Corynebacteria are a diverse group Gram-positive bacteria found in a range of different ecological niches such as soil, vegetables, sewage, skin, and cheese smear. Some, such as Corynebacterium diphtheriae, are important pathogens while others, such as Corynebacterium glutamicum, are of immense industrial importance. In fact, C. glutamicum is one of the biotechnologically most important bacterial species in use today with an annual production of more than two million tons of amino acids, mainly L-glutamate and L-lysine. Due to its industrial importance, C. glutamicum has been studied...

Corynebacterium glutamicum is most widely known for its role in the industrial production of L-glutamate and L-lysine and as a platform organism for the production of a variety of fine chemicals, biofuels, and polymers. The organism's accessibility to genetic manipulation has resulted in a wealth of data on its metabolism and regulatory networks; this in turn makes C. glutamicum the model organism of choice in white biotechnology. A key development in recent years has been the engineering of C. glutamicum to utilize a broader spectrum of carbon sources (e.g. glycerol, galactose, and pentose...