Immobilization of Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792 as macroporous aggregates through cryogelation for butanol production

In this study, a new cell immobilization technique is presented. Cells of Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792 form a macroporous aggregate through cryogelation with concomitant crosslinking together with activated polyethyleneimine (PEI) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The cell based cryogel presents a highly porous, elastic structure with walls consisting of densely packed crosslinked cells. The immobilization process maintained the viability of cells as new bacterial cells were observed when gel-plugs were incubated in liquid medium, glucose was consumed and solvent production was observed. Solvent production was improved 2.7-fold in immobilized cells in comparison to free cells. It was possible to reuse the gel-plugs 3–5 times in partial or completely fresh medium, reaching a maximum butanol concentration in the broth of 18.2 g/l and yield of 0.41 (g/g) in one of the cycles. The use of cells based cryogels can be a good alternative for improvement of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) process as cells are immobilized in a macroporous structure with low limitations for mass transfer with potential for high yield production.     

Butanol production from thin stillage using Clostridium pasteurianum

The production of butanol from thin stillage by Clostridium pasteurianum DSM 525 was evaluated in the paper. At initial pH values ranging from 5.0 to 7.0 C. pasteurianum DSM 525 produced 6.2-7.2 g/L of butanol utilizing glycerol in thin stillage as the main carbon source, with yields of 0.32-0.44 g butanol produced/g glycerol consumed, which are higher than previously reported yields (e.g., 0.14-0.31 g butanol/g glycerol, Biebl, 2001). Lactic acid in the thin stillage acted as a buffering agent, maintaining the pH of the medium within a range of 5.7-6.1. Lactic acid was also utilized along with glycerol, enhancing butanol production (6.5 g/L butanol vs. 8.7 g/L butanol with 0 and 16 g/L lactic acid, respectively). These results demonstrate the feasibility of cost-effective butanol production using thin stillage as a nutrient-containing medium with a pH buffering capacity.     

Switching Clostridium acetobutylicum to an ethanol producer by disruption of the butyrate/butanol fermentative pathway

Solventogenic clostridia are well-known since almost a century due to their unique capability to biosynthesize the solvents acetone and butanol. Based on recently developed genetic engineering tools, a targeted 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (Hbd)-negative mutant of Clostridium acetobutylicum was generated. Interestingly, the entire butyrate/butanol (C₄) metabolic pathway of C. acetobutylicum could be inactivated without a severe growth limitation and indicated the general feasibility to manipulate the central fermentative metabolism for product pattern alteration. Cell extracts of the mutant C. acetobutylicum hbd::int(69) revealed clearly reduced thiolase, Hbd and crotonase but increased NADH-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme activities as compared to the wildtype strain. Neither butyrate nor butanol were detected in cultures of C. acetobutylicum hbd::int(69), and the formation of molecular hydrogen was significantly reduced. Instead up to 16 and 20 g/l ethanol were produced in glucose and xylose batch cultures, respectively. Further sugar addition in glucose fed-batch fermentations increased the ethanol production to a final titer of 33 g/l, resulting in an ethanol to glucose yield of 0.38 g/g.     

Optimization of medium compositions favoring butanol and 1,3-propanediol production from glycerol by Clostridium pasteurianum

Medium compositions favoring butanol and 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) production from glycerol by Clostridium pasteurianum DSM525 were investigated using statistical experimental designs. Medium components affecting butanol and 1,3-PDO production were screened using a fractional factorial experimental design. Among the six tested variables (phosphate buffer, MnSO4·H2O, MgSO4·7H2O, FeSO4·7H2O, (NH4)2SO4, and yeast extract), FeSO4·7H2O, (NH4)2SO4, and yeast extract were found to be significant variables for further optimization of medium using a Box-Behnken design. Optimal butanol (0.98 g/L/h) and 1,3-PDO (1.19 g/L/h) productivities were predicted by the corresponding quadratic model for each product and the models were validated experimentally under optimized conditions. The optimal medium composition for butanol production was significantly different from that for 1,3-PDO production (0.06 vs. 0 g/L for FeSO4·7H2O, 7.35 vs. 0 g/L for (NH4)2SO4, and 5.08 vs. 8.0 g/L for yeast extract), suggesting that the product formation from glycerol by C. pasteurianum DSM525 can be controlled by changing medium compositions.     

Thiolase engineering for enhanced butanol production in Clostridium acetobutylicum

Biosynthetic thiolases catalyze the condensation of two molecules acetyl‐CoA to acetoacetyl‐CoA and represent key enzymes for carbon–carbon bond forming metabolic pathways. An important biotechnological example of such a pathway is the clostridial n‐butanol production, comprising various natural constraints that limit titer, yield, and productivity. In this study, the thiolase of Clostridium acetobutylicum, the model organism for solventogenic clostridia, was specifically engineered for reduced sensitivity towards its physiological inhibitor coenzyme A (CoA‐SH). A high‐throughput screening assay in 96‐well microtiter plates was developed employing Escherichia coli as host cells for expression of a mutant thiolase gene library. Screening of this library resulted in the identification of a thiolase derivative with significantly increased activity in the presence of free CoA‐SH. This optimized thiolase comprised three amino acid substitutions (R133G, H156N, G222V) and its gene was expressed in C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824 to assess the effect of reduced CoA‐SH sensitivity on solvent production. In addition to a clearly delayed ethanol and acetone formation, the ethanol and butanol titers were increased by 46% and 18%, respectively, while the final acetone concentrations were similar to the vector control strain. These results demonstrate that thiolase engineering constitutes a suitable methodology applicable to improve clostridial butanol production, but other biosynthetic pathways involving thiolase‐mediated carbon flux limitations might also be subjected to this new metabolic engineering approach. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2013; 110: 887–897. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Enhanced butanol production and reduced autolysin activity after chloramphenicol treatment of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824

Summary Release of autolysin during the late exponential growth phase of Clostridium acetobutylicum resulted in early lysis of the culture and reduction of solvent formation. A simple and effective way of reducing autolysin activity and increasing solvent production is partial inhibition of protein synthesis with chloramphenicol (CAP). The extracellular autolytic activity in the culture, determined by following loss of turbidity of washed clostridial cells in 0.04m sodium phosphate buffer at 37° C, was decreased by 40% after CAP treatment. This caused an extension of cell viability by 12 h and an increase in butanol production by 30%. The optimal time of CAP addition was 12 h of incubation, and the optimal antibiotic concentration was 120 g/ml. The effects of CAP on the fermentation are due to the inhibition of protein synthesis leading to a decrease in autolysin level in the culture. The results obtained provide economic advantages for industrial production of solvents by minimizing autolysin activity and maximizing solvent yield during the critical solvent-producing phase. Correspondence to: R. W. Traxler     

Continuous production of acetone and butanol with shear-activated Clostridium acetobutylicum

Summary When using shear activation of Clostridium acetobutylicum by pumping the cells through capillaries, the cell growth, glucose consumption and product formation rates are considerably increased. Shear-activated continuous cell culture can be used as an inoculum with a welldefined fermentation activity for batch cultures. Different runs of such batch cultivation yield well-reproducible results which could not be obtained from inocula of other cultures or even of heat-shocked spores. The cells can attain a growth rate higher than 1.6 h^-1.The shear-activated continous culture growth is affected already at a butanol concentration lower than 1.6 g/l^-1.     

Optimization of butanol production from tropical maize stalk juice by fermentation with Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052

Mixed sugars from tropical maize stalk juice were used to carry out butanol fermentation with Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052. Batch experiments employing central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) optimization were performed to evaluate effects of three factors, i.e. pH, initial total sugar concentration, and agitation rate on butanol production. Optimum conditions of pH 6.7, sugar concentration 42.2 g/L and agitation rate 48 rpm were predicted, under which a maximum butanol yield of 0.27 g/g-sugar was estimated. Further experiments demonstrated that higher agitation facilitated acetone production, leading to lower butanol selectivity in total acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE). While glucose and fructose are more preferable by C. beijerinckii, sucrose can also be easily degraded by the microorganism. This study indicated that RSM is a useful approach for optimizing operational conditions for butanol production, and demonstrated that tropical maize, with high yield of biomass and stalk sugars, is a promising biofuel crop.     

Enhanced butanol production in Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 by double overexpression of 6-phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase genes

This study elucidated the importance of two critical enzymes in the regulation of butanol production in Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824. Overexpression of both the 6-phosphofructokinase (pfkA) and pyruvate kinase (pykA) genes increased intracellular concentrations of ATP and NADH and also resistance to butanol toxicity. Marked increases of butanol and ethanol production, but not acetone, were also observed in batch fermentation. The butanol and ethanol concentrations were 29.4 and 85.5 % higher, respectively, in the fermentation by double-overexpressed C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824/pfkA+pykA than the wild-type strain. Furthermore, when fed-batch fermentation using glucose was carried out, the butanol and total solvent (acetone, butanol, and ethanol) concentrations reached as high as 19.12 and 28.02 g/L, respectively. The reason for improved butanol formation was attributed to the enhanced NADH and ATP concentrations and increased tolerance to butanol in the double-overexpressed strain.     

Pervaporative butanol fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum B18

Extractive acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation was carried out successfully using pervaporation and a low-acid-producing Clostridium acetobutylicum B18. A pervaporation module with 0.17 m(2) of surface area was made of silicone membrane of 240 mum thickness. Pervaporation experiments using make-up solutions showed that butanol and acetone fluxes increased linearly with their concentrations in the aqueous phase. Fickian diffusion coefficients were constants for fixed air flow rates, and increased at higher sweep air flow rates. During batch and fed-batch fermentations, pervaporation at an air flow rate of 8 L/min removed butanol and acetone efficiently. Butanol concentration was maintained below 4.5 g/L even though Clostridium acetobutylicum B18 produced butanol steadily. Pervaporation could not remove organic acids efficiently, but organic acids did not accumulate because strain B18 produced little organic acid and recycled added organic acids efficiently. With pervaporation, glucose consumption rate increased compared to without pervaporation, and up to 160 g/L of glucose was consumed during 80 h. Cell growth was not inhibited by possible salt accumulation or oxygen diffusion through the silicone tubing. The culture volume was maintained relatively constant during fed-batch operation because of an offsetting effect of water and product removal by pervaporation and addition of nutrient supplements. (c) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Continuous production of acetone and butanol by Clostridium acetobutylicum growing in turbidostat culture

Turbidostat cultures of Clostridium acetobutylicum were analysed with respect to their fermentation products after steady states were obtained at various cell densities. It was found that at low densities the fermentation of glucose was essentially acidogenic in nature, whereas acetone and butanol were the major end-products when the cultures were maintained at a high cell density.     

The role of acids on the production of acetone and butanol by Clostridium acetobutylicum

Summary The production of solvent by Clostridium acetobutylicum was studied, using fed-batch fermentations. Different specific rates of carbohydrate utilisation were obtained by variations in feeding rates of sugar. At slow catabolic rates of sugar, addition of acetic acid or butyric acid, alone or together, increased the rate of the metabolic transition by a factor 10 to 20, the amount of solvents by a factor 6 and the percentage of fermented glucose to solvents by a factor 3. The same results were obtained with both glucose and xylose fermentations. Depending on the rates of growth, butanol production began at acid levels of 3–4 g·l^-1 for fast metabolism and at acid levels of 8–10 g·l^-1 for slow metabolism. Associated with slow metabolism, reassimilation of acids required values as high as 6.5 g·l^-1 of acetic acid and 7.5 g·l^-1 of butyric acid. At a high rate of metabolism, acetic and butyric acids were reassimilated at concentrations of 4.5 g·l^-1.     

Metabolic engineering of Clostridium acetobutylicum: recent advances to improve butanol production

The biosynthesis of the solvents 1-butanol and acetone is restricted to species of the genus Clostridium, a diverse group of Gram-positive, endospore forming anaerobes comprising toxin-producing strains as well as terrestrial non-pathogenic species of biotechnological impact. Among solventogenic clostridia, Clostridium acetobutylicum represents the model organism and general but yet important genetic tools were established only recently to investigate and understand the complex life cycle-accompanied physiology and its regulatory mechanisms. Since clostridial butanol production regained much interest in the past few years, different metabolic engineering approaches were conducted--although promising and in part successful strategies were employed, the major breakthrough to generate an optimum phenotype with superior butanol titer, yield and productivity still remains to be expected.     

Problems with the microbial production of butanol

With the incessant fluctuations in oil prices and increasing stress from environmental pollution, renewed attention is being paid to the microbial production of biofuels from renewable sources. As a gasoline substitute, butanol has advantages over traditional fuel ethanol in terms of energy density and hygroscopicity. A variety of cheap substrates have been successfully applied in the production of biobutanol, highlighting the commercial potential of biobutanol development. In this review, in order to better understand the process of acetone–butanol–ethanol production, traditional clostridia fermentation is discussed. Sporulation is probably induced by solvent formation, and the molecular mechanism leading to the initiation of sporulation and solventogenesis is also investigated. Different strategies are employed in the metabolic engineering of clostridia that aim to enhancing solvent production, improve selectivity for butanol production, and increase the tolerance of clostridia to solvents. However, it will be hard to make breakthroughs in the metabolic engineering of clostridia for butanol production without gaining a deeper understanding of the genetic background of clostridia and developing more efficient genetic tools for clostridia. Therefore, increasing attention has been paid to the metabolic engineering of E. coli for butanol production. The importation and expression of a non-clostridial butanol-producing pathway in E. coli is probably the most promising strategy for butanol biosynthesis. Due to the lower butanol titers in the fermentation broth, simultaneous fermentation and product removal techniques have been developed to reduce the cost of butanol recovery. Gas stripping is the best technique for butanol recovery found so far.     

电子载体对丁醇发酵的影响

研究在培养基中加入不同电子载体对丁醇发酵的影响。结果表明:添加微量的苄基紫精可以促进丁醇的产生,同时可强烈抑制丙酮的合成,丁醇体积分数由66.92%提高到82.35%。苄基紫精可促进菌株快速进入产溶剂期,发酵周期明显缩短,丁醇生产强度显著提高。7%玉米培养基中加入40 mg/L苄基紫精,丁醇产量最高达16.10 g/L,生产强度为0.37 g/(L.h),分别较对照提高10.96%和60.87%。在初始丁醇体积分数较低的条件下,苄基紫精对丁醇合成的促进作用更明显。     

The effect of fermentable carbohydrate on sporulation and butanol production by Clostridium acetobutylicum P262

Summary This study was conducted to determine whether or not a variation in the type of carbohydrate fermented by Clostridium acetobutylicum could be exploited to inhibit sporulation during the butanol-producing phase of fermentation and thus enhance butanol production. C. acetobutylicum P262 was found to ferment a wide variety of carbohydrates, but butanol production was not necessarily enhanced when percentage sporulation was low. Butanol concentration was more related to the total amount of acidic end-products (acetic and butyric acid) reutilized by the microorganism for solvent production and to the type and amount of carbohydrate utilized. Fermentation of cellobiose led to conditions resulting in complete acid reutilization and the highest butanol concentration (10.4–10.6 g/l). In cultures containing a mixture of glucose and cellobiose, glucose repression of cellobiose utilization resulted in lower butanol concentrations (6.6–7.5 g/l). Sporulation was dependent on the type of carbohydrate utilized by the microorganism. Glucose had a greater enhancing effect on the sporulation process (22–42%) than starch (9–12%) or cellobiose (22–34%). It was concluded that whereas the type of carbohydrate fermented had a specific effect on the extent of sporulation of a culture, conditions of low sporulation did not enhance butanol concentration unless carbohydrate utilization and the reutilization of acidic products were high.Correspondence to: W. M. Ingledew     

Continuous production of acetone and butanol by Clostridium acetobutylicum in a two-stage phosphate limited chemostat

Summary When Clostridium acetobutylicum was grown in continuous culture under phosphate limitation (0.74 mM) at a pH of 4.3, glucose was fermented to butanol, acetone and ethanol as the major products. At a dilution rate of D=0.025 h^–1 and a glucose concentration of 300 mM, the maximal butanol and acetone concentrations were 130 mM and 74 mM, respectively. 20% of the glucose remained in the medium. On the basis of these results a two-stage continuous process was developed in which 87.5% of the glucose was converted into butanol, acetone and ethanol. The cells and minor amounts of acetate and butyrate accounted for the remaining 12.5% of the substrate. The first stage was run at D=0.125 h^–1 and 37° C and the second stage at D=0.04 h^–1 and 33° C. High yields of butanol and acetone were also obtained in batch culture under phosphate limitation.