ABSTRACT
Glucosamine (GlcN) and its derivative N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) are ubiquitous amino sugars in almost all organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and other higher cells. Microbial fermentation is a key approach for many biofuels, industrially important chemical production, and pharmaceutically useful compound production. GlcN and GlcNAc are building blocks of the cell wall of filamentous fungi, such as chitin and chitosan. Therefore, GlcN and GlcNAc can be attained by hydrolysis of the cell wall of filamentous fungi, which is a sustainable production approach and avoids the limitation of shellfish-based raw material supply. B. subtilis is the model organism of Gram-positive bacterium, which has been intensively investigated for unraveling metabolism regulation mechanism and is widely engineered for biochemical production. Microbial fermentation for GlcN and GlcNAc production has been developed which is a promising approach for sustainable production of safe GlcN and GlcNAc for use in food and medicinal fields.
