Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of cellulose by Fusarium oxysporum F3—growth characteristics and metabolite profiling

Bioethanol production from Ficus fruits (Ficus cunia) by Fusarium oxysporum through consolidated bioprocessing system

Fusarium oxysporum is among the few filamentous fungi capable of fermenting ethanol directly from lignocellulose biomass (LCB). It has the essential enzymatic toolbox to disintegrate LCB to its monosaccharides, which subsequently fermented to ethanol under anaerobic and micro-aerobic conditions. However, the structural complexity of LCB and modest performances of wild fungi are major limitations for application in local biorefineries. This study assessed the potential of the locally isolated Fusarium oxysporum for the production of bioethanol from Ficus fruits (Ficus cunia) using Consolidated Bioprocessing (CBP). The maximum ethanol concentration achieved was at 5% substrate loadings with pH 6 irrespective of temperature variance, attaining a concentration of 3.54 g/L and 3.88 g/L at 28 °C and 32 °C, respectively. The monitoring of analytes (glucose, arabinose, cellobiose, xylose, acetic acid, ethanol, furfural, and HMF) in this study suggests the utilization of an array of sugars released from Ficus fruits, irrespective of the difference in the process parameters. This study also shows that CBP of freshly grounded Ficus fruits was feasible employing a mild hydrothermal pretreatment (autoclaved at 121 °C for 30 min in 1:10 w/v) and without supplementing any extraneous enzymes.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-022-03234-y.

How Carbon Source and Degree of Oligosaccharide Polymerization Affect Production of Cellulase-Degrading Enzymes by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici

Cellulases are a group of enzymes responsible for the degradation of cellulose, which is one of the most abundant polymers on Earth. The three main groups of cellulases are endoglucosidases, exoglucosidases, and β-glucosidases; however, the mechanism of induction of these enzymes remains poorly characterized. Cellooligosaccharides are among the main inducers of these enzymes in filamentous fungi, yet it is not clear how their degree of polymerization may affect the strength of induction. In the present study, we investigated the effect of different carbohydrate-based inducers, such as lactose, sophorose, cellooligosaccharides, and xylooligosacharides, characterized by different concentrations and degree of polymerization, on cellulases production by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, which is one of the most studied lignocellulose degrading fungi with the ability to consume both cellulose and hemicellulose. Moreover, the effect of carbon source on cellulase induction was assessed by growing the biomass on sucrose or glycerol. Results showed a correlation between induction efficiency and the cellooligosaccharides' concentration and size, as well as the carbon source available. Specifically, cellotetraose was a better inducer when sucrose was the carbon source, while cellobiose yielded a better result on glycerol. These findings can help optimize industrial cellulase production.

Consolidated bioethanol production from olive mill waste: Wood-decay fungi from central Morocco as promising decomposition and fermentation biocatalysts

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First report on lignocellulolytic activity and diversity of fungi from central Morocco.

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Olive Mill Waste (OMW) is a suitable biomass for local biorefinery in Meknes region.

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Fusaria isolates produce high and diversified lignocellulases using Consolidated Bioprocess.

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Fusarium oxysporum (76) achieves 2.47 g.L⁻¹ bioethanol production and 0.84 g.g⁻¹ yield.

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Bioethanol is maximally produced during the oxygen-limiting phase.

Meknes region is a Moroccan olive-processing area generating high amounts of non-valorized Olive Mill Waste (OMW). Fungi are natural decomposers producing varied enzyme classes and effectively contributing to the carbon cycle. However, structural complexity of biomass and modest performances of wild fungi are major limits for local biorefineries. The objective of current research is to assess the ability of local fungi for bioethanol production from OMW using Consolidated Bioprocessing (CBP). This is done by characterizing lignocellulolytic potential of six wood-decay and compost-inhabiting ascomycetes and selecting potent fermentation biocatalysts. High and diversified activities were expressed by Fusarium solani and Fusarium oxysporum: 9.36 IU. mL⁻¹ and 2.88 IU. mL⁻¹ total cellulase activity, 0.54 IU. mL⁻¹ and 0.57 IU. mL⁻¹ laccase activity, respectively, and 8.43 IU. mL⁻¹ lignin peroxidase activity for the latter. F. oxysporum had maximum bioethanol production and yield of 2.47 g.L^-1 and 0.84 g.g⁻¹, respectively, qualifying it as an important bio-agent for single-pot local biorefinery.

A Major Facilitator Superfamily Peptide Transporter From Fusarium oxysporum Influences Bioethanol Production From Lignocellulosic Material

Fusarium oxysporum is a leading microbial agent in the emerging consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) industry owing to its capability to infiltrate the plant's lignin barrier and degrade complex carbohydrates to value-added chemicals such as bioethanol in a single step. Membrane transport of nutrients is a key factor in successful microbial colonization of host tissue. This study assessed the impact of a peptide transporter on F. oxysporum's ability to convert lignocellulosic straw to ethanol. We characterized a novel F. oxysporum peptide transporter (FoPTR2) of the dipeptide/tripeptide transporter (PTR) class. FoPTR2 represents a novel transporter with high homology to the Trichoderma sp. peptide transporters ThPTR2 and TrEST-AO793. Its expression level was highly activated in nitrogen-poor environments, which is a characteristic of PTR class peptide transporters. Overexpression and post-translational gene silencing of the FoPTR2 in F. oxysporum affected the peptide transport capacity and ethanol yielded from a both a wheat straw/bran mix and glucose. Thus, we conclude that it FoPTR2 plays a role in the nutrient acquisition system of F. oxysporum which serves to not only enhance fungal fitness but also CBP efficacy.

Waste biorefineries using filamentous ascomycetes fungi: Present status and future prospects

Filamentous ascomycetes fungi have had important roles in natural cycles, and are already used industrially for e.g. supplying of citric, gluconic and itaconic acids as well as many enzymes. Faster human activities result in higher consumption of our resources and producing more wastes. Therefore, these fungi can be explored to use their capabilities to convert back wastes to resources. The present paper reviews the capabilities of these fungi in growing on various residuals, producing lignocellulose-degrading enzymes and production of organic acids, ethanol, pigments, etc. Particular attention has been on Aspergillus, Fusarium, Neurospora and Monascus genera. Since various species are used for production of human food, their biomass can be considered for feed applications and so biomass compositional characteristics as well as aspects related to culture in bioreactor are also provided. The review has been further complemented with future research avenues.

Fungal-mediated consolidated bioprocessing: the potential of Fusarium oxysporum for the lignocellulosic ethanol industry

Microbial bioprocessing of lignocellulose to bioethanol still poses challenges in terms of substrate catabolism. The most important challenge is to overcome substrate recalcitrance and to thus reduce the number of steps needed to biorefine lignocellulose. Conventionally, conversion involves chemical pretreatment of lignocellulose, followed by hydrolysis of biomass to monomer sugars that are subsequently fermented into bioethanol. Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) has been suggested as an efficient and economical method of manufacturing bioethanol from lignocellulose. CBP integrates the hydrolysis and fermentation steps into a single process, thereby significantly reducing the amount of steps in the biorefining process. Filamentous fungi are remarkable organisms that are naturally specialised in deconstructing plant biomass and thus they have tremendous potential as components of CBP. The fungus Fusarium oxysporum has potential for CBP of lignocellulose to bioethanol. Here we discuss the complexity and potential of CBP, the bottlenecks in the process, and the potential influence of fungal genetic diversity, substrate complexity and new technologies on the efficacy of CPB of lignocellulose, with a focus on F. oxysporum.

Ethanol production from high cellulose concentration by the basidiomycete fungus Flammulina velutipes

Ethanol production by Flammulina velutipes from high substrate concentrations was evaluated. F. velutipes produces approximately 40-60 g l(-1) ethanol from 15% (w/v) D-glucose, D-fructose, D-mannose, sucrose, maltose, and cellobiose, with the highest conversion rate of 83% observed using cellobiose as a carbon source. We also attempted to assess direct ethanol fermentation from sugarcane bagasse cellulose (SCBC) by F. velutipes. The hydrolysis rate of 15% (w/v) SCBC with commercial cellulase was approximately 20%. In contrast, F. velutipes was able to produce a significant amount of ethanol from 15% SCBC with the production of β-glucosidase, cellobohydrolase, and cellulase, although the addition of a small amount of commercial cellulase to the culture was required for the conversion. When 9 mg g(-1) biomass of commercial cellulase was added to cultures, 0.36 g of ethanol was produced from 1 g of cellulose, corresponding to an ethanol conversion rate of 69.6%. These results indicate that F. velutipes would be useful for consolidated bioprocessing of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol.

Exploiting the inter-strain divergence of Fusarium oxysporum for microbial bioprocessing of lignocellulose to bioethanol

Microbial bioprocessing of lignocellulose to bioethanol still poses challenges in terms of substrate catabolism. A targeted evolution-based study was undertaken to determine if inter-strain microbial variability could be exploited for bioprocessing of lignocellulose to bioethanol. The microorganism studied was Fusarium oxysporum because of its capacity to both saccharify and ferment lignocellulose. Strains of F. oxysporum were isolated and assessed for their genetic variability. Using optimised solid-state straw culture conditions, experiments were conducted that compared fungal strains in terms of their growth, enzyme activities (cellulases, xylanase and alcohol dehydrogenase) and yield of bioethanol and the undesirable by-products acetic acid and xylitol. Significant inter-strain divergence was recorded in regards to the capacity of studied F. oxysporum strains to produce alcohol from untreated straw. No correlation was observed between bioethanol synthesis and either the biomass production or microbial enzyme activity. A strong correlation was observed between both acetic acid and xylitol production and bioethanol yield. The level of diversity recorded in the alcohol production capacity among closely-related microorganism means that a targeted screening of populations of selected microbial species could greatly improve bioprocessing yields, in terms of providing both new host strains and candidate genes for the bioethanol industry.

Heterologous expression of transaldolase gene Tal from Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Fusarium oxysporum for enhanced bioethanol production

The filamentous fungus Fusarium oxysporum is known for its ability to ferment xylose-producing ethanol. However, efficiency of xylose utilization and ethanol yield was low. In this study, the transaldolase gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been successfully expressed in F. oxysporum by an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation method. The enzymatic activity of the recombinant fungus (cs28pCAM-Sctal4) was 0.195 times higher than that of the wild-type strain (cs28). The recombinant strain also exhibited a 28.83% increase in ethanol yield on xylose media compared to the parental strain. Enhanced ethanol production and a reduction in the biomass were observed during xylose fermentation. Ethanol yield from rice straw by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation with cs28pCAM-Sctal4 was 0.25 g g⁻¹ of rice straw. The transgenic strain of F. oxysporum cs28pCAM-Sctal4 might therefore have potential applications in industrial bioenergy production.

A combined ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry analysis to understand the basal metabolism of plant-pathogenic Fusarium spp

Many ascomycete Fusarium spp. are plant pathogens that cause disease on both cereal and noncereal hosts. Infection of wheat ears by Fusarium graminearum and F. culmorum typically results in bleaching and a subsequent reduction in grain yield. Also, a large proportion of the harvested grain can be spoiled when the colonizing Fusarium mycelia produce trichothecene mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON). In this study, we have explored the intracellular polar metabolome of Fusarium spp. in both toxin-producing and nonproducing conditions in vitro. Four Fusarium spp., including nine well-characterized wild-type field isolates now used routinely in laboratory experimentation, were explored. A metabolic "triple-fingerprint" was recorded using (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance and direct-injection electrospray ionization-mass spectroscopy in both positive- and negative-ionization modes. These combined metabolomic analyses revealed that this technique is sufficient to resolve different wild-type isolates and different growth conditions. Principal components analysis was able to resolve the four species explored-F. graminearum, F. culmorum, F. pseudograminearum, and F. venenatum-as well as individual isolate differences from the same species. The external nutritional environment was found to have a far greater influence on the metabolome than the genotype of the organism. Conserved responses to DON-inducing medium were evident and included increased abundance of key compatible solutes, such as glycerol and mannitol. In addition, the concentration of γ-aminobutyric acid was elevated, indicating that the cellular nitrogen status may be affected by growth on DON-inducing medium.

Global metabolic profiling of plant cell wall polysaccharide degradation by Saccharophagus degradans

Plant cell wall polysaccharides can be used as the main feedstock for the production of biofuels. Saccharophagus degradans 2-40 is considered to be a potent system for the production of sugars from plant biomass due to its high capability to degrade many complex polysaccharides. To understand the degradation metabolism of plant cell wall polysaccharides by S. degradans, the cell growth, enzyme activity profiles, and the metabolite profiles were analyzed by gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry using different carbon sources including cellulose, xylan, glucose, and xylose. The specific activity of cellulase was only found to be significantly higher when cellulose was used as the sole carbon source, but the xylanase activity increased when xylan, xylose, or cellulose was used as the carbon source. In addition, principal component analysis of 98 identified metabolites in S. degradans revealed four distinct groups that differed based on the carbon source used. Furthermore, metabolite profiling showed that the use of cellulose or xylan as polysaccharides led to increased abundances of fatty acids, nucleotides and glucuronic acid compared to the use of glucose or xylose. Finally, intermediates in the pentose phosphate pathway seemed to be up-regulated on xylose or xylan when compared to those on glucose or cellulose. Such metabolic responses of S. degradans under plant cell wall polysaccharides imply that its metabolic system is transformed to more efficiently degrade polysaccharides and conserve energy. This study demonstrates that the gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry-based global metabolomics are useful for understanding microbial metabolism and evaluating its fermentation characteristics.

Profiling differential expression of cellulases and metabolite footprints in Aspergillus terreus

This study reports differential expression of endoglucanase (EG) and beta-glucosidase (betaG) isoforms of Aspergillus terreus. Expression of multiple isoforms was observed, in presence of different carbon sources and culture conditions, by activity staining of poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis gels. Maximal expression of four EG isoforms was observed in presence of rice straw (28 U/g DW substrate) and corn cobs (1.147 U/ml) under solid substrate and shake flask culture, respectively. Furthermore, the sequential induction of EG isoforms was found to be associated with the presence of distinct metabolites (monosaccharides/oligosaccharides) i.e., xylose (X), G(1), G(3) and G(4) as well as putative positional isomers (G(1)/G(2), G(2)/G(3)) in the culture extracts sampled at different time intervals, indicating specific role of these metabolites in the sequential expression of multiple EGs. Addition of fructose and cellobiose to corn cobs containing medium during shake flask culture resulted in up-regulation of EG activity, whereas addition of mannitol, ethanol and glycerol selectively repressed the expression of three EG isoforms (Ia, Ic and Id). The observed regulation profile of betaG isoforms was distinct when compared to EG isoforms, and addition of glucose, fructose, sucrose, cellobiose, mannitol and glycerol resulted in down-regulation of one or more of the four betaG isoforms.

Perspectives and new directions for the production of bioethanol using consolidated bioprocessing of lignocellulose

The U.S. DOE Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) mandated attainment of a national production level of 36 billion gallons of biofuels (to be added to gasoline) by 2022, of which 21 billion gallons must be derived from renewable/sustainable feedstocks (e.g. lignocellulose). In order to attain these goals, the development of cost effective process technologies that can convert plant biomass to fermentable sugars must occur. An alternative route to production of bioethanol is the utilization of microorganisms that can both convert biomass to fermentable sugars and ferment the resultant sugars to ethanol in a process known as consolidated bioprocessing (CBP). Although various economic benefits and technology hurdles must be weighed in the course of choosing the CBP strategy to be pursued, we present arguments for developing the powerfully cellulolytic fungus, Trichoderma reesei, as an effective CBP microorganism.

Fermentation characteristics of Fusariumoxysporum grown on acetate

In this study, the growth characteristics of Fusariumoxysporum were evaluated in minimal medium using acetate or different mixtures of acetate and glucose as carbon source. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of acetic acid that F.oxysporum cells could tolerate was 0.8%w/v while glucose was consumed preferentially to acetate. The activity of isocitrate lyase was high when cells were grown on acetate and acetate plus glucose indicating an activation of the glyoxylate cycle. Investigation of the metabolic fingerprinting and footprinting revealed higher levels of intracellular and extracellular TCA cycle intermediates when F.oxysporum cells were grown on mixtures of acetate and glucose compared to growth on only glucose. Our data support the hypothesis that a higher flux through TCA cycle during acetate consumption could significantly increase the pool of NADH, resulting in the activation of succinate-propionate pathway which consumes reducing power (NADH) via conversion of succinate to propionyl-CoA and produce propionate.

Fueling industrial biotechnology growth with bioethanol

Industrial biotechnology is the conversion of biomass via biocatalysis, microbial fermentation, or cell culture to produce chemicals, materials, and/or energy. Industrial biotechnology processes aim to be cost-competitive, environmentally favorable, and self-sustaining compared to their petrochemical equivalents. Common to all processes for the production of energy, commodity, added value, or fine chemicals is that raw materials comprise the most significant cost fraction, particularly as operating efficiencies increase through practice and improving technologies. Today, crude petroleum represents the dominant raw material for the energy and chemical sectors worldwide. Within the last 5 years petroleum prices, stability, and supply have increased, decreased, and been threatened, respectively, driving a renewed interest across academic, government, and corporate centers to utilize biomass as an alternative raw material. Specifically, bio-based ethanol as an alternative biofuel has emerged as the single largest biotechnology commodity, with close to 46 billion L produced worldwide in 2005. Bioethanol is a leading example of how systems biology tools have significantly enhanced metabolic engineering, inverse metabolic engineering, and protein and enzyme engineering strategies. This enhancement stems from method development for measurement, analysis, and data integration of functional genomics, including the transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, and fluxome. This review will show that future industrial biotechnology process development will benefit tremendously from the precedent set by bioethanol - that enabling technologies (e.g., systems biology tools) coupled with favorable economic and socio-political driving forces do yield profitable, sustainable, and environmentally responsible processes. Biofuel will continue to be the keystone of any industrial biotechnology-based economy whereby biorefineries leverage common raw materials and unit operations to integrate diverse processes to produce demand-driven product portfolios.

Fuel ethanol production: process design trends and integration opportunities

Current fuel ethanol research and development deals with process engineering trends for improving biotechnological production of ethanol. In this work, the key role that process design plays during the development of cost-effective technologies is recognized through the analysis of major trends in process synthesis, modeling, simulation and optimization related to ethanol production. Main directions in techno-economical evaluation of fuel ethanol processes are described as well as some prospecting configurations. The most promising alternatives for compensating ethanol production costs by the generation of valuable co-products are analyzed. Opportunities for integration of fuel ethanol production processes and their implications are underlined. Main ways of process intensification through reaction-reaction, reaction-separation and separation-separation processes are analyzed in the case of bioethanol production. Some examples of energy integration during ethanol production are also highlighted. Finally, some concluding considerations on current and future research tendencies in fuel ethanol production regarding process design and integration are presented.

The influence of different cultivation conditions on the metabolome of Fusarium oxysporum

The two most widespread pentose sugars found in the biosphere are d-xylose and l-arabinose. They are both potential substrates for ethanol production. The purpose of this study was to better understand the redox constraints imposed to Fusarium oxysporum during utilization of pentoses. In order to increase ethanol yield and decrease by-product formation, nitrate was used as nitrogen source. The use of NADH, the cofactor in denitrification process when using nitrate as a nitrogen source, improved the ethanol yield on xylose to 0.89 mol mol(-1) compared to the ethanol yield achieved using ammonium as nitrogen source 0.44 mol mol(-1). The improved ethanol yield was followed by a 28% decrease in yield of the by-product xylitol. In order to investigate the metabolic pathway of arabinose and the metabolic limitations for the efficient ethanol production from this sugar, the extracellular and intracellular metabolite profiles were determined under aerobic and anaerobic cultivation conditions. The results of this study clearly show difficulties in channelling of glucose-1-P (G1P) to pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) and reduced NADPH regeneration, suggesting that NADPH becomes a limiting factor for arabinose conversion, resulting in excessive acetate production. Variations of the fungus intracellular amino and non-amino acid pool, under different culture conditions, were evaluated using principal component analysis (PCA). PCA projection of the metabolome data collected from F. oxysporum subjected to environmental perturbations succeeded to visualize different physiological states and the conclusions of this study were that the metabolite profile is unique according to: (1) the carbon source and (2) the oxygen supply, and to a lesser extent to the cultivation phase.