The potential of Burkholderia thailandensis E264 for co-valorization of C and C sugars into multiple value-added bio-products.

Despite known metabolic versatility of Burkholderia spp., sugar metabolism and end-product synthesis patterns in Burkholderia thailandensis have been poorly characterized. This work has demonstrated that B. thailandensis is capable of simultaneously uptaking glucose and xylose and accumulating up to 64% of its dry mass as poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA) biopolymers, resulting in a PHA titer of up to 3.8 g L in shake flasks. Rhamnolipids - mainly (68-75%) in the form of Rha-Rha-C-C - were produced concomitantly with a titer typically in the range of 0.2-0.4 g L. Gluconic and xylonic acids were also detected in titers of up to 5.3 g L, and while gluconic acid appeared to be back consumed, xylonic acid formed as a major end product. This first example of co-production of three products from mixed sugars using B. thailandensis paves the way for improving biorefinery economics.