Oil production by oleaginous yeasts using the hydrolysate from pretreatment of wheat straw with dilute sulfuric acid

This paper explores the use of the hydrolysate from the dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment of wheat straw for microbial oil production. The resulting hydrolysate was composed of pentoses (24.3 g/L) and hexoses (4.9 g/L), along with some other degradation products, such as acetic acid, furfural, and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Five oleaginous yeast strains, Cryptococcus curvatus, Rhodotorula glutinis, Rhodosporidium toruloides, Lipomyces starkeyi, and Yarrowia lipolytica, were evaluated by using this hydrolysate as substrates. The results showed that all of these strains could use the detoxified hydrolysate to produce lipids while except R. toruloides non-detoxified hydrolysate could also be used for the growth of all of the selective yeast strains. C. curvatus showed the highest lipid concentrations in medium on both the detoxified (4.2 g/L) and non-detoxified (5.8 g/L) hydrolysates. And the inhibitory effect studies on C. curvatus indicated HMF had insignificant impacts at a concentration of up to 3 g/L while furfural inhibited cell growth and lipid content by 72.0% and 62.0% at 1 g/L, respectively. Our work demonstrates that lipid production is a promising alternative to utilize hemicellulosic sugars obtained during pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials.     

Expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 6 reduces inhibitory effect of furan derivatives on cell growth and ethanol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Yeast dehydrogenases and reductases were overexpressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae D452-2 to detoxify 2-furaldehyde (furfural) and 5-hydroxymethyl furaldehyde (HMF), two potent toxic chemicals present in acid-hydrolyzed cellulosic biomass, and hence improve cell growth and ethanol production. Among those enzymes, aldehyde dehydrogenase 6 (ALD6) played the dual roles of direct oxidation of furan derivatives and supply of NADPH cofactor to their reduction reactions. Batch fermentation of S. cerevisiae D452-2/pH-ALD6 in the presence of 2 g/L furfural and 0.5 g/L HMF resulted in 20-30% increases in specific growth rate, ethanol concentration and ethanol productivity, compared with those of the wild type strain. It was proposed that overexpression of ALD6 could recover the yeast cell metabolism and hence increase ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass containing furan-derived inhibitors.     

Inhibition analysis of inhibitors derived from lignocellulose pretreatment on the metabolic activity of Zymomonas mobilis biofilm and planktonic cells and the proteomic responses

Lignocellulose pretreatment produces various toxic inhibitors that affect microbial growth, metabolism, and fermentation. Zymomonas mobilis is an ethanologenic microbe that has been demonstrated to have potential to be used in lignocellulose biorefineries for bioethanol production. Z. mobilis biofilm has previously exhibited high potential to enhance ethanol production by presenting a higher viable cell number and higher metabolic activity than planktonic cells or free cells when exposed to lignocellulosic hydrolysate containing toxic inhibitors. However, there has not yet been a systematic study on the tolerance level of Z. mobilis biofilm compared to planktonic cells against model toxic inhibitors derived from lignocellulosic material. We took the first insight into the concentration of toxic compound (formic acid, acetic acid, furfural, and 5‐HMF) required to reduce the metabolic activity of Z. mobilis biofilm and planktonic cells by 25% (IC₂₅), 50% (IC₅₀), 75% (IC₇₅), and 100% (IC₁₀₀). Z. mobilis strains ZM4 and TISTR 551 biofilm were two‐ to three fold more resistant to model toxic inhibitors than planktonic cells. Synergetic effects were found in the presence of formic acid, acetic acid, furfural, and 5‐HMF. The IC₂₅ of Z. mobilis ZM4 biofilm and TISTR 551 biofilm were 57 mm formic acid, 155 mm acetic acid, 37.5 mm furfural and 6.4 mm 5‐HMF, and 225 mm formic acid, 291 mm acetic acid, 51 mm furfural and 41 mm 5‐HMF, respectively. There was no significant difference found between proteomic analysis of the stress response to toxic inhibitors of Z. mobilis biofilm and planktonic cells on ZM4. However, TISTR 551 biofilms exhibited two proteins (molecular chaperone DnaK and 50S ribosomal protein L2) that were up‐regulated in the presence of toxic inhibitors. TISTR 551 planktonic cells possessed two types of protein in the group of 30S ribosomal proteins and motility proteins that were up‐regulated.     

Lactic Acid Production from Pretreated Hydrolysates of Corn Stover by a Newly Developed Bacillus coagulans Strain

An inhibitor-tolerance strain, Bacillus coagulans GKN316, was developed through atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) mutation and evolution experiment in condensed dilute-acid hydrolysate (CDH) of corn stover. The fermentabilities of other hydrolysates with B. coagulans GKN316 and the parental strain B. coagulans NL01 were assessed. When using condensed acid-catalyzed steam-exploded hydrolysate (CASEH), condensed acid-catalyzed liquid hot water hydrolysate (CALH) and condensed acid-catalyzed sulfite hydrolysate (CASH) as substrates, the concentration of lactic acid reached 45.39, 16.83, and 18.71 g/L by B. coagulans GKN316, respectively. But for B. coagulans NL01, only CASEH could be directly fermented to produce 15.47 g/L lactic acid. The individual inhibitory effect of furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), vanillin, syringaldehyde and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (pHBal) on xylose utilization by B. coagulans GKN316 was also studied. The strain B. coagulans GKN316 could effectively convert these toxic inhibitors to the less toxic corresponding alcohols in situ. These results suggested that B. coagulans GKN316 was well suited to production of lactic acid from undetoxified lignocellulosic hydrolysates.     

糠醛和5-羟甲基糠醛对大肠杆菌产丁二酸的影响

利用可再生生物质特别是木质纤维素水解液来生产平台化合物丁二酸,是目前研究的热点。虽然许多研究者相继报道了木质纤维素水解液对菌株生长和丁二酸生产存在一定抑制作用,但并没有水解液中各种抑制物对菌株影响的相关动力学研究及机理研究。我们选择了两种代表性木质纤维素水解液抑制物,即糠醛和5-羟甲基糠醛,系统研究了它们对大肠杆菌的生长和丁二酸生产的影响。结果表明：糠醛和5-羟甲基糠醛的初始抑制浓度均为0.8 g/L。当糠醛浓度大于6.4 g/L,5-羟甲基糠醛浓度大于12.8 g/L时,菌株生长完全受到抑制。在最高耐受浓度下,糠醛的存在使菌株生物量比对照菌株下降77.8%,丁二酸产量下降36.1%。5-羟甲基糠醛的存在使菌株生物量比对照菌株降低13.6%,丁二酸产量降低18.3%。糠醛和5-羟甲基糠醛具有明显的协同作用。体外酶活测定表明丁二酸生产途径中关键酶磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶、苹果酸脱氢酶、富马酸还原酶均受糠醛和5-羟甲基糠醛抑制。研究结果对丁二酸生产用纤维素水解液的预处理和脱毒工艺开发具有指导作用,有利于实现丁二酸发酵生产的工业化。     

Effect of pretreatment severity on the conversion of barley straw to fermentable substrates and the release of inhibitory compounds

The production of fermentable substrates from barley straw under various process conditions was studied. Pretreatment included chemical pretreatment with dilute-acid followed by enzymatic hydrolysis; the pretreatment conditions were expressed in a combined severity factor, CS, which ranged in the present study from −1.6 to 1.1. Considering the production of fermentable sugars and the release of inhibitory compounds, the optimal pretreatment conditions were 170 °C, 0% sulfuric acid and 60 min, corresponding to CS −0.4. Under these conditions, 21.4 g glucose/L, 8.5 g xylose/L, and 0.5 g arabinose/L were produced, while 0.1 g HMF/L, 0.4 g furfural/L, 0.0 g levulinic acid/L, 0.0 g formic acid/L, and 2.1 g acetic acid/L were released. The ratio of Σsugars/Σinhibitors proved to be a good tool for evaluating the suitability of a hydrolysate for fermentation purposes.     

Beneficial Effect of Corncob Acid Hydrolysate on the Lipid Production by Oleaginous Yeast Trichosporon dermatis

In this work, corncob acid hydrolysate and its simulated medium whose sugar composition was the same as the corncob acid hydrolysate were used as fermentation substrate for lipid production by oleaginous yeast Trichosporon dermatis. On the corncob acid hydrolysate, after 7 days of fermentation, the biomass, lipid content, lipid yield, and lipid coefficient of T. dermatis were 17.3 g/L, 40.2%, 7.0 g/L, and 16.5%, respectively. Interestingly, during the lipid fermentation on the corncob acid hydrolysate, glucose, xylose, arabinose, and even acetic acid could be well utilized as carbon sources by T. dermatis. Surprisingly, the lipid yield (7.0 g/L) of T. dermatis on the corncob acid hydrolysate was much higher than that (3.8 g/L) on the simulated medium, in spite of the fact that the lipid coefficient (17.4%) on the simulated medium was a little higher. This phenomenon further showed that lignocellulosic acid hydrolysate was a suitable substrate for lipid fermentation by T. dermatis. This work would help the comprehensive utilization of lignocellulosic biomass for lipid production.     

Onsite bio-detoxification of steam-exploded corn stover for cellulosic ethanol production

In the process of ethanol production from steam-exploded corn stover (SECS), a cellulose-degradation strain of Aspergillus nidulans (FLZ10) was investigated whether it could remove the inhibitors released from steam exploded pretreatment , and thereby be used for biological detoxification on Saccharomycescerevisiae. The results showed that FLZ10 removed 75.2% formic acid, 53.6% acetic acid, and 100% hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF) and furfural from the hydrolysate washed from SECS after 72 h cultivation. A cellulase activity of 0.49 IU/ml was simultaneously produced while the biological detoxification occurred. An ethanol yield of 0.45 g/g on glucose was obtained in the hydrolysate biodetoxified by FLZ10. The glucose consumption rate of FLZ10 was much lower than that of S. cerevisiae, thereby it had little competition with S. cerevisiae on glucose consumption. Based on SECS to ethanol mass balance analysis, with the onsite bio-detoxification, fermentation using S. cerevisiae effectively converted monomeric glucose with 94.4% ethanol yield.     

Effect of inhibitors formed during wheat straw pretreatment on ethanol fermentation by Pichia stipitis

The inhibitory effect of the main inhibitors (acetic acid, furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural) formed during steam explosion of wheat straw was studied through ethanol fermentations of model substrates and hydrolysates from wheat straw by Pichia stipitis. Experimental results showed that an increase in acetic acid concentration led to a reduction in ethanol productivity and complete inhibition was observed at 3.5 g/L. Furfural produced a delay on sugar consumption rates with increasing concentration and HMF did not exert a significant effect. Fermentations of the whole slurry from steam exploded wheat straw were completely inhibited by a synergistic effect due to the presence of 1.5 g/L acetic acid, 0.15 g/L furfural and 0.05 g/L HMF together with solid fraction. When using only the solid fraction from steam explosion, hydrolysates presented 0.5 g/L of acetic acid, whose fermentations have submitted promising results, providing an ethanol yield of 0.45 g ethanol/g sugars and the final ethanol concentration reached was 12.2 g/L (10.9 g ethanol/100 g DM).     

Microbial degradation of furanic compounds: biochemistry,genetics, and impact

Microbial metabolism of furanic compounds, especially furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), is rapidly gaining interest in the scientific community. This interest can largely be attributed to the occurrence of toxic furanic aldehydes in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. However, these compounds are also widespread in nature and in human processed foods, and are produced in industry. Although several microorganisms are known to degrade furanic compounds, the variety of species is limited mostly to Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, with a few notable exceptions. Furanic aldehydes are highly toxic to microorganisms, which have evolved a wide variety of defense mechanisms, such as the oxidation and/or reduction to the furanic alcohol and acid forms. These oxidation/reduction reactions constitute the initial steps of the biological pathways for furfural and HMF degradation. Furfural degradation proceeds via 2-furoic acid, which is metabolized to the primary intermediate 2-oxoglutarate. HMF is converted, via 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, into 2-furoic acid. The enzymes in these HMF/furfural degradation pathways are encoded by eight hmf genes, organized in two distinct clusters in Cupriavidus basilensis HMF14. The organization of the five genes of the furfural degradation cluster is highly conserved among microorganisms capable of degrading furfural, while the three genes constituting the initial HMF degradation route are organized in a highly diverse manner. The genetic and biochemical characterization of the microbial metabolism of furanic compounds holds great promises for industrial applications such as the biodetoxifcation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates and the production of value-added compounds such as 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid.     

Isolation and characterization of Cupriavidus basilensis HMF14 for biological removal of inhibitors from lignocellulosic hydrolysate

The formation of toxic fermentation inhibitors such as furfural and 5-hydroxy-2-methylfurfural (HMF) during acid (pre-)treatment of lignocellulose, calls for the efficient removal of these compounds. Lignocellulosic hydrolysates can be efficiently detoxified biologically with microorganisms that specifically metabolize the fermentation inhibitors while preserving the sugars for subsequent use by the fermentation host. The bacterium Cupriavidus basilensis HMF14 was isolated from enrichment cultures with HMF as the sole carbon source and was found to metabolize many of the toxic constituents of lignocellulosic hydrolysate including furfural, HMF, acetate, formate and a host of aromatic compounds. Remarkably, this microorganism does not grow on the most abundant sugars in lignocellulosic hydrolysates: glucose, xylose and arabinose. In addition, C. basilensis HMF14 can produce polyhydroxyalkanoates. Cultivation of C. basilensis HMF14 on wheat straw hydrolysate resulted in the complete removal of furfural, HMF, acetate and formate, leaving the sugar fraction intact. This unique substrate profile makes C. basilensis HMF14 extremely well suited for biological removal of inhibitors from lignocellulosic hydrolysates prior to their use as fermentation feedstock.     

NADH- vs NADPH-coupled reduction of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) and its implications on product distribution in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae alcohol dehydrogenases responsible for NADH-, and NADPH-specific reduction of the furaldehydes 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural (HMF) and furfural have previously been identified. In the present study, strains overexpressing the corresponding genes (mut-ADH1 and ADH6), together with a control strain, were compared in defined medium for anaerobic fermentation of glucose in the presence and absence of HMF. All strains showed a similar fermentation pattern in the absence of HMF. In the presence of HMF, the strain overexpressing ADH6 showed the highest HMF reduction rate and the highest specific ethanol productivity, followed by the strain overexpressing mut-ADH1. This correlated with in vitro HMF reduction capacity observed in the ADH6 overexpressing strain. Acetate and glycerol yields per biomass increased considerably in the ADH6 strain. In the other two strains, only the overall acetate yield per biomass was affected. When compared in batch fermentation of spruce hydrolysate, strains overexpressing ADH6 and mut-ADH1 had five times higher HMF uptake rate than the control strain and improved specific ethanol productivity. Overall, our results demonstrate that (1) the cofactor usage in the HMF reduction affects the product distribution, and (2) increased HMF reduction activity results in increased specific ethanol productivity in defined mineral medium and in spruce hydrolysate.     

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.     

Efficient oleaginous yeasts for lipid production from lignocellulosic sugars and effects of lignocellulose degradation compounds on growth and lipid production

Microbial lipid production using lignocellulosic biomass is considered an alternative for biodiesel production. In this study, 418 yeast strains were screened to find efficient oleaginous yeasts which accumulated large quantities of lipid when cultivated in lignocellulosic sugars. Preliminary screening by Nile red staining revealed that 142 strains contained many or large lipid bodies. These strains were selected for quantitative analysis of lipid accumulation by shaking flask cultivation in nitrogen-limited medium II containing 70 g/L glucose or xylose or mixture of glucose and xylose in a ratio of 2:1. Rhodosporidium fluviale DMKU-SP314 produced the highest lipid concentration of 7.9 g/L when cultivated in the mixture of glucose and xylose after 9 days of cultivation, which was 55.0% of dry biomass (14.3 g/L). The main composition of fatty acids were oleic acid (40.2%), palmitic acid (25.2%), linoleic acid (17.9%) and stearic acid (11.1%). Moreover, the strain DMKU-SP314 could grow and produce lipid in a medium containing predominantly lignocellulose degradation products, namely, acetic acid, formic acid, furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) and vanillin, with however, some inhibitory effects. This strain showed high tolerance to acetic acid, 5-HMF and vanillin. Therefore, R. fluviale DMKU-SP314 is a promising strain for lipid production from lignocellulosic hydrolysate.     

Genome-Based Metabolic Engineering of Mannheimia succiniciproducens for Succinic Acid Production

Succinic acid is a four-carbon dicarboxylic acid produced as one of the fermentation products of anaerobic metabolism. Based on the complete genome sequence of a capnophilic succinic acid-producing rumen bacterium, Mannheimia succiniciproducens, gene knockout studies were carried out to understand its anaerobic fermentative metabolism and consequently to develop a metabolically engineered strain capable of producing succinic acid without by-product formation. Among three different CO₂-fixing metabolic reactions catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxykinase, PEP carboxylase, and malic enzyme, PEP carboxykinase was the most important for the anaerobic growth of M. succiniciproducens and succinic acid production. Oxaloacetate formed by carboxylation of PEP was found to be converted to succinic acid by three sequential reactions catalyzed by malate dehydrogenase, fumarase, and fumarate reductase. Major metabolic pathways leading to by-product formation were successfully removed by disrupting the ldhA, pflB, pta, and ackA genes. This metabolically engineered LPK7 strain was able to produce 13.4 g/liter of succinic acid from 20 g/liter glucose with little or no formation of acetic, formic, and lactic acids, resulting in a succinic acid yield of 0.97 mol succinic acid per mol glucose. Fed-batch culture of M. succiniciproducens LPK7 with intermittent glucose feeding allowed the production of 52.4 g/liter of succinic acid, with a succinic acid yield of 1.16 mol succinic acid per mol glucose and a succinic acid productivity of 1.8 g/liter/h, which should be useful for industrial production of succinic acid.     

Enhanced ethanol production by fermentation of rice straw hydrolysate without detoxification using a newly adapted strain of Pichia stipitis

An enhanced inhibitor-tolerant strain of Pichia stipitis was successfully developed through adaptation to acid-treated rice straw hydrolysate. The ethanol production obtained by fermentation of NaOH-neutralized hydrolysate without detoxification using the adapted P. stipitis was comparable to fermentation of overliming-detoxified hydrolysate. The ethanol yield using the adapted P. stipitis with both types of hydrolysate at pH 5.0 achieved 0.45 g_p g_s⁻¹, which is equivalent to 87% of the maximum possible ethanol conversion. Furthermore, the newly adapted P. stipitis demonstrated significantly enhanced tolerance to sulfate and furfural despite the fact that both inhibitors had not been removed from the hydrolysate by NaOH neutralization. Finally, the ethanol conversion could be maintained at 60% and above when the neutralized hydrolysate contained 3.0% sulfate and 1.3 g L⁻¹ furfural.     

玉米秸秆酸解副产物对重组酿酒酵母6508-127发酵的影响

将木质纤维素类生物质如玉米秸秆等用稀酸水解预处理,在半纤维素水解为单糖的同时,水解液中还会产生一些可能对后续发酵有影响的副产物。本实验分别考查了在玉米秸秆稀酸水解液中检测出的乙酸、甲酸、香草醛、糠醛和羟甲基糠醛对重组木糖发酵菌株S. cerevisiae 6508-127生长和发酵的影响。结果表明,甲酸和乙酸对菌体生长的抑制强于乙醇生成,且甲酸的抑制程度远大于乙酸;2g/L香草醛可使菌体生长延滞期明显延长,而在较低浓度（≤1.2g/L）此现象不明显。糠醛在0.5-1.5g/L范围内对菌体生长有抑制作用,但使乙醇得率提高;羟甲基糠醛在0.2g/L浓度存在就使乙醇得率有明显降低,但使生物量得率提高;研究中还发现,糠醛、羟甲基糠醛和香草醛可被S. cerevisiae 6508-127代谢。     

Carbon fluxes of xylose-consuming <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> strains are affected differently by NADH and NADPH usage in HMF reduction

Industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains able to utilize xylose have been constructed by overexpression of XYL1 and XYL2 genes encoding the NADPH-preferring xylose reductase (XR) and the NAD⁺-dependent xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH), respectively, from Pichia stipitis. However, the use of different co-factors by XR and XDH leads to NAD⁺ deficiency followed by xylitol excretion and reduced product yield. The furaldehydes 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural (HMF) and furfural inhibit yeast metabolism, prolong the lag phase, and reduce the ethanol productivity. Recently, genes encoding furaldehyde reductases were identified and their overexpression was shown to improve S. cerevisiae growth and fermentation rate in HMF containing media and in lignocellulosic hydrolysate. In the current study, we constructed a xylose-consuming S. cerevisiae strain using the XR/XDH pathway from P. stipitis. Then, the genes encoding the NADH- and the NADPH-dependent HMF reductases, ADH1-S110P-Y295C and ADH6, respectively, were individually overexpressed in this background. The performance of these strains, which differed in their co-factor usage for HMF reduction, was evaluated under anaerobic conditions in batch fermentation in absence or in presence of HMF. In anaerobic continuous culture, carbon fluxes were obtained for simultaneous xylose consumption and HMF reduction. Our results show that the co-factor used for HMF reduction primarily influenced formation of products other than ethanol, and that NADH-dependent HMF reduction influenced product formation more than NADPH-dependent HMF reduction. In particular, NADH-dependent HMF reduction contributed to carbon conservation so that biomass was produced at the expense of xylitol and glycerol formation.