Improved Bioethanol Production Using Fusants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Xylose-Fermenting Yeasts

Sustainable Second-Generation Bioethanol Production from Enzymatically Hydrolyzed Domestic Food Waste Using Pichia anomala as Biocatalyst

In the current study, a domestic food waste containing more than 50% of carbohydrates was assessed as feedstock to produce second-generation bioethanol. Aiming to the maximum exploitation of the carbohydrate fraction of the waste, its hydrolysis via cellulolytic and amylolytic enzymatic blends was investigated and the saccharification efficiency was assessed in each case. Fermentation experiments were performed using the non-conventional yeast Pichia anomala (Wickerhamomyces anomalus) under both separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) modes to evaluate the conversion efficiencies and ethanol yields for different enzymatic loadings. It was shown that the fermentation efficiency of the yeast was not affected by the fermentation mode and was high for all handlings, reaching 83%, whereas the enzymatic blend containing the highest amount of both cellulolytic and amylolytic enzymes led to almost complete liquefaction of the waste, resulting also in ethanol yields reaching 141.06 ± 6.81 g ethanol/kg waste (0.40 ± 0.03 g ethanol/g consumed carbohydrates). In the sequel, a scale-up fermentation experiment was performed with the highest loading of enzymes in SHF mode, from which the maximum specific growth rate, μmax, and the biomass yield, Yx/s, of the yeast from the hydrolyzed waste were estimated. The ethanol yields that were achieved were similar to those of the respective small scale experiments reaching 138.67 ± 5.69 g ethanol/kg waste (0.40 ± 0.01 g ethanol/g consumed carbohydrates).

Pentose metabolism and conversion to biofuels and high-value chemicals in yeasts

Pentose sugars are widespread in nature and two of them, D-xylose and L-arabinose belong to the most abundant sugars being the second and third by abundance sugars in dry plant biomass (lignocellulose) and in general on planet. Therefore, it is not surprising that metabolism and bioconversion of these pentoses attract much attention. Several different pathways of D-xylose and L-arabinose catabolism in bacteria and yeasts are known. There are even more common and really ubiquitous though not so abundant pentoses, D-ribose and 2-deoxy-D-ribose, the constituents of all living cells. Thus, ribose metabolism is example of endogenous metabolism whereas metabolism of other pentoses, including xylose and L-arabinose, represents examples of the metabolism of foreign exogenous compounds which normally are not constituents of yeast cells. As a rule, pentose degradation by the wild-type strains of microorganisms does not lead to accumulation of high amounts of valuable substances; however, productive strains have been obtained by random selection and metabolic engineering. There are numerous reviews on xylose and (less) L-arabinose metabolism and conversion to high value substances; however, they mostly are devoted to bacteria or the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This review is devoted to reviewing pentose metabolism and bioconversion mostly in non-conventional yeasts, which naturally metabolize xylose. Pentose metabolism in the recombinant strains of S. cerevisiae is also considered for comparison. The available data on ribose, xylose, L-arabinose transport, metabolism, regulation of these processes, interaction with glucose catabolism and construction of the productive strains of high-value chemicals or pentose (ribose) itself are described. In addition, genome studies of the natural xylose metabolizing yeasts and available tools for their molecular research are reviewed. Metabolism of other pentoses (2-deoxyribose, D-arabinose, lyxose) is briefly reviewed.

Production of cellulosic ethanol from cotton processing residues after pretreatment with dilute sodium hydroxide and enzymatic hydrolysis

In this study, production of cellulosic ethanol from two cotton processing residues was investigated after pretreatment with dilute sodium hydroxide. Pretreatment performance was investigated using a 2(2) factorial design and the highest glucan conversion was achieved at the most severe alkaline conditions (0.4g NaOH g(-1) of dry biomass and 120°C), reaching 51.6% and 38.8% for cotton gin waste (CGW) and cotton gin dust (CGD), respectively. The susceptibility of pretreated substrates to enzymatic hydrolysis was also investigated and the best condition was achieved at the lowest total solids (5wt%) and the highest enzyme loading (85mg of Cellic CTec2 g(-1) of dry substrate). However, the highest concentration of fermentable sugars - 47.8 and 42.5gL(-1) for CGD and CGW, respectively - was obtained at 15wt% total solids using this same enzyme loading. Substrate hydrolysates had no inhibitory effects on the fermenting microorganism.

Bioethanol production from Ipomoea carnea biomass using a potential hybrid yeast strain

The paper deals with the exploitation of Ipomoea carnea as a feedstock for the production of bioethanol. Dilute acid pretreatment under optimum conditions (3%H2SO4, 120 °C for 45 min) produced 17.68 g L(-1) sugars along with 1.02 g L(-1) phenolics and 1.13 g L(-1) furans. A combination of overliming and activated charcoal adsorption facilitated the removal of 91.9% furans and 94.7% phenolics from acid hydrolysate. The pretreated biomass was further treated with a mixture of sodium sulphite and sodium chlorite and, a maximum lignin removal of 81.6% was achieved. The enzymatic saccharification of delignified biomass resulted in 79.4% saccharification with a corresponding sugar yield of 753.21 mg g(-1). Equal volume of enzymatic hydrolysate and acid hydrolysate were mixed and used for fermentation with a hybrid yeast strain RPRT90. Fermentation of mixed detoxified hydrolysate at 30 °C for 28 h produced ethanol with a yield of 0.461 g g(-1). A comparable ethanol yield (0.414 g g(-1)) was achieved using a mixture of enzymatic hydrolysate and undetoxified acid hydrolysate. Thus, I. carnea biomass has been demonstrated to be a potential feedstock for bioethanol production, and the use of hybrid yeast may pave the way to produce bioethanol from this biomass.

Improvement of multiple stress tolerance in yeast strain by sequential mutagenesis for enhanced bioethanol production

The present work deals with the improvement of multiple stress tolerance in a glucose-xylose co-fermenting hybrid yeast strain RPR39 by sequential mutagenesis using ethyl methane sulfonate, N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, near and far ultraviolet radiations. The mutants were evaluated for their tolerance to ethanol, temperature and fermentation inhibitors. Among these mutants, mutant RPRT90 exhibited highest tolerance to 10% initial ethanol concentration, 2 g L(-1) furfural and 8 g L(-1) acetic acid. The mutant also showed good growth at high temperature (39-40°C). A study on the combined effect of multiple stresses during fermentation of glucose-xylose mixture (3:1 ratio) was performed using mutant RPRT90. Under the combined effect of thermal (39°C) and inhibitor stress (0.25 g L(-1) vanillin, 0.5 g L(-1) furfural and 4 g L(-1) acetic acid), the mutant produced ethanol with a yield of 0.379 g g(-1), while under combined effect of ethanol (7% v/v) and inhibitor stress the ethanol yield obtained was 0.43 g g(-1). Further, under the synergistic effect of sugar (250 g L(-1)), thermal (39°C), ethanol (7% v/v) and inhibitors stress, the strain produced a maximum of 47.93 g L(-1) ethanol by utilizing 162.42 g L(-1) of glucose-xylose mixture giving an ethanol yield of 0.295 g g(-1) and productivity of 0.57 g L(-1) h(-1). Under same condition the fusant RPR39 produced a maximum of 30.0 g L(-1) ethanol giving a yield and productivity of 0.21 g g(-1) and 0.42 g L(-1) h(-1) respectively. The molecular characterization of mutant showed considerable difference in its genetic profile from hybrid RPR39. Thus, sequential mutagenesis was found to be effective to improve the stress tolerance properties in yeast.