The production of L-arabonate and D-galactonate employing a versatile L-arabinose dehydrogenase (AraDH) from Azospirillum brasilense is presented. The promiscuity of AraDH is manifested by its appreciable activity towards L-arabinose and D-galactose as substrates, and NAD(+) and NADP(+) as cofactors. The AraDH was introduced into an engineered Escherichia coli with inactive L-arabinose or D-galactose metabolism, resulting in strains EMA2 and EWG4, respectively. EMA2 produced 43.9 g L (1) L-arabonate with a productivity of 1.22 g L (1) h (1) and 99.1% (mol/mol) yield. After methanol precipitation, 92.6% of L-arabonate potassium salt was recovered with a purity of 88.8%. Meanwhile, EWG4 produced 24.0 g L (1) D-galactonate, which is 36% higher than that of the strain carrying the specific D-galactose dehydrogenase. Overall results reveal that the versatility of AraDH to efficiently catalyze the formation of L-arabonate and D-galactonate could be a useful tool in advancing industrial viability for sugar acids production. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.