Production of ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae under high-pressure conditions

A research project was initiated to examine the possibility of using supercritical carbon dioxide for in situ recovery of ethanol during its production by yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. As a preliminary step, it was necessary to study the behavior of ethanol production under high-pressure conditions, up to 7 MPa (1000 psi). The results show that pressure has a significant inhibiting effect on the production of ethanol. There is a significant decrease in the initial rate of production as well as in the final ethanol concentration as pressure is increased. This decrease is more significant when carbon dioxide is used to pressurize the fermentor. The pressure affects the ability of the cells to produce ethanol in a reversible way. When the fermentor is returned to atmospheric conditions, the reaction resumes its normal fermentation rate.     

Effects of T-2 toxin on ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A trichothecene mycotoxin, T-2 toxin, inhibits several aspects of cellular physiology in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, including protein synthesis and mitochondrial functions. We have studied growth of, glucose utilization by, and ethanol production by S. cerevisiae and show that they are inhibited by T-2 toxin between 20 and 200 micrograms/ml in a dose-dependent manner. At 200 micrograms/ml, T-2 toxin causes cell death. This apparent inhibition of ethanol production was found to be the result of growth inhibition. On the basis of biomass or glucose consumption, T-2 toxin increased the amount of ethanol present in the culture. This suggests that T-2 inhibits oxidative but not fermentative energy metabolism by inhibiting mitochondrial function and shifting glucose catabolism toward ethanol formation. As T-2 toxin does not directly inhibit ethanol production by S. cerevisiae, this system could be used for ethanol production from trichothecene-contaminated grain products.     

Metabolic flux analysis of genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae that produces lactate under micro-aerobic conditions

In the present study, to elucidate mechanisms of growth suppression in YIBO-pdc1/5Δ, we performed carbon metabolic flux analysis under micro-aerobic conditions. Our results indicate that growth suppression of YIBO-pdc1/5Δ is caused by decreased flux to the pentose phosphate pathway, which supplies ribose-5-phosphate, a precursor for histidine synthesis in Sacchar omyces cerevisiae. In addition, significant accumulation of pyruvate was observed in the continuous culture.     

The production of ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae immobilized in polycation-stabilized calcium alginate gels

Summary Polycation treatment of preformed calcium alginate beads produced a matrix with higher resistance to phosphate ions. The treatment of immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the calcium alginate beads inhibited respiration of the entrapped cells but did not reduce ethanol production.     

The use of monochloroacetic acid for improved ethanol production by immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae

World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology -     

Physiological, biochemical, and mathematical studies of micro-aerobic continuous ethanol fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. III: mathematical model of cellular energetics and catabolism

Mathematical models of the catabolic pathways, the utilization and waste of ATP, and the factors affecting yeast growth in a micro-aerobic chemostat are presented. The models incorporate the intracellular metabolite and enzyme activity assays performed in Part II to explain the unusual macroscopic chemostat behaviors reported in Part I. The catabolic model successfully predicts a maximum in the specific ethanol productivity as a function of the intracellular ATP concentration. The ATP balance model enables the prediction of the intracellular ATP concentration and the ATP yield for given dissolved oxygen concentrations. Finally, in the context of a growth model, singularity theory provides a framework to explain the transition observed in Part I between hysteresis and the monotonic biomass versus oxygenation profiles in response to changes in the nutrient composition. The models serve to organize data and to concretely express proposed metabolic mechanisms and cause-effect hypotheses. The model is only applicable to the micro-aerobic and excess glucose conditions encountered in this study.     

The role of nisin in fuel ethanol production with Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Aims: To investigate the effects of nisin on lactobacilli contamination of yeast during ethanol fermentation and to determine the appropriate concentration required to control the growth of selected lactobacilli in a YP/glucose media fermentation model. Methods and Results: The lowest concentration of nisin tested (5 IU ml^?1) effectively controlled the contamination of YP/glucose media with 10⁶ CFU ml^?1 lactobacilli. Lactic acid yield decreased from 5·0 to 2·0 g l^?1 and potential ethanol yield losses owing to the growth and metabolism of Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus brevis were reduced by 11 and 7·8%, respectively. Approximately, equal concentrations of lactic acid were produced by Lact. plantarum and Lact. brevis in the presence of 5 and 2 IU ml^?1 nisin, respectively, thus demonstrating the relatively higher nisin sensitivity of Lact. brevis for the strains in this study. No differences were observed in the final ethanol concentrations produced by yeast in the absence of bacteria at any of the nisin concentrations tested. Conclusions: Metabolism of contaminating bacteria was reduced in the presence of 5 IU ml^?1 nisin, resulting in reduced lactic acid production and increased ethanol production by the yeast. Significance and Impact of the Study: Bacteriocins represent an alternative to the use of antibiotics for the control of bacterial contamination in fuel ethanol plants and may be important in preventing the emergence of antibiotic‐resistant contaminating strains.     

Effects of xylulokinase activity on ethanol production from D-xylulose by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

AIMS: Recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains harbouring different levels of xylulokinase (XK) activity and effects of XK activity on utilization of xylulose were studied in batch and fed-batch cultures. METHODS AND RESULTS: The cloned xylulokinase gene (XKS1) from S. cerevisiae was expressed under the control of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter and terminator. Specific xylulose consumption rate was enhanced by the increased specific XK activity, resulting from the introduction of the XKS1 into S. cerevisiae. In batch and fed-batch cultivations, the recombinant strains resulted in twofold higher ethanol concentration and 5.3- to six-fold improvement in the ethanol production rate compared with the host strain S. cerevisiae. CONCLUSIONS: An effective conversion of xylulose to xylulose 5-phosphate catalysed by XK in S. cerevisiae was considered to be essential for the development of an efficient and accelerated ethanol fermentation process from xylulose. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Overexpression of the XKS1 gene made xylulose fermentation process accelerated to produce ethanol through the pentose phosphate pathway.     

Application of oscillation for efficiency improvement of continuous ethanol fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae under very-high-gravity conditions

Compared with steady state, oscillation in continuous very-high-gravity ethanol fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae improved process productivity, which was thus introduced for the fermentation system composed of a tank fermentor followed by four-stage packed tubular bioreactors. When the very-high-gravity medium containing 280 g l⁻¹ glucose was fed at the dilution rate of 0.04 h⁻¹, the average ethanol of 15.8% (v/v) and residual glucose of 1.5 g l⁻¹ were achieved under the oscillatory state, with an average ethanol productivity of 2.14 g h⁻¹ l⁻¹. By contrast, only 14.8% (v/v) ethanol was achieved under the steady state at the same dilution rate, and the residual glucose was as high as 17.1 g l⁻¹, with an ethanol productivity of 2.00 g h⁻¹ l⁻¹, indicating a 7% improvement under the oscillatory state. When the fermentation system was operated under the steady state at the dilution rate of 0.027 h⁻¹ to extend the average fermentation time to 88 h from 59 h, the ethanol concentration increased slightly to 15.4% (v/v) and residual glucose decreased to 7.3 g l⁻¹, correspondingly, but the ethanol productivity was decreased drastically to 1.43 g h⁻¹ l⁻¹, indicating a 48% improvement under the oscillatory state at the dilution rate of 0.04 h⁻¹.     

The effect of temperature on the kinetics of ethanol production by Saccharomyces uvarum

Summary In view of the interest in high productivity fermentations at increased temperatures, the effect of temperature on the kinetics of ethanol production by Saccharomyces uvarum was investigated in the range 25–43°C. Using a mathematical model and a nonlinear computer simulation package, the kinetic parameters at each temperature were estimated. It was found that the optimal temperature for growth was 34°C, while the specific ethanol production rate was maximal at 37–43°C. Up to 37°C, the inhibitory effects of ethanol on growth and specific ethanol production rate were unaffected by temperature. However, above this temperature, ethanol inhibition increased significantly.     

Physiological, biochemical, and mathematical studies of micro-aerobic continuous ethanol fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I: hysteresis, oscillations, and maximum specific ethanol productivities in chemostat culture

The growth and metabolism of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was studied in steady-state chemostat cultures under conditions of scarce oxygen and excess glucose. The specific ethanol productivity and specific glucose uptake rate were stimulated by 50% within a narrow range of air/nitrogen mixtures to the fermentor. Fermentation was inhibited at slightly higher and lower air/nitrogen ratios, confirming similar results by previous investigators. This stimulation could not be caused by obvious mechanisms, such as the Pasteur or Crabtree effects. Since this maximum in the fermentation rate occurred in a steady-state chemostat and at a constant dilution rate, the ATP yield of the culture necessarily attained a minimum. Thus, changes in the energetic efficiency of growth or the degree of wasting of ATP were surmised. The steady-state biomass concentration at various oxygenation rates exhibited hysteresis phenomena. Ignition and extinction of the biomass concentration occurred as critical oxygen feed rates were passed. The hysteresis was prevented by adding yeast extract to or reducing the antifoam concentration in the medium. These medium alterations had the simultaneous effect of stimulating the fermentation rate, suggesting that ATP has a critical role in dictating the biomass concentration in micro-aerobic culture. Silicone polymer antifoam was found to stimulate glycerol production at the expense of ethanol production, having consequences for the energy generation and the biomass concentration of the culture.     

Improved ethanol production by glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The anaerobic performance of gpd1Δ and gpd2Δ mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was characterized and compared to that of a wild-type strain under well-controlled conditions by using a high-performance bioreactor. There was a 40% reduction in glycerol level in the gpd2Δ mutant compared to the wild-type. Also the gpd1Δ mutant showed a slight decrease in glycerol formation but to a much lesser degree. As a consequence, ethanol formation in the gpd2Δ mutant was elevated by 13%. In terms of growth, the gpd1Δ mutant and the wild-type were indistinguishable. The gpd2Δ mutant, on the other hand, displayed an extended lag phase as well as a reduced growth rate under the exponential phase. Even though glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 2 (GPD2) is the important enzyme under anaerobic conditions it can, at least in part, be substituted by GPD1. This was indicated by the higher expression level of GPD1 in the gpd2Δ mutant compared to the wild type. These results also show that the cells are able to cope and maintain redox balance under anaerobic conditions even if glycerol formation is substantially reduced, as observed in the gpd2Δ mutant. One obvious way of solving the redox problem would be to make a biomass containing less protein, since most of the excess NADH originates from amino acid biosynthesis. However, the gpd2Δ mutant did not show any decrease in the protein content of the biomass. Received: 16 February 1998 / Received revision: 16 March 1998 / Accepted: 1 June 1998     

Stress effect of ethanol on fermentation kinetics by stationary-phase cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

When 4% (v/v) ethanol was added progressively to two strains exhibiting different fermentative abilities, K1 (a commercial wine strain) and V5 (a strain derived of a wine yeast), the fermentation rate correlated directly to the ethanol concentration for both strains. In contrast, the effect of sudden addition of 2%, 4% or 6% (v/v) ethanol was different depending on the strain. While the same effect was observed for K1 whatever the way of ethanol addition, V5 required an adaptation period after the shock addition of ethanol.     

酿酒酵母产油脂条件的优化

微生物细胞通常仅含2%3%油脂,但少数微生物含油脂率却可达70%以上,所以高含油脂量使微生物油脂实际开发成为可能。目前用于生产多不饱和脂肪酸的微生物主要为藻类和真菌。尽管微生物油脂是当前的研究热点,已经引起广大研究者的重视,但目前国内外研究大都集中在含油脂量在干重20%以上的微生物,如浅白色隐性酵母、粘红酵母等,而对于酿酒酵母来说,则很少见到研究其产油脂的相关报道。     

Lactose/whey utilization and ethanol production by transformed Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells

Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformed with a multicopy expression vector bearing both the Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase gene under the control of the upstream activating sequence of the GAL1-10 genes and the GAL4 activator gene release part of beta-galactosidase in the growth medium. This release is due to cell lysis of the older mother cells; the enzyme maintains its activity in buffered growth media. Fermentation studies with transformed yeast strains showed that the release of beta-galactosidase allowed an efficient growth on buffered media containing lactose as carbon source as well as on whey-based media. The transformed strains utilized up to 95% of the lactose and a high growth yield was obtained in rich media. High productions of ethanol were also observed in stationary phase after growth in lactose minimal media.