Kinetics of sugar transport and phosphorylation influence glucose and fructose cometabolism by Zymomonas mobilis

Microbiological research using radioactive fructose shows that fructose incorporation by the gram-negative, obligately fermentative bacterium Zymomonas mobilis CP4 is reduced in the presence of glucose. However, the glucose-reducing effect is far less in vivo than in vitro. Evidence suggests that a single facilitated diffusion transport system is used in glucose and fructose uptake. Z. mobilis may accumulate fructose in the presence of high glucose concentrations so that it can produce sorbitol.