HIGH THROUGHPUT SCREENING METHOD FOR 1,3-DIHYDROXYACETONE-PRODUCING BACTERIUM BY CULTIVATION IN A 96-WELL MICROTITER PLATE

1,3-Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is used extensively in the cosmetic industry, and is the main active ingredient in all sunless tanning skincare preparation. In order to more efficiently and rapidly screen suitable strains or mutants for production of DHA, a high throughput screening method for DHA-producing bacterium by cultivation in a 96-well microtiter plate was developed. With this screening method, more than 100 strains that were able to convert glycerol to DHA were isolated from soil samples, and a mutant of Gluconobacter oxydans ZJB-605 that displayed the highest DHA productivity was obtained. The practical application of this work is to promote the microbial process for isolating DHA-producing bacterium and screening DHA-overproducing mutant. With it, DHA manufactory can improve efficiency of strain operation, reduce labor and decrease production costs of DHA. It also can be used for reference about researches of glycerol dehydrogenase, and other alcohol dehydrogenase.