Production of bioethanol using lignocellulosic hydrolysate by the white rot fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hohenbuehelia</Emphasis> sp. ZW-16

A novel white rot fungus strain Hohenbuehelia sp. ZW-16 was identified and first used for bioethanol production in this study. It was found that the strain could produce bioethanol with glucose, xylose and arabinose under limited oxygen condition. Then, corn straw hydrolysate and corncob hydrolysate (mainly composed of glucose, xylose, and arabinose) were used for bioethanol production; the former substrate could produce more bioethanol in the experiment. The optimal sugar concentration and nitrogen sources were selected (50 g/L corn straw hydrolysate and 10 g/L soybean meals, respectively) and the maximum yield of bioethanol reached 4.6 g/L after 8 days of fermentation.     

Fermentation of corn fibre sugars by an engineered xylose utilizing Saccharomyces yeast strain

The ability of a recombinant Saccharomyces yeast strain to ferment the sugars glucose, xylose, arabinose and galactose which are the predominant monosaccharides found in corn fibre hydrolysates has been examined. Saccharomyces strain 1400 (pLNH32) was genetically engineered to ferment xylose by expressing genes encoding a xylose reductase, a xylitol dehydrogenase and a xylulose kinase. The recombinant efficiently fermented xylose alone or in the presence of glucose. Xylose-grown cultures had very little difference in xylitol accumulation, with only 4 to 5g/l accumulating, in aerobic, micro-aerated and anaerobic conditions. Highest production of ethanol with all sugars was achieved under anaerobic conditions. From a mixture of glucose (80g/l) and xylose (40g/l), this strain produced 52g/l ethanol, equivalent to 85% of theoretical yield, in less than 24h. Using a mixture of glucose (31g/l), xylose (15.2g/l), arabinose (10.5g/l) and galactose (2g/l), all of the sugars except arabinose were consumed in 24h with an accumulation of 22g ethanol/l, a 90% yield (excluding the arabinose in the calculation since it is not fermented). Approximately 98% theoretical yield, or 21g ethanol/l, was achieved using an enzymatic hydrolysate of ammonia fibre exploded corn fibre containing an estimated 47.0g mixed sugars/l. In all mixed sugar fermentations, less than 25% arabinose was consumed and converted into arabitol.     

Novel endophytic yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa strain PTD3 I: production of xylitol and ethanol

An endophytic yeast, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa strain PTD3, that was isolated from stems of hybrid poplar was found to be capable of production of xylitol from xylose, of ethanol from glucose, galactose, and mannose, and of arabitol from arabinose. The utilization of 30 g/L of each of the five sugars during fermentation by PTD3 was studied in liquid batch cultures. Glucose-acclimated PTD3 produced enhanced yields of xylitol (67% of theoretical yield) from xylose and of ethanol (84, 86, and 94% of theoretical yield, respectively) from glucose, galactose, and mannose. Additionally, this yeast was capable of metabolizing high concentrations of mixed sugars (150 g/L), with high yields of xylitol (61% of theoretical yield) and ethanol (83% of theoretical yield). A 1:1 glucose:xylose ratio with 30 g/L of each during double sugar fermentation did not affect PTD3's ability to produce high yields of xylitol (65% of theoretical yield) and ethanol (92% of theoretical yield). Surprisingly, the highest yields of xylitol (76% of theoretical yield) and ethanol (100% of theoretical yield) were observed during fermentation of sugars present in the lignocellulosic hydrolysate obtained after steam pretreatment of a mixture of hybrid poplar and Douglas fir. PTD3 demonstrated an exceptional ability to ferment the hydrolysate, overcome hexose repression of xylose utilization with a short lag period of 10 h, and tolerate sugar degradation products. In direct comparison, PTD3 had higher xylitol yields from the mixed sugar hydrolysate compared with the widely studied and used xylitol producer Candida guilliermondii.     

Techno-economic evaluation of stillage treatment with anaerobic digestion in a softwood-to-ethanol process

Background

Cost-effective fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysate to ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires efficient mixed sugar utilization. Notably, the rate and yield of xylose and arabinose co-fermentation to ethanol must be enhanced.

Results

Evolutionary engineering was used to improve the simultaneous conversion of xylose and arabinose to ethanol in a recombinant industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain carrying the heterologous genes for xylose and arabinose utilization pathways integrated in the genome. The evolved strain TMB3130 displayed an increased consumption rate of xylose and arabinose under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Improved anaerobic ethanol production was achieved at the expense of xylitol and glycerol but arabinose was almost stoichiometrically converted to arabitol. Further characterization of the strain indicated that the selection pressure during prolonged continuous culture in xylose and arabinose medium resulted in the improved transport of xylose and arabinose as well as increased levels of the enzymes from the introduced fungal xylose pathway. No mutation was found in any of the genes from the pentose converting pathways.

Conclusion

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that characterizes the molecular mechanisms for improved mixed-pentose utilization obtained by evolutionary engineering of a recombinant S. cerevisiae strain. Increased transport of pentoses and increased activities of xylose converting enzymes contributed to the improved phenotype.     

Production of arabitol from glycerol: strain screening and study of factors affecting production yield

Glycerol is a major by-product from biodiesel production, and developing new uses for glycerol is imperative to overall economics and sustainability of the biodiesel industry. With the aim of producing xylitol and/or arabitol as the value-added products from glycerol, 214 yeast strains, many osmotolerant, were first screened in this study. No strains were found to produce large amounts of xylitol as the dominant metabolite. Some produced polyol mixtures that might present difficulties to downstream separation and purification. Several Debaryomyces hansenii strains produced arabitol as the predominant metabolite with high yields, and D. hansenii strain SBP-1 (NRRL Y-7483) was chosen for further study on the effects of several growth conditions. The optimal temperature was found to be 30°C. Very low dissolved oxygen concentrations or anaerobic conditions inhibited polyol yields. Arabitol yield improved with increasing initial glycerol concentrations, reaching approximately 50% (w/w) with 150 g/L initial glycerol. However, the osmotic stress created by high salt concentrations (≥50 g/L) negatively affected arabitol production. Addition of glucose and xylose improved arabitol production while addition of sorbitol reduced production. Results from this work show that arabitol is a promising value-added product from glycerol using D. hansenii SBP-1 as the producing strain.     

Enhanced Xylitol Production by Precultivation of Candida guilliermondii Cells in Sugarcane Bagasse Hemicellulosic Hydrolysate

The present work evaluated the key enzymes involved in xylitol production (xylose reductase [XR] and xylitol dehydrogenase [XDH]) and their correlation with xylose, arabinose, and acetic acid assimilation during cultivation of Candida guilliermondii FTI 20037 cells in sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate. For this purpose, inocula previously grown either in sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate (SBHH) or in semidefined medium (xylose as a substrate) were used. The highest xylose/acetic acid consumption ratio (1.78) and the lowest arabinose consumption (13%) were attained in the fermentation using inoculum previously grown in semidefined medium (without acetic acid and arabinose). In this case, the highest values of XR (1.37 U mg prot⁻¹) and XDH (0.91 U mg prot⁻¹) activities were observed. The highest xylitol yield (∼0.55 g g⁻¹) and byproducts (ethanol and glycerol) formation were not influenced by inoculum procedure. However, the cell previously grown in the hydrolysate was effective in enhancing xylitol production by keeping the XR enzyme activity at high levels (around 0.99 U·mg_prot⁻¹), reducing the XDH activity (34.0%) and increasing xylitol volumetric productivity (26.5%) with respect to the inoculum cultivated in semidefined medium. Therefore, inoculum adaptation to SBHH was shown to be an important strategy to improve xylitol productivity.     

insilico Characterization and Homology Modeling of Arabitol Dehydrogenase (ArDH) from Candida albican

Background: Arabitol dehydrogenase (ArDH) is involved in the production of different sugar alcohols like arabitol, sorbitol, mannitol, erythritol and xylitol by using five carbon sugars as substrate. Arabinose, d-ribose, d-ribulose, xylose and d-xylulose are known substrate of this enzyme. ArDH is mainly produced by osmophilic fungi for the conversion of ribulose to arabitol under stress conditions. Recently this enzyme has been used by various industries for the production of pharmaceutically important sugar alcohols form cheap source than glucose. But the information at structure level as well as its binding energy analysis with different substrates was missing. Results: The present study was focused on sequence analysis, insilico characterization and substrate binding analysis of ArDH from a fungus specie candida albican. Sequence analysis and physicochemical properties showed that this protein is highly stable, negatively charged and having more hydrophilic regions, these properties made this enzyme to bind with number of five carbon sugars as substrate. The predicted 3D model will helpful for further structure based studies. Docking analysis provided free energies of binding of each substrate from a best pose as arabinose -9.8224calK/mol, dribose -11.3701Kcal/mol, d-ribulose -8.9230Kcal/mol, xylose -9.7007Kcal/mol and d-xylulose 9.7802Kcal/mol. Conclusion: Our study provided insight information of structure and interactions of ArDH with its substrate. These results obtained from this study clearly indicate that d-ribose is best substrate for ArDH for the production of sugar alcohols. This information will be helpful for better usage of this enzyme for hyper-production of sugar alcohols by different industries.     

Production of xylitol by Candida peltata

Candida peltata NRRL Y-6888 to ferment xylose to xylitol was evaluated under different fermentation conditions such as pH, temperature, aeration, substrate concentration and in the presence of glucose, arabinose, ethanol, methanol and organic acids. Maximum xylitol yield of 0.56 g g⁻¹ xylose was obtained when the yeast was cultivated at pH 6.0, 28°C and 200 rpm on 50 g L⁻¹ xylose. The yeast produced ethanol (0.41 g g⁻¹ in 40 h) from glucose (50 g L⁻¹) and arabitol (0.55 g g⁻¹ in 87 h) from arabinose (50 g L⁻¹). It preferentially utilized glucose > xylose > arabinose from mixed substrates. Glucose (10 g L⁻¹), ethanol (7.5 g L⁻¹) and acetate (5 g L⁻¹) inhibited xylitol production by 61, 84 and 68%, respectively. Arabinose (10 g L⁻¹) had no inhibitory effect on xylitol production. Received 24 December 1998/ Accepted in revised form 18 March 1999     

The potential of extracellular biopolymer production by Mesorhizobium sp. from monosaccharide constituents of lignocellulosic biomass

Objective

The effects of monosaccharide constituents of lignocellulosic materials on exopolysaccharide (EPS) production by Mesorhizobium sp. Semia 816 were studied.

Results

According to the results, by using sugars commonly found in lignocellulosic biomass as carbon sources (glucose, arabinose and xylose), no significant differences were observed in the production of EPS, reaching 3.39 g/L, 3.33 g/L and 3.27 g/L, respectively. Differences were observed in monosaccharide composition, mainly in relation to rhamnose and glucuronic acid contents (1.8 times higher when arabinose was compared with xylose). However, the biopolymers showed no differences in relation to rheological properties, with EPS aqueous-based suspensions (1.0% w/v) presenting pseudoplastic behavior, and a slight difference in degradation temperatures. Using soybean hulls hydrolysate as carbon source, slightly higher values were obtained (3.93 g/L).

Conclusion

The results indicate the potential of the use of lignocellulosic hydrolysates containing these sugars as a source of carbon in the cultivation of Mesorhizobium sp. Semia 816 for the production of EPS with potential industrial applications.

     

Debaryomyces hansenii fermentation for arabitol production

The fermentation process for arabitol production from glycerol was developed using a Debaryomyces hansenii strain recently selected from a broad screening. The high-producing strain produced arabitol as the only detectable polyol from glycerol. In this work, the pH, dissolved oxygen concentration (DO), inoculum size and magnesium concentration, and the nitrogen-to-phosphorus (N/P) ratio were systematically evaluated for effects on cell growth rate and arabitol productivity. Among those evaluated, the medium with N/P = 9, DO of 5% air saturation and pH 3.5 supported the highest arabitol production. Under these optimal conditions, arabitol production of 40 g/L was achieved in 5 days compared to earlier studies with 15 g/L arabitol in 5 days. Volumetric productivity and specific productivity were successfully improved from 0.13 to 0.33 g/L-h and 0.007 to 0.02 g/g-h respectively with arabitol yield of 55% from glycerol.     

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) production from xylose by recombinant Escherichia coli

Several recombinant Escherichia coli strains harboring the Alcaligenes eutrophus polyhydroxyalkanoate biosynthesis genes were used to produce poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), PHB, from xylose. By flask culture of TG1 (pSYL107) in a defined medium containing 20?g/l xylose, PHB concentration of 1.7?g/l was obtained. Supplementation of a small amount of cotton seed hydrolysate or soybean hydrolysate could enhance PHB production by more than two fold. The PHB concentration, PHB content, and PHB yield on xylose obtained by supplementing soybean hydrolysate were 4.4?g/l, 73.9%, and 0.226?g PHB/g xylose, respectively.     

Supplementation requirements of brewery’s spent grain hydrolysate for biomass and xylitol production by Debaryomyces hansenii CCMI 941

The effect of nutrient supplementation of brewery’s spent grain (BSG) hydrolysates was evaluated with respect to biomass and xylitol production by Debaryomyces hansenii. For optimal biomass production, supplementation of full-strength BSG hydrolysates required only phosphate (0.5 g l⁻¹ KH₂PO₄), leading to a biomass yield and productivity of 0.60 g g⁻¹ monosaccharides and 0.55 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹, respectively. Under the conditions studied, no metabolic products other than CO₂ and biomass were identified. For xylitol production, fourfold and sixfold concentrated hydrolysate-based media were used to assess the supplementation effects. The type of nutrient supplementation modulated the ratio of total polyols/total extracellular metabolites as well as the xylitol/arabitol ratio. While the former varied from 0.8 to 1, the xylitol/arabitol ratio reached a maximum value of 2.6 for yeast extract (YE)-supplemented hydrolysates. The increase in xylitol productivity and yield was related to the increase of the percentage of consumed xylose induced by supplementation. The best xylitol yield and productivity were found for YE supplementation corresponding to 0.55 g g⁻¹ and 0.36 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹, respectively. In sixfold concentrated hydrolysates, providing that the hydrolysate was supplemented, the levels of xylitol produced were similar or higher than those for arabitol. Xylitol yield exhibited a further increase in the sixfold hydrolysate supplemented with trace elements, vitamins and minerals to 0.65 g g⁻¹, albeit the xylitol productivity was somewhat lower. The effect of using activated charcoal detoxification in non-supplemented versus supplemented sixfold hydrolysates was also studied. Detoxification did not improve polyols formation, suggesting that the hemicellulose-derived inhibitor levels present in concentrated BSG hydrolysates are well tolerated by D. hansenii.     

Fermentation of L-arabinose,D-xylose and D-glucose by ethanologenic recombinant Klebsiella oxytoca strain P2

Summary Recombinant Klebsiella oxytoca strain P2 carrying genes for pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase from Zymomonas mobilis was evaluated for its ability to ferment arabinose, xylose and glucose alone and in mixtures in pH-controlled batch fermentations. This organism produced 0.34–0.43 g ethanol/g sugar at pH 6.0 and 30°C on 8% sugar substrate and demonstrated a preference for glucose. Sugar utilization was glucose > arabinose > xylose and ethanol production was xylose > glucose > arabinose.     

Ethanol production from eucalyptus wood hemicellulose hydrolysate by Pichia stipitis

Ethanol production was evaluated from eucalyptus wood hemicellulose acid hydrolysate using Pichia stipitis NRRL Y-7124. An initial lag phase characterized by flocculation and viability loss of the yeast inoculated was observed. Subsequently, cell regrowth occurred with sequential consumption of sugars and production of ethanol. Polyol formation was detected. Acetic acid present in the hydrolysate was an important inhibitor of the fermentation, reducing the rate and the yield. Its toxic effect was due essentially to its undissociated form. The fermentation was more effective at an oxygen transfer rate between 1.2 and 2.4 mmol/L h and an initial pH of 6.5. The hydrolysate used in the experiences had the following composition (expressed in grams per liter): xylose 30, arabinose 2.8, glucose 1.5, galactose 3.7, mannose 1.0, cellobiose 0.5, acetic acid 10, glucuronic acid 1.5, and galacturonic acid 1.0. The best values obtained were maximum ethanol concentration 12.6 g/L, fermentation time 75 h, fermentable sugar consumption 99% ethanol yield 0.35 g/g sugars consumed, and volumetric ethanol productivity 4 g/L day. (c) 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Biosynthesis of Poly-beta-Hydroxyalkanoates from Pentoses by Pseudomonas pseudoflava

The potential of Pseudomonas pseudoflava to produce poly-beta-hydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from pentoses was studied. This organism was able to use a hydrolysate from the hemicellulosic fraction of poplar wood as a carbon and energy source for its growth. However, in batch cultures, growth was inhibited completely at hydrolysate concentrations higher than 30% (vol/vol). When P. pseudoflava was grown on the major sugars present in hemicelluloses in batch cultures, poly-beta-hydroxybutyric acid (PHB) accumulated when glucose, xylose, or arabinose was the sole carbon source, with the final PHB content varying from 17% (wt/wt) of the biomass dry weight on arabinose to 22% (wt/wt) of the biomass dry weight on glucose and xylose. Specific growth rates were 0.58 h on glucose, 0.13 h on xylose, and 0.10 h on arabinose, while the specific PHB production rates based on total biomass ranged from 0.02 g g h on arabinose to 0.11 g g h on glucose. PHB weight-average molecular weights were 640,000 on arabinose and 1,100,000 on glucose and xylose. The absolute amount of PHB in the cells decreased markedly when nitrogen limitation was relaxed by feeding ammonium sulfate at the end of the PHB accumulation stage of the arabinose and xylose fermentations. Copolymers of beta-hydroxybutyric and beta-hydroxyvaleric acids were produced when propionic acid was added to shake flasks containing 10 g of glucose liter. The beta-hydroxyvaleric acid monomer content attained a maximum of 45 mol% when the initial propionic acid concentration was 2 g liter.     

Biosynthesis of Poly-β-Hydroxyalkanoates from Pentoses by Pseudomonas pseudoflava

The potential of Pseudomonas pseudoflava to produce poly-β-hydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from pentoses was studied. This organism was able to use a hydrolysate from the hemicellulosic fraction of poplar wood as a carbon and energy source for its growth. However, in batch cultures, growth was inhibited completely at hydrolysate concentrations higher than 30% (vol/vol). When P. pseudoflava was grown on the major sugars present in hemicelluloses in batch cultures, poly-β-hydroxybutyric acid (PHB) accumulated when glucose, xylose, or arabinose was the sole carbon source, with the final PHB content varying from 17% (wt/wt) of the biomass dry weight on arabinose to 22% (wt/wt) of the biomass dry weight on glucose and xylose. Specific growth rates were 0.58 h⁻¹ on glucose, 0.13 h⁻¹ on xylose, and 0.10 h⁻¹ on arabinose, while the specific PHB production rates based on total biomass ranged from 0.02 g g⁻¹ h⁻¹ on arabinose to 0.11 g g⁻¹ h⁻¹ on glucose. PHB weight-average molecular weights were 640,000 on arabinose and 1,100,000 on glucose and xylose. The absolute amount of PHB in the cells decreased markedly when nitrogen limitation was relaxed by feeding ammonium sulfate at the end of the PHB accumulation stage of the arabinose and xylose fermentations. Copolymers of β-hydroxybutyric and β-hydroxyvaleric acids were produced when propionic acid was added to shake flasks containing 10 g of glucose liter⁻¹. The β-hydroxyvaleric acid monomer content attained a maximum of 45 mol% when the initial propionic acid concentration was 2 g liter⁻¹.     

Lactic acid production from hemicellulosic hydrolyzate by cells of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lactobacillus bifermentans</Emphasis> immobilized in Ca-alginate using response surface methodology

Consumption of hexoses/pentoses and production of lactic acid by Lactobacillus bifermentans were investigated in optimized culture medium and hemicellulosic hydrolyzates. The hydrolyzate used had the following composition (expressed in gL⁻¹): xylose 50 ± 5 gL⁻¹; glucose 18 ± 3 gL⁻¹; arabinose 29 ± 5 gL⁻¹. The immobilization experiments were conducted with microbial cells entrapped in calcium alginate beads. The results indicate that maximum concentrations of lactic acid were produced after 54 h of fermentation. All glucose and arabinose in wheat bran hydrolyzate were consumed during fermentation. Only xylose was not completely consumed. The substrate consumption rate was 3.2 gh⁻¹, 1.9 gh⁻¹, 1.6 gh⁻¹ respectively for glucose, arabinose, and xylose. The optimized culture condition gave a lactic acid concentration and metabolic yield of 62.77 gL⁻¹ and 0.83 gg⁻¹. These parameters improved to 41.3 gL⁻¹ and 0.47 gg⁻¹ respectively, when cell free was used.     

Use of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) acid hydrolysate for microbial oil production by Trichosporon cutaneum

Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) dilute acid hydrolysate contains 34.6?g/L total sugars. The potential of lipid production by oleaginous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum grown on elephant grass acid hydrolysate was investigated for the first time. During the fermentation process on the elephant grass acid hydrolysate, glucose, xylose, and arabinose could be well utilized as carbon sources by T. cutaneum. Interestingly, xylose was almost no use before glucose was consumed completely. This illustrated that simultaneous saccharification of xylose and glucose by T. cutaneum did not occur on elephant grass acid hydrolysate. The highest biomass, lipid content, lipid yield, and lipid coefficient of T. cutaneum were measured after the sixth day of fermentation and were 22.76?g/L, 24.0%, 5.46?g/L, and 16.1%, respectively. Therefore, elephant grass is a promising raw material for microbial oil production by T. cutaneum.     

Comparing the xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase and xylose isomerase pathways in arabinose and xylose fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains

Background

Ethanolic fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass is a sustainable option for the production of bioethanol. This process would greatly benefit from recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains also able to ferment, besides the hexose sugar fraction, the pentose sugars, arabinose and xylose. Different pathways can be introduced in S. cerevisiae to provide arabinose and xylose utilisation. In this study, the bacterial arabinose isomerase pathway was combined with two different xylose utilisation pathways: the xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase and xylose isomerase pathways, respectively, in genetically identical strains. The strains were compared with respect to aerobic growth in arabinose and xylose batch culture and in anaerobic batch fermentation of a mixture of glucose, arabinose and xylose.

Results

The specific aerobic arabinose growth rate was identical, 0.03 h^-1, for the xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase and xylose isomerase strain. The xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase strain displayed higher aerobic growth rate on xylose, 0.14 h^-1, and higher specific xylose consumption rate in anaerobic batch fermentation, 0.09 g (g cells)^-1 h^-1 than the xylose isomerase strain, which only reached 0.03 h^-1 and 0.02 g (g cells)^-1h^-1, respectively. Whereas the xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase strain produced higher ethanol yield on total sugars, 0.23 g g^-1 compared with 0.18 g g^-1 for the xylose isomerase strain, the xylose isomerase strain achieved higher ethanol yield on consumed sugars, 0.41 g g^-1 compared with 0.32 g g^-1 for the xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase strain. Anaerobic fermentation of a mixture of glucose, arabinose and xylose resulted in higher final ethanol concentration, 14.7 g l^-1 for the xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase strain compared with 11.8 g l^-1 for the xylose isomerase strain, and in higher specific ethanol productivity, 0.024 g (g cells)^-1 h^-1 compared with 0.01 g (g cells)^-1 h^-1 for the xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase strain and the xylose isomerase strain, respectively.

Conclusion

The combination of the xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase pathway and the bacterial arabinose isomerase pathway resulted in both higher pentose sugar uptake and higher overall ethanol production than the combination of the xylose isomerase pathway and the bacterial arabinose isomerase pathway. Moreover, the flux through the bacterial arabinose pathway did not increase when combined with the xylose isomerase pathway. This suggests that the low activity of the bacterial arabinose pathway cannot be ascribed to arabitol formation via the xylose reductase enzyme.     

Fermentation of lignocellulosic sugars to acetic acid by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Moorella thermoacetica</Emphasis>

A systematic study of bioconversion of lignocellulosic sugars to acetic acid by Moorella thermoacetica (strain ATCC 39073) was conducted. Four different water-soluble fractions (hydrolysates) obtained after steam pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass were selected and fermented to acetic acid in batch fermentations. M. thermoacetica can effectively ferment xylose and glucose in hydrolysates from wheat straw, forest residues, switchgrass, and sugarcane straw to acetic acid. Xylose and glucose were completely utilized, with xylose being consumed first. M. thermoacetica consumed up to 62 % of arabinose, 49 % galactose and 66 % of mannose within 72 h of fermentation in the mixture of lignocellulosic sugars. The highest acetic acid yield was obtained from sugarcane straw hydrolysate, with 71 % of theoretical yield based on total sugars (17 g/L acetic acid from 24 g/L total sugars). The lowest acetic acid yield was observed in forest residues hydrolysate, with 39 % of theoretical yield based on total sugars (18 g/L acetic acid from 49 g/L total sugars). Process derived compounds from steam explosion pretreatment, including 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (0.4 g/L), furfural (0.1 g/L) and total phenolics (3 g/L), did not inhibit microbial growth and acetic acid production yield. This research identified two major factors that adversely affected acetic acid yield in all hydrolysates, especially in forest residues: (i) glucose to xylose ratio and (ii) incomplete consumption of arabinose, galactose and mannose. For efficient bioconversion of lignocellulosic sugars to acetic acid, it is imperative to have an appropriate balance of sugars in a hydrolysate. Hence, the choice of lignocellulosic biomass and steam pretreatment design are fundamental steps for the industrial application of this process.