Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is a key enzyme in the production and utilization of alcohols. Some also catalyze the formation of carboxylate esters from alcohols and aldehydes. The ADH1 and ADH3 genes of Neurospora crassa FGSC2489 were cloned and expressed in recombinant Escherichia coli to investigate their alcohol dehydrogenation and carboxylate ester formation abilities. Homology analysis and sequence alignment of amino acid sequence indicated that ADH1 and ADH3 of N. crassa contained a zinc-binding consensus sequence and a NAD(+)-binding motif and showed 54-75% identity with fungi ADHs. N. crassa ADH1 was expressed in E. coli to give a specific activity of 289 +/- 9 mU/mg using ethanol and NAD(+) as substrate and cofactor, respectively. Corresponding experiments on the expression and activity of ADH3 gave 4 mU/mg of specific activity. N. crassa ADH1 preferred primary alcohols containing C3-C8 carbons to secondary alcohols such as 2-propanol and 2-butanol. N. crassa ADH1 possessed 5.3 mU/mg of specific carboxylate ester-forming activity accumulating 0.4 mM of ethyl acetate in 18 h. Substrate specificity of various linear alcohols and aldehydes indicated that short chain-length alcohols and aldehydes were good substrates for carboxylate ester production. N. crassa ADH1 was a primary alcohol dehydrogenase using cofactor NAD(+) preferably and possessed carboxylate ester-forming activity with short chain alcohols and aldehydes.