General Information: Industrially useful bacterium. Gluconobacter oxydans is a member of the Acetobacteraceae family within the alpha proteobacteria and can be isolated from flowers, fruits, and fermented beverages. This organism uses membrane-associated dehydrogenases to incompletely oxidize a wide variety of carbohydrates and alcohols. Oxidation occurs in the periplasm with the products being released into the medium via outer membrane porins and the electrons entering the electron transport chain. Able to oxidize large amounts of substrates, making it useful for industrial purposes. Among other applications, it has been used to produce 2-ketogluconic for iso-ascorbic acid production, 5-ketogluconic acid from glucose for tartaric acid production, and L-sorbose from sorbitol for vitamin C synthesis.