Xylose and cellobiose fermentation to ethanol by the thermotolerant methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha

Wild-type strains of the thermotolerant methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha are able to ferment glucose, cellobiose and xylose to ethanol. H. polymorpha most actively fermented sugars to ethanol at 37 degrees C, whereas the well-known xylose-fermenting yeast Pichia stipitis could not effectively ferment carbon substrates at this temperature. H. polymorpha even could ferment both glucose and xylose up to 45 degrees C. This species appeared to be more ethanol tolerant than P. stipitis but more susceptible than Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A riboflavin-deficient mutant of H. polymorpha increased its ethanol productivity from glucose and xylose under suboptimal supply with riboflavin. Mutants of H. polymorpha defective in alcohol dehydrogenase activity produced lower amounts of ethanol from glucose, whereas levels of ethanol production from xylose were identical for the wild-type strain and the alcohol dehydrogenase-defective mutant.     

Improved ethanol production by a xylose-fermenting recombinant yeast strain constructed through a modified genome shuffling method

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Xylose is the second most abundant carbohydrate in the lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysate. The fermentation of xylose is essential for the bioconversion of lignocelluloses to fuels and chemicals. However the wild-type strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are unable to utilize xylose. Many efforts have been made to construct recombinant yeast strains to enhance xylose fermentation over the past few decades. Xylose fermentation remains challenging due to the complexity of lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysate. In this study, a modified genome shuffling method was developed to improve xylose fermentation by S. cerevisiae. Recombinant yeast strains were constructed by recursive DNA shuffling with the recombination of entire genome of P. stipitis with that of S. cerevisiae. RESULTS: After two rounds of genome shuffling and screening, one potential recombinant yeast strain ScF2 was obtained. It was able to utilize high concentration of xylose (100 g/L to 250 g/L xylose) and produced ethanol. The recombinant yeast ScF2 produced ethanol more rapidly than the naturally occurring xylose-fermenting yeast, P. stipitis, with improved ethanol titre and much more enhanced xylose tolerance. CONCLUSION: The modified genome shuffling method developed in this study was more effective and easier to operate than the traditional protoplast fusion based method. Recombinant yeast strain ScF2 obtained in this was a promising candidate for industrial cellulosic ethanol production. In order to further enhance its xylose fermentation performance, ScF2 needs to be additionally improved by metabolic engineering and directed evolution.     

Ethanol production from xylose in engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains: current state and perspectives

Bioethanol production from xylose is important for utilization of lignocellulosic biomass as raw materials. The research on yeast conversion of xylose to ethanol has been intensively studied especially for genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae during the last 20 years. S. cerevisiae, which is a very safe microorganism that plays a traditional and major role in industrial bioethanol production, has several advantages due to its high ethanol productivity, as well as its high ethanol and inhibitor tolerance. However, this yeast cannot ferment xylose, which is the dominant pentose sugar in hydrolysates of lignocellulosic biomass. A number of different strategies have been applied to engineer yeasts capable of efficiently producing ethanol from xylose, including the introduction of initial xylose metabolism and xylose transport, changing the intracellular redox balance, and overexpression of xylulokinase and pentose phosphate pathways. In this review, recent progress with regard to these studies is discussed, focusing particularly on xylose-fermenting strains of S. cerevisiae. Recent studies using several promising approaches such as host strain selection and adaptation to obtain further improved xylose-utilizing S. cerevisiae are also addressed.     

休哈塔假丝酵母乙醇发酵性能的研究

木糖的高效发酵是制约纤维素燃料乙醇生产的技术瓶颈之一,高性能发酵菌种的开发是本领域研究的重点。以木糖发酵的典型菌株休哈塔假丝酵母为材料,研究氮源配比、葡萄糖和木糖初始浓度、葡萄糖添加及典型抑制物等因素对其木糖利用和乙醇发酵性能的影响规律。结果表明,硫酸铵更适宜于木糖和葡萄糖发酵产乙醇。在摇瓶振荡发酵条件下,该酵母可发酵164.0 g/L葡萄糖生成61.9 g/L乙醇,糖利用率和乙醇得率分别为99.8%和74.0%;受酵母细胞膜上转运体系的限制,对木糖的最高发酵浓度为120.0 g/L,可生成45.7 g/L乙醇,糖利用率和乙醇得率分别达到94.8%和87.0%。休哈塔假丝酵母发酵木糖的主要产物为乙醇,仅生成微量的木糖醇;添加葡萄糖可促进木糖的利用;休哈塔假丝酵母在葡萄糖发酵时的乙酸和甲酸的耐受浓度分别为8.32和2.55 g/L,木糖发酵时的乙酸和甲酸的耐受浓度分别为6.28和1.15 g/L。     

Conversion of xylose to ethanol by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae: importance of xylulokinase (XKS1) and oxygen availability.

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae efficiently ferments hexose sugars to ethanol, but it is unable to utilize xylose, a pentose sugar abundant in lignocellulosic materials. Recombinant strains containing genes coding for xylose reductase (XR) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) from the xylose-utilizing yeast Pichia stipitis have been reported; however, such strains ferment xylose to ethanol poorly. One reason for this may be the low capacity of xylulokinase, the third enzyme in the xylose pathway. To investigate the potential limitation of the xylulokinase step, we have overexpressed the endogenous gene for this enzyme (XKS1) in S. cerevisiae that also expresses the P. stipitis genes for XR and XDH. The metabolism of this recombinant yeast was further investigated in pure xylose bioreactor cultivation at various oxygen levels. The results clearly indicated that overexpression of XKS1 significantly enhances the specific rate of xylose utilization. In addition, the XK-overexpressing strain can more efficiently convert xylose to ethanol under all aeration conditions studied. One of the important illustrations is the significant anaerobic and aerobic xylose conversion to ethanol by the recombinant Saccharomyces; moreover, this was achieved on pure xylose as a carbon. Under microaerobic conditions, 5.4 g L(-1) ethanol was produced from 47 g L(-1) xylose during 100 h. In fed-batch cultivations using a mixture of xylose and glucose as carbon sources, the specific ethanol production rate was highest at the highest aeration rate tested and declined by almost one order of magnitude at lower aeration levels. Intracellular metabolite analyses and in vitro enzyme activities suggest the following: the control of flux in a strain that overexpresses XKS1 has shifted to the nonoxidative steps of the pentose phosphate pathway (i.e., downstream of xylose 5-phosphate), and enzymatic steps in the lower part of glycolysis and ethanol formation pathways (pyruvate kinase, pyruvate decarboxylase, and alcohol dehydrogenase) do not have a high flux control in this recombinant strain. Furthermore, the intracellular ATP levels were found to be significantly lower for the XK strain compared with either the control strain under similar conditions or glucose-grown Saccharomyces. The ATP : ADP ratios were also lower for the XK strain, especially under microaerobic conditions (0.9 vs 6.4).     

Deletion of the GRE3 aldose reductase gene and its influence on xylose metabolism in recombinant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing the xylA and XKS1 genes.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae ferments hexoses efficiently but is unable to ferment xylose. When the bacterial enzyme xylose isomerase (XI) from Thermus thermophilus was produced in S. cerevisiae, xylose utilization and ethanol formation were demonstrated. In addition, xylitol and acetate were formed. An unspecific aldose reductase (AR) capable of reducing xylose to xylitol has been identified in S. cerevisiae. The GRE3 gene, encoding the AR enzyme, was deleted in S. cerevisiae CEN.PK2-1C, yielding YUSM1009a. XI from T. thermophilus was produced, and endogenous xylulokinase from S. cerevisiae was overproduced in S. cerevisiae CEN.PK2-1C and YUSM1009a. In recombinant strains from which the GRE3 gene was deleted, xylitol formation decreased twofold. Deletion of the GRE3 gene combined with expression of the xylA gene from T. thermophilus on a replicative plasmid generated recombinant xylose utilizing S. cerevisiae strain TMB3102, which produced ethanol from xylose with a yield of 0.28 mmol of C from ethanol/mmol of C from xylose. None of the recombinant strains grew on xylose.     

Xylose fermentation by genetically modified Saccharomyces cerevisiae 259ST in spent sulfite liquor

Spent sulfite pulping liquor (SSL) is a high-organic content byproduct of acid bisulfite pulp manufacture which is fermented to make industrial ethanol. SSL is typically concentrated to 240 g/l (22% w/w) total solids prior to fermentation, and contains up to 24 g/l xylose and 30 g/l hexose sugars, depending upon the wood species used. The xylose present in SSL is difficult to ferment using natural xylose-fermenting yeast strains due to the presence of inhibitory compounds, such as organic acids. Using sequential batch shake flask experiments, Saccharomyces cerevisiae 259ST, which had been genetically modified to ferment xylose, was compared with the parent strain, 259A, and an SSL adapted strain, T2, for ethanol production during SSL fermentation. With an initial SSL pH of 6, without nutrient addition or SSL pretreatment, the ethanol yield ranged from 0.32 to 0.42 g ethanol/g total sugar for 259ST, compared to 0.15-0.32 g ethanol/g total sugar for non-xylose fermenting strains. For most fermentations, minimal amounts of xylitol (<1 g/l) were produced, and glycerol yields were approximately 0.12 g glycerol/g sugar consumed. By using 259ST for SSL fermentation up to 130% more ethanol can be produced compared to fermentations using non-xylose fermenting yeast.     

氦氖激光和亚硝基胍复合诱变选育高产乙醇的休哈塔假丝酵母

木糖的乙醇发酵一直被视为木质纤维原料生物转化产生乙醇的关键因素,休哈塔假丝酵母(Candidashehatae)是木糖发酵性能较好的天然酵母之一。对Candida shehatae HDYXHT-01进行了氦氖激光诱变和NTG诱变,力求选育出发酵木糖产乙醇能力强的菌株。氦氖激光诱变得到的突变株HN-3乙醇产量为17.03g/L,乙醇得率达到0.3393g/g,相比原始菌株提高20.36%。再对HN-3进行NTG诱变,得到的突变株NTG-2乙醇产量为24.20g/L,相比HN-3提高42.10%。进而对NTG-2菌株进行了摇瓶48h连续发酵试验,测得其乙醇产量、木糖利用率、乙醇得率和乙醇产率分别达到24.16g/L,69.26%,0.4360g/g和0.7075g/(L·h)。     

产乙醇工程菌研究进展

伴随着21世纪的到来,低油价的时代也悄然落幕。简要概述了燃料乙醇产生菌代谢工程的研究进展,包括了利用淀粉、戊糖及纤维素的工程酵母构建,运动发酵单胞菌利用戊糖工程菌的构建,引入外源乙醇合成途径的大肠埃希氏菌和产酸克雷伯氏菌等。对燃料乙醇的重视将促进开发能利用廉价原料和要求粗放的工程菌株用于高产乙醇的生产过程,以降低成本和能耗,其中能利用生淀粉的工程酵母及利用木质纤维素水解物的运动发酵单胞菌工程菌有较大的工业化潜力。     

利用木糖-葡萄糖为原料产乙醇酵母的筛选、鉴定及发酵试验

建立筛选利用木糖为碳源产乙醇酵母模型,获得一株适合利用木质纤维素为原料产乙醇的酵母菌株。样品经麦芽汁培养基培养后,以木糖为唯一碳源的筛选培养基初筛,再以重铬酸钾显色法复筛。通过生理生化和26D1/D2区对筛选得到的菌株进行分析和鉴定,该菌初步鉴定为Pichia caribbica。经过筛选得到的菌株Y2-3以木糖（40g/L）为唯一碳源发酵时：生物量为23.5g/L,木糖利用率为94.7 %,乙醇终产量为4.57 g/L;以混合糖（葡萄糖40 g/L,木糖20 g/L）发酵时：生物量为28.6 g/L,木糖利用率为94.2 %,葡萄糖利用率为95.6%,乙醇终产量为20.6 g/L。Pichia caribbica是可以转化木糖及木糖-葡萄糖混合糖为乙醇的酵母菌株,为利用木质纤维素发酵乙醇的进一步研究奠定了基础。     

Engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae for efficient anaerobic xylose fermentation: reflections and perspectives

Conversion of the abundant lignocellulosic biomass into ethanol is an environmentally sustainable solution to the energy crisis. Fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates by Saccharomyces cerevisiae is not cost-effective yet as substantial amounts of xylose in the hydrolysates cannot be utilized by native S. cerevisiae strains. Extensive studies including both metabolic and evolutionary engineering have been carried out to develop an efficient xylose-fermenting S. cerevisiae strain, yet the ethanol yield and productivity from xylose fermentation of the best one are still far below expectation. This review compares the engineering approaches and resulted anaerobic xylose fermentation performance of recently reported xylose-utilizing S. cerevisiae strains, with the aim to understand the intrinsic reason for their low xylose fermentation capabilities. These comparative analyses revealed that some of the current engineering targets and the so-called "hot issues" might be overrated. Our opinions on the underrated parts and future efforts in this field are also presented. Overall, this review serves as a comprehensive reference to understanding xylose fermentation by S. cerevisiae.     

Fermentation performance of engineered and evolved xylose-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains

Lignocellulose hydrolysate is an abundant substrate for bioethanol production. The ideal microorganism for such a fermentation process should combine rapid and efficient conversion of the available carbon sources to ethanol with high tolerance to ethanol and to inhibitory components in the hydrolysate. A particular biological problem are the pentoses, which are not naturally metabolized by the main industrial ethanol producer Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Several recombinant, mutated, and evolved xylose fermenting S. cerevisiae strains have been developed recently. We compare here the fermentation performance and robustness of eight recombinant strains and two evolved populations on glucose/xylose mixtures in defined and lignocellulose hydrolysate-containing medium. Generally, the polyploid industrial strains depleted xylose faster and were more resistant to the hydrolysate than the laboratory strains. The industrial strains accumulated, however, up to 30% more xylitol and therefore produced less ethanol than the haploid strains. The three most attractive strains were the mutated and selected, extremely rapid xylose consumer TMB3400, the evolved C5 strain with the highest achieved ethanol titer, and the engineered industrial F12 strain with by far the highest robustness to the lignocellulosic hydrolysate.     

Increased ethanol productivity in xylose-utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae via a randomly mutagenized xylose reductase

Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has been genetically engineered to ferment the pentose sugar xylose present in lignocellulose biomass. One of the reactions controlling the rate of xylose utilization is catalyzed by xylose reductase (XR). In particular, the cofactor specificity of XR is not optimized with respect to the downstream pathway, and the reaction rate is insufficient for high xylose utilization in S. cerevisiae. The current study describes a novel approach to improve XR for ethanol production in S. cerevisiae. The cofactor binding region of XR was mutated by error-prone PCR, and the resulting library was expressed in S. cerevisiae. The S. cerevisiae library expressing the mutant XR was selected in sequential anaerobic batch cultivation. At the end of the selection process, a strain (TMB 3420) harboring the XR mutations N272D and P275Q was enriched from the library. The V(max) of the mutated enzyme was increased by an order of magnitude compared to that of the native enzyme, and the NADH/NADPH utilization ratio was increased significantly. The ethanol productivity from xylose in TMB 3420 was increased ～40 times compared to that of the parent strain (0.32 g/g [dry weight {DW}] × h versus 0.007 g/g [DW] × h), and the anaerobic growth rate was increased from ～0 h(-1) to 0.08 h(-1). The improved traits of TMB 3420 were readily transferred to the parent strain by reverse engineering of the mutated XR gene. Since integrative vectors were employed in the construction of the library, transfer of the improved phenotype does not require multicopy expression from episomal plasmids.     

Stoichiometric network constraints on xylose metabolism by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Metabolic pathway engineering is constrained by the thermodynamic and stoichiometric feasibility of enzymatic activities of introduced genes. Engineering of xylose metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has focused on introducing genes for the initial xylose assimilation steps from Pichia stipitis, a xylose-fermenting yeast, into S. cerevisiae, a yeast traditionally used in ethanol production from hexose. However, recombinant S. cerevisiae created in several laboratories have used xylose oxidatively rather than in the fermentative manner that this yeast metabolizes glucose. To understand the differences between glucose and engineered xylose metabolic networks, we performed a flux balance analysis (FBA) and calculated extreme pathways using a stoichiometric model that describes the biochemistry of yeast cell growth. FBA predicted that the ethanol yield from xylose exhibits a maximum under oxygen-limited conditions, and a fermentation experiment confirmed this finding. Fermentation results were largely consistent with in silico phenotypes based on calculated extreme pathways, which displayed several phases of metabolic phenotype with respect to oxygen availability from anaerobic to aerobic conditions. However, in contrast to the model prediction, xylitol production continued even after the optimum aeration level for ethanol production was attained. These results suggest that oxygen (or some other electron accepting system) is required to resolve the redox imbalance caused by cofactor difference between xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase, and that other factors limit glycolytic flux when xylose is the sole carbon source.     

Metabolic engineering of the initial stages of xylose catabolism in yeasts for construction of efficient producers of ethanol from lignocelluloses

Plant biomass possesses a huge potential as a source for biofuel production. The main components of biomass are glucose and five-carbon sugar xylose. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that is used for industrial ethanol production from glucose is unable to xylose fermentation. Therefore a microorganism capable for efficient fermentation of both glucose and xylose has to be found in nature or constructed for economically feasible biomass conversion to ethanol. The active xylose fermentation could be performed by increasing the efficiency of initial stages of xylose metabolism. In this review the enzymes of initial stages of xylose metabolism in yeasts (xylose reductase, xylitol dehydrogenase, xylulokinase) and bacteria (xylose isomerase and xylulokinase) are characterized. The ways for construction of yeast strains capable of efficient alcoholic xylose fermentation are discussed.     

Bioconversion of lignocellulose-derived sugars to ethanol by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Lignocellulosic biomass from agricultural and agro-industrial residues represents one of the most important renewable resources that can be utilized for the biological production of ethanol. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely used for the commercial production of bioethanol from sucrose or starch-derived glucose. While glucose and other hexose sugars like galactose and mannose can be fermented to ethanol by S. cerevisiae, the major pentose sugars D-xylose and L-arabinose remain unutilized. Nevertheless, D-xylulose, the keto isomer of xylose, can be fermented slowly by the yeast and thus, the incorporation of functional routes for the conversion of xylose and arabinose to xylulose or xylulose-5-phosphate in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can help to improve the ethanol productivity and make the fermentation process more cost-effective. Other crucial bottlenecks in pentose fermentation include low activity of the pentose phosphate pathway enzymes and competitive inhibition of xylose and arabinose transport into the cell cytoplasm by glucose and other hexose sugars. Along with a brief introduction of the pretreatment of lignocellulose and detoxification of the hydrolysate, this review provides an updated overview of (a) the key steps involved in the uptake and metabolism of the hexose sugars: glucose, galactose, and mannose, together with the pentose sugars: xylose and arabinose, (b) various factors that play a major role in the efficient fermentation of pentose sugars along with hexose sugars, and (c) the approaches used to overcome the metabolic constraints in the production of bioethanol from lignocellulose-derived sugars by developing recombinant S. cerevisiae strains.     

Expression of xylA genes encoding xylose isomerases from Escherichia coli and Streptomyces coelicolor in the methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha

The thermotolerant methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha is able to ferment xylose to ethanol at high temperatures. H. polymorpha xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase are involved during the first steps of this fermentation. In this article, expression of bacterial xylA genes coding for xylose isomerases from Escherichia coli or Streptomyces coelicolor in the yeast H. polymorpha was shown. The expression was achieved by integration of the xylA genes driven by the promoter of the H. polymorpha glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene ( HpGAP) into the H. polymorpha genome. Expression of the bacterial xylose isomerase genes restored the ability of the H. polymorpha Deltaxyl1 mutant to grow in a medium with xylose as the sole carbon source. This mutant has a deletion of the XYL1 gene encoding xylose reductase and is not able to grow in the xylose medium. The H. polymorpha Deltaxyl1(xylA) transformants displayed xylose isomerase activities, which were near 20% of that of the bacterial host strain. The transformants did not differ from the yeast wild-type strain with respect to ethanol production in xylose medium.     

Ethanol production from xylose by a recombinant Candida utilis strain expressing protein-engineered xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase

The industrial yeast Candida utilis can grow on media containing xylose as sole carbon source, but cannot ferment it to ethanol. The deficiency might be due to the low activity of NADPH-preferring xylose reductase (XR) and NAD(+)-dependent xylitol dehydogenase (XDH), which convert xylose to xylulose, because C. utilis can ferment xylulose. We introduced multiple site-directed mutations in the coenzyme binding sites of XR and XDH derived from the xylose-fermenting yeast Candida shehatae to alter their coenzyme specificities. Several combinations of recombinant and native XRs and XDHs were tested. Highest productivity was observed in a strain expressing CsheXR K275R/N277D (NADH-preferring) and native CsheXDH (NAD(+)-dependent), which produced 17.4 g/L of ethanol from 50 g/L of xylose in 20 h. Analysis of the genes responsible for ethanol production from the xylose capacity of C. utilis indicated that the introduction of CsheXDH was essential, while overexpression of CsheXR K275R/N277D improved efficiency of ethanol production.     

Expression of bacterial xylose isomerase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae under galactose supplemented condition

We constructed recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae harboring the xylose isomerase (XI) gene isolated from Clostridium phytofermentans to metabolize xylose and use it as a carbon and energy source. In this study, the effect of supplementation using co-substrate such as glucose or galactose on xylose utilization was studied in recombinant S. cerevisiae. Glucose, which is transported with high affinity by the same transport system as is xylose, was not affected by the heterologous expression of XI, thus xylose utilization was not observed in recombinant S. cerevisiae. However, supplemental galactose added to the recombinant S. cerevisiae stimulated xylose utilization as well as the expression of XI protein. Recombinant S. cerevisiae consumed up to 23.48 g/L of xylose when grown in media containing 40 g/L of xylose and supplemented with 20 g/L of galactose. These cells also produced 15.89 g/L of ethanol. Therefore, expression of the bacterial XI in recombinant S. cerevisiae was highly induced by the addition of supplemental galactose as a co-substrate with xylose, and supplemented galactose enabled the yeast strain to grow on xylose and ferment xylose to ethanol.     

Improved strains of recombinant Escherichia coli for ethanol production from sugar mixtures

Hemicellulose hydrolysates of agricultural residues often contain mixtures of hexose and pentose sugars. Ethanologenic Escherichia coli that have been previously investigated preferentially ferment hexose sugars. In some cases, xylose fermentation was slow or incomplete. The purpose of this study was to develop improved ethanologenic E. coli strains for the fermentation of pentoses in sugar mixtures. Using fosfomycin as a selective agent, glucose-negative mutants of E. coli KO11 (containing chromosomally integrated genes encoding the ethanol pathway from Zymomonas mobilis) were isolated that were unable to ferment sugars transported by the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system. These strains (SL31 and SL142) retained the ability to ferment sugars with independent transport systems such as arabinose and xylose and were used to ferment pentose sugars to ethanol selectively in the presence of high concentrations of glucose. Additional fosfomycin-resistant mutants were isolated that were superior to strain KO11 for ethanol production from hexose and pentose sugars. These hyperproductive strains (SL28 and SL40) retained the ability to metabolize all sugars tested, completed fermentations more rapidly, and achieved higher ethanol yields than the parent. Both SL28 and SL40 produced 60 gl^–1 ethanol from 120 gl^–1 xylose in 60 h, 20% more ethanol than KO11 under identical conditions. Further studies illustrated the feasibility of sequential fermentation. A mixture of hexose and pentose sugars was fermented with near theoretical yield by SL40 in the first step followed by a second fermentation in which yeast and glucose were added. Such a two-step approach can combine the attributes of ethanologenic E. coli for pentoses with the high ethanol tolerance of conventional yeasts in a single vessel.