resistant and conditional mutants; construction of shuttle cloning vectors able to replicate and express inZ. mobilis; development of gene transfer systems based on conjugal mobilization of plasmids fromEscherichia coli donors toZ. mobilis; expression of heterologous genes inZ. mobilis; cloning and analysis of genes encoding enzymes of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. Moreover, preliminary data on recombinational repair mechanisms and plasmid stability, which are now available, makeZ. mobilis an attractive model system for molecular genetic research and, furthermore, they contribute towards expansion of the substrate and product range of this industrial microorganism.