(Figure 3B). A significant difference in the growth was found when S. cerevisiae TISTR 5339 and the recombinant
strain were cultivated in media containing 2% xylitol as a carbon source (Figure 3C). The recombinant S.cerevisiae TISTR 5339-XDH could grow and reach OD600 about 3, after 48 hours incubation, whereas the TISTR 5339 strain could reach OD600 around 0.8.However, the growth of the recombinant S. cerevisiae in the xylitol-containing medium was slower than that in the glucose-containing medium. The same tendency was found when the final cell density was observed. A rich medium was used for the growth analyses, and quite possibly some of the growth on xylitol could be due to other carbon sources found in the YEP. Nevertheless, the difference in the growth rate between both strains indicated that the recombinant S. cerevisiae TISTR 5339-XDH could utilize xylitol for its growth and thus, the xylitol dehydrogenase gene from C. shehatae could be expressed in S. cerevisiae.