Conversion of Deproteinized Cheese Whey to Lactobionate by an Engineered Neurospora crassa Strain F5

We report a novel production process for lactobionic acid (LBA) production using an engineered Neurospora crassa strain F5. The wild-type N. crassa strain produces cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) and uses lactose as a carbon source. N. crassa strain F5, which was constructed by deleting six out of the seven β-glucosidases in the wild type, showed a much slower lactose utilization rate and produced a much higher level of cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) than the wild type. Strain N. crassa F5 produced CDH and laccase simultaneously on the pretreated wheat straw with 3 µM of cycloheximide added as the laccase inducer. The deproteinized cheese whey was added directly to the shake flasks with the fungus present to achieve LBA production. Strain F5 produced about 37 g/L of LBA from 45 g/L of lactose in 27 h since deproteinized cheese whey addition. The yield of LBA from consumed lactose was about 85%, and the LBA productivity achieved was about 1.37 g/L/h.