Candida guilliermondii grows on rare pentoses: implications for production of pure xylitol

Candida guilliermondii grew on the D- and L-isomers of arabinose, xylose, ribose and lyxose. Xylose reductase was extracted from xylose-grown cells and the enzyme was purified to homogeneity. The purified enzyme used NADPH as a cosubstrate, had a molecular weight of 36 000 Da and pI of 4.5. It reduced the D- and L-forms of all the above pentoses.