Escherichia coli W3110 derivatives, strains SZ63 and SZ85, were previously engineered to produce optically pure D(-) and L(+)-lactate from hexose and pentose sugars. To expand the substrate range, a cluster of sucrose genes (cscR' cscA cscKB) was cloned and characterized from E. coli KO11. The resulting plasmid was functionally expressed in SZ63 but was unstable in SZ85. Over 500 mM D(-)-lactate was produced from sucrose and from molasses by SZ63( pLOI3501).