The conversion specificity of Bacillus pallidus Y25 for polyols, including elusive rare sugar alcohols, was investigated. B. pallidus cells showed transformation potential for several rare polyols, including allitol, L-mannitol, D/L-talitol, and D-iditol, and converted them to their corresponding ketoses. This indicates that the bacterium had two polyol dehydrogenases specific for polyols that have D-erythro and D-threo configurations. By combination with intrinsic isomerases, polyols were converted directly to various aldoses, including L-xylose, L-talose, D-altrose, and L-glucose.
