Inhibitor tolerance of a recombinant flocculating industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain during glucose and xylose co-fermentation

Lignocellulose-derived inhibitors have negative effects on the ethanol fermentation capacity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, the effects of eight typical inhibitors, including weak acids, furans, and phenols, on glucose and xylose co-fermentation of the recombinant xylose-fermenting flocculating industrial S. cerevisiae strain NAPX37 were evaluated by batch fermentation. Inhibition on glucose fermentation, not that on xylose fermentation, correlated with delayed cell growth. The weak acids and the phenols showed additive effects. The effect of inhibitors on glucose fermentation was as follows (from strongest to weakest): vanillin > phenol > syringaldehyde > 5-HMF > furfural > levulinic acid > acetic acid > formic acid. The effect of inhibitors on xylose fermentation was as follows (from strongest to weakest): phenol > vanillin > syringaldehyde > furfural > 5-HMF > formic acid > levulinic acid > acetic acid. The NAPX37 strain showed substantial tolerance to typical inhibitors and showed good fermentation characteristics, when a medium with inhibitor cocktail or rape straw hydrolysate was used. This research provides important clues for inhibitors tolerance of recombinant industrial xylose-fermenting S. cerevisiae.

Kinetics of growth and ethanol formation from a mix of glucose/xylose substrate by Kluyveromyces marxianus UFV-3

The fermentation of both glucose and xylose is important to maximize ethanol yield from renewable biomass feedstocks. In this article, we analyze growth, sugar consumption, and ethanol formation by the yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus UFV-3 using various glucose and xylose concentrations and also under conditions of reduced respiratory activity. In almost all the conditions analyzed, glucose repressed xylose assimilation and xylose consumption began after glucose had been exhausted. A remarkable difference was observed when mixtures of 5 g L(-1) glucose/20 g L(-1) xylose and 20 g L(-1) glucose/20 g L(-1) xylose were used. In the former, the xylose consumption began immediately after the glucose depletion. Indeed, there was no striking diauxic phase, as observed in the latter condition, in which there was an interval of 30 h between glucose depletion and the beginning of xylose consumption. Ethanol production was always higher in a mixture of glucose and xylose than in glucose alone. The highest ethanol concentration (8.65 g L(-1)) and cell mass concentration (4.42 g L(-1)) were achieved after 8 and 74 h, respectively, in a mixture of 20 g L(-1) glucose/20 g L(-1) xylose. When inhibitors of respiration were added to the medium, glucose repression of xylose consumption was alleviated completely and K. marxianus was able to consume xylose and glucose simultaneously.

Comparison of the xylose reductase-xylitol dehydrogenase and the xylose isomerase pathways for xylose fermentation by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Background

Two heterologous pathways have been used to construct recombinant xylose-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains: i) the xylose reductase (XR) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) pathway and ii) the xylose isomerase (XI) pathway. In the present study, the Pichia stipitis XR-XDH pathway and the Piromyces XI pathway were compared in an isogenic strain background, using a laboratory host strain with genetic modifications known to improve xylose fermentation (overexpressed xylulokinase, overexpressed non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway and deletion of the aldose reductase gene GRE3). The two isogenic strains and the industrial xylose-fermenting strain TMB 3400 were studied regarding their xylose fermentation capacity in defined mineral medium and in undetoxified lignocellulosic hydrolysate.

Results

In defined mineral medium, the xylose consumption rate, the specific ethanol productivity, and the final ethanol concentration were significantly higher in the XR- and XDH-carrying strain, whereas the highest ethanol yield was achieved with the strain carrying XI. While the laboratory strains only fermented a minor fraction of glucose in the undetoxified lignocellulose hydrolysate, the industrial strain TMB 3400 fermented nearly all the sugar available. Xylitol was formed by the XR-XDH-carrying strains only in mineral medium, whereas in lignocellulose hydrolysate no xylitol formation was detected.

Conclusion

Despite by-product formation, the XR-XDH xylose utilization pathway resulted in faster ethanol production than using the best presently reported XI pathway in the strain background investigated. The need for robust industrial yeast strains for fermentation of undetoxified spruce hydrolysates was also confirmed.

Metabolic engineering for pentose utilization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The introduction of pentose utilization pathways in baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is summarized together with metabolic engineering strategies to improve ethanolic pentose fermentation. Bacterial and fungal xylose and arabinose pathways have been expressed in S. cerevisiae but do not generally convey significant ethanolic fermentation traits to this yeast. A large number of rational metabolic engineering strategies directed among others toward sugar transport, initial pentose conversion, the pentose phosphate pathway, and the cellular redox metabolism have been exploited. The directed metabolic engineering approach has often been combined with random approaches including adaptation, mutagenesis, and hybridization. The knowledge gained about pentose fermentation in S. cerevisiae is primarily limited to genetically and physiologically well-characterized laboratory strains. The translation of this knowledge to strains performing in an industrial context is discussed.

High activity of xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase improves xylose fermentation by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Xylose fermentation performance was studied of a previously developed Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain TMB 3057, carrying high xylose reductase (XR) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) activity, overexpressed non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) and deletion of the aldose reductase gene GRE3. The fermentation performance of TMB 3057 was significantly improved by increased ethanol production and reduced xylitol formation compared with the reference strain TMB 3001. The effects of the individual genetic modifications on xylose fermentation were investigated by comparing five isogenic strains with single or combined modifications. All strains with high activity of both XR and XDH had increased ethanol yields and significantly decreased xylitol yields. The presence of glucose further reduced xylitol formation in all studied strains. High activity of the non-oxidative PPP improved the xylose consumption rate. The results indicate that ethanolic xylose fermentation by recombinant S. cerevisiae expressing XR and XDH is governed by the efficiency by which xylose is introduced in the central metabolism.

Role of cultivation media in the development of yeast strains for large scale industrial use

The composition of cultivation media in relation to strain development for industrial application is reviewed. Heterologous protein production and pentose utilization by Saccharomyces cerevisiae are used to illustrate the influence of media composition at different stages of strain construction and strain development. The effects of complex, defined and industrial media are compared. Auxotrophic strains and strain stability are discussed. Media for heterologous protein production and for bulk bio-commodity production are summarized.

NADPH-dependent D-aldose reductases and xylose fermentation in Fusarium oxysporum

Two aldose (xylose) reductases (ARI and ARII) from Fusarium oxysporum were purified and characterized. The native ARI was a monomer with M(r) 41000, pI 5.2 and showed a 52-fold preference for NADPH over NADH, while ARII was homodimeric with a subunit of M(r) 37000, pI 3.6 and a 60-fold preference for NADPH over NADH. In this study, the influence of aeration and the response to the addition of electron acceptors on xylose fermentation by F. oxysporum were also studied. The batch cultivation of F. oxysporum on xylose was performed under aerobic, anaerobic and oxygen-limited conditions in stirred tank reactors. Oxygen limitation had considerable influence on xylose metabolism. Under anaerobic conditions (0 vvm), xylitol was the main product with a maximum yield of 0.34 mole of xylitol/mole of xylose while the maximum ethanol yield (1.02 moles of ethanol/mole of xylose) was obtained under aerobic conditions (0.3 vvm). When the artificial electron acceptor acetoin was added to an anaerobic batch fermentation of xylose by F. oxysporum, the ethanol yield increased while xylitol excretion was also decreased.

Furfural, 5-hydroxymethyl furfural, and acetoin act as external electron acceptors during anaerobic fermentation of xylose in recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The electron acceptors acetoin, acetaldehyde, furfural, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) were added to anaerobic batch fermentation of xylose by recombinant, xylose utilising Saccharomyces cerevisiae TMB 3001. The intracellular fluxes during xylose fermentation before and after acetoin addition were calculated with metabolic flux analysis. Acetoin halted xylitol excretion and decreased the flux through the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. The yield of ethanol increased from 0.62 mol ethanol/mol xylose to 1.35 mol ethanol/mol xylose, and the cell more than doubled its specific ATP production after acetoin addition compared to fermentation of xylose only. This did, however, not result in biomass growth. The xylitol excretion was also decreased by furfural and acetaldehyde but was unchanged by HMF. Thus, furfural present in lignocellulosic hydrolysate can be beneficial for ethanolic fermentation of xylose. Enzymatic analyses showed that the reduction of acetoin and furfural required NADH, whereas the reduction of HMF required NADPH. The enzymatic activity responsible for furfural reduction was considerably higher than for HMF reduction and also in situ furfural conversion was higher than HMF conversion.

Characterization of Ethanol Production from Xylose and Xylitol by a Cell-Free Pachysolen tannophilus System

Whole cells and a cell extract of Pachysolen tannophilus converted xylose to xylitol, ethanol, and CO 2 . The whole-cell system converted xylitol slowly to CO 2 and little ethanol was produced, whereas the cell-free system converted xylitol quantitatively to ethanol (1.64 mol of ethanol per mol of xylitol) and CO 2 . The supernatant solution from high-speed centrifugation (100,000 × g ) of the extract converted xylose to ethanol, but did not metabolize xylitol unless a membrane fraction and oxygen were also present. Fractionation of the crude cell extract by gel filtration resulted in an inactive fraction in which ethanol production from xylitol was fully restored by the addition of NAD + and ADP. The continued conversion of xylose to xylitol in the presence of fluorocitrate, which inhibited aconitase, demonstrated that the tricarboxylic acid cycle was not the source of the electrons for the production of xylitol from xylose. Therefore, the source of the electrons is indirectly identified as an oxidative pentose-hexose cycle.

Anaerobic Growth and Fermentation Characteristics of Paecilomyces lilacinus Isolated from Mullet Gut

The anaerobic growth and fermentation of a marine isolate of Paecilomyces lilacinus is described. The fungus was isolated from mullet gut and grew optimally at 30°C and at a salinity of ≥10%. The best growth was obtained with glucose or laminarin as substrate, and the growth yield was 5.0 g (dry weight of fungus) per mol of hexose fermented. Moles of products as a percentage of moles of hexose fermented were acetate, 29.0%; ethanol, 156.6%; CO 2 , 108.0%; and lactate, 4.3%. Together these products accounted for >80% of hexose carbon. Hydrogen and formate were not detectable as fermentation end products (<0.5%). Other substrates utilized for growth, although less effectively than laminarin or glucose, included the monosaccharides galactose, fructose, arabinose, and xylose and the disaccharides maltose and cellobiose. No growth of the fungus occurred on cellulose, and of a variety of other polysaccharides tested only xylan supported growth.