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Microbial Production of 1, 3-Propanediol

Process History One of the oldest known fermentation products is 1, 3-Propanediol (1,3-PD) (Biebl et al., 1999). As early as 1881, August Freund reliably identified this product in a glycerol-fermenting mixed culture. It contained Clostridium pasteurianum as the active organism. It is a versatile intermediate compound that is used in the synthesis of heterocyclic products. The applications of 1, 3-propanediol is in the field of polymers, such as polyesters and polyurethanes due to the presence of two hydroxyl groups at positions 1 and 3 (Saxena et al., 2009). In 1914, a wine-spoiling bacillus was described by Viosenet which produced the substance, although no comparable strain has been isolated. The quantitative analysis of different enterobacteria that produces 1, 3-PD through fermentation (trimethylene glycol, propylene glycol) started at the microbiology school of Delft, and was successfully continued at Ames, Iowa (Biebl et al., 1999). Interest was shifted during the 1960’s t...