Kinetics of the solid state fermentation of sugarcane bagasse by Thermoascus aurantiacus for the production of xylanase

Xylanase was produced by solid-state fermentation using Thermoascus aurantiacus. Maximum production (500 U g^–1 bagasse) was achieved on the sixth day of cultivation on solid sugarcane bagasse medium supplemented with 15% (v/w) rice bran extract. The fungal biomass, determined from its glucosamine content, reached 28 mg g^–1 on the 8th day of cultivation. The cell yield against O₂ (Y _x/o =0.18g _cell/gO₂) and maintenance coefficient (m ₀=0.013g _O2/g _cell h) were determined with the low Y _x/o value for T. aurantiacus agreeing with the calculated value.     

Bio-production of compost with low pH and high soluble phosphorus from sugar cane bagasse enriched with rock phosphate

Summary Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viride strains were used together as a fungal activator in the presence or absence of farmyard manure (FM) for composting of bagasse enriched with rock phosphate. Quality of the composts produced was compared with that obtained from non-inoculated bagasse. The composts were evaluated as organic phosphatic fertilizers, for broad bean plants. The results showed that composting of bagasse without microbial inoculation or FM addition was not complete after 105 days of fermentation. An excellent decomposition in a relatively short time however was obtained with the use of A. niger and T. viride as inoculant agents with or without FM. The inoculation with A. niger + T. viridewith or without FM, also represented the most suitable conditions for phosphate solubilization. Acidic conditions (pH 4–5) at the end of the experiment were obtained in all piles receiving Aspergillus niger and there was a correlation between the amounts of soluble phosphorus and the reduction in pH values in the compost piles. There were no phosphate-dissolving fungi present in any composted piles except those treated with Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viride. The number of phosphate-dissolving bacteria increased only in the treatments that were treated with FM. The non-fertilized sandy soil and the non-inoculated bagasse compost did not provide broad bean plants with phosphorus while the composts produced by inoculation with A. niger + T. viride provided the plants with the highest amounts of phosphorus.     

β-Methyl-xyloside: positive effect on xylanase induction in Cellulomonas flavigena

Synthesis of extracellular xylanase in Cellulomonas flavigena is induced in the presence of xylan and sugarcane bagasse as substrates. The essential factors for efficient production of xylanase are the appropriate medium composition and an inducing substrate. The increase in xylanase production levels in C. flavigena were tested with a number of carbon sources and different culture conditions. Xylose, arabinose, glycerol and glucose did not induce xylanase production in this microorganism. β-Methyl-xyloside (β-mx), a structural analog of xylobiose, also did not induce xylanase when used as the sole carbon source, but when xylan or sugar cane bagasse was supplemented with β-mx, extracellular xylanase production increased by 25 or 46%, respectively. The response of C. flavigena to xylan plus β-mx was accompanied by a significant accumulation of reducing sugar, an effect not observed with the combination sugarcane bagasse plus β-mx as substrate. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the effect of β-mx on the induction of xylanase in C. flavigena.     

Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) production by bacteria from xylose,glucose and sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate

Fifty-five bacterial strains isolated from soil were screened for efficient poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) biosynthesis from xylose. Three strains were also evaluated for the utilization of bagasse hydrolysate after different detoxification steps. The results showed that activated charcoal treatment is pivotal to the production of a hydrolysate easy to assimilate. Burkholderia cepacia IPT 048 and B. sacchari IPT 101 were selected for bioreactor studies, in which higher polymer contents and yields from the carbon source were observed with bagasse hydrolysate, compared with the use of analytical grade carbon sources. Polymer contents and yields, respectively, reached 62% and 0.39 g g^–1 with strain IPT 101 and 53% and 0.29 g g^–1 with strain IPT 048. A higher polymer content and yield from the carbon source was observed under P limitation, compared with N limitation, for strain IPT 101. IPT 048 showed similar performances in the presence of either growth-limiting nutrient. In high-cell-density cultures using xylose plus glucose under P limitation, both strains reached about 60 g l^–1 dry biomass, containing 60% P3HB. Polymer productivity and yield from this carbon source reached 0.47 g l^–1 h^–1 and 0.22 g g^–1, respectively.     

Cultivation of Candida langeronii in sugar cane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolyzate for the production of single cell protein

Sugar cane bagasse hemicellulosic fraction was hydrolysed by treatment with 70 mg of sulphuric acid per gram of dry mass at 125 °C for 2 h. The hydrolysate was used as the substrate to grow Candida langeronii RLJ Y-019 at 42 °C; initial pH 6.0; stirring at 700 rev/min and aeration at 1.0 and 2.0 v/v/min. The utilization of D-xylose, L-arabinose, and acetic acid were delayed due to the presence of D-glucose, but after D-glucose depletion the other carbon sources were utilized. The kinetic parameters calculated for both cultivations at 1.0 and 2.0 v/v/min included: maximum specific growth rate (_max) of 0.29 ± 0.01 h^–1 and 0.43 ± 0.016 h^–1, yields (Y _x/s) of 0.36 ± 0.012 and 0.40 ± 0.012 g_x/g_s and productivity (Q _x) of 0.81 ± 0.016 and 0.97 ± 0.012 g_x/l/h, respectively, and compared favourably with published results obtained with Candida utilis and Geotrichum candidum. Candida langeronii appeared superior to C. utilis for biomass production from hemicellulose hydrolysate, in that it utilized L-arabinose and was capable of growth at higher temperatures. The biomass contained 48.2, 1.4, 5.8 and 23.4% of total protein, DNA, RNA and carbohydrate, respectively and contained essential amino acids for animal feed.     

Radiation and fermentation treatment of cellulosic wastes

The effect of radiation pasteurization of sugar cane bagasse and rice straw and fermentation using various strains of fungi were studied for upgrading of cellulosic wastes. The initial contamination by fungi and aerobic bacteria both in bagasse and straw was high. The doses of 30 kGy for sterilization and 8 kGy for elimination of fungi were required. Irradiation effect showed that rice straw contained comparatively radioresistant microorganisms. It was observed that all the fungi (Hericium erinacium, Pleurotus djamor, Ganoderma lucidum, Auricularia auricula, Lentinus sajor-caju, Coriolus versicolor, Polyporus arcularius, Coprinus cinereus) grow extending over the entire substrates during one month after inoculation in irradiated bagasse and rice straw with 3% rice bran and 65% moisture content incubated at 30°C. Initially, sugar cane bagasse and rice straw substrates contained 39.4% and 25.9% of cellulose, 22.9% and 26.9% of hemicellulose, and 19.6% and 13.9% of lignin + cutin, respectively. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) values decreased significantly in sugar cane bagasse fermented byG. lucidum, A. auricula andP. arcularius, and in rice straw fermented by all the 8 strains of fungi. Acid detergent fibre (ADF) values also decreased in bagasse and rice straw fermented by all the fungi.P. arcularius, H. erinacium, G. lucidum andC. cinereus were found to be the most effective strains for delignification of sugar cane bagasse.     

Action of Trichoderma reesei QM9414 and C30 cellulase on substrates with varying crystallinity

The action of cellulase [see 1,4-(1,3;1,4)-β-d-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.4] preparations from Trichoderma reesei QM9414 and C30 has been compared on Sigmacell, Solka Floc and alkali-treated bagasse in the presence and absence of added d-glucose and cellobiose. On the basis of equal filter paper activity the two preparations acted similarly on the two cellulosic substrates, while in the case of alkali-treated bagasse the C30 preparation gave greater d-glucose release. The relative levels of cellobiose produced from alkali-treated bagasse suggests that the non-cellobiose route was more important in d-glucose release by the C30 preparation compared to the QM9414 preparation.     

Xylanase and feruloyl esterase from actinomycetes cultures could enhance sugarcane bagasse hydrolysis in the production of fermentable sugars

The addition of enzymes that are capable of degrading hemicellulose has a potential to reduce the need for commercial enzymes during biomass hydrolysis in the production of fermentable sugars. In this study, a high xylanase producing actinomycete strain (Kitasatospora sp. ID06-480) and the first ethyl ferulate producing actinomycete strain (Nonomuraea sp. ID06-094) were selected from 797 rare actinomycetes, respectively, which were isolated in Indonesia. The addition (30%, v/v) of a crude enzyme supernatant from the selected strains in sugarcane bagasse hydrolysis with low-level loading (1 FPU/g-biomass) of Cellic® CTec2 enhanced both the released amount of glucose and reducing sugars. When the reaction with Ctec2 was combined with crude enzymes containing either xylanase or feruloyl esterase, high conversion yield of glucose from cellulose at 60.5% could be achieved after 72 h-saccharification.     

Characterization of the cellulolytic secretome of Trichoderma harzianum during growth on sugarcane bagasse and analysis of the activity boosting effects of swollenin

This study demonstrates the production of an active enzyme cocktail produced by growing Trichoderma harzianum on sugarcane bagasse. The component enzymes were identified by LCMS‐MS. Glycosyl hydrolases were the most abundant class of proteins, representing 67% of total secreted protein. Other carbohydrate active enzymes involved in cell wall deconstruction included lytic polysaccharide mono‐oxygenases (AA9), carbohydrate‐binding modules, carbohydrate esterases and swollenin, all present at levels of 1%. In total, proteases and lipases represented 5 and 1% of the total secretome, respectively, with the rest of the secretome being made up of proteins of unknown or putative function. This enzyme cocktail was efficient in catalysing the hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse cellulolignin to fermentable sugars for potential use in ethanol production. Apart from mapping the secretome of T. harzianum, which is a very important tool to understand the catalytic performance of enzyme cocktails, the gene coding for T. harzianum swollenin was expressed in Aspergillus niger. This novel aspect in this work, allowed increasing the swollenin concentration by 95 fold. This is the first report about the heterologous expression of swollenin from T. harzianum, and the findings are of interest in enriching enzyme cocktail with this important accessory protein which takes part in the cellulose amorphogenesis. Despite lacking detectable glycoside activity, the addition of swollenin of T. harzianum increased by two‐fold the hydrolysis efficiency of a commercial cellulase cocktail. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:327–336, 2016     

Fermentation of sugar cane bagasse hemicellulosic hydrolysate and sugar mixtures to ethanol by recombinant Escherichia coli KO11

Escherichia coli KO11, carrying the ethanol pathway genes pdc (pyruvate decarboxylase) and adh (alcohol dehydrogenase) from Zymomonas mobilis integrated into its chromosome, has the ability to metabolize pentoses and hexoses to ethanol, both in synthetic medium and in hemicellulosic hydrolysates. In the fermentation of sugar mixtures simulating hemicellulose hydrolysate sugar composition (10.0 g of glucose/l and 40.0 g of xylose/l) and supplemented with tryptone and yeast extract, recombinant bacteria produced 24.58 g of ethanol/l, equivalent to 96.4% of the maximum theoretical yield. Corn steep powder (CSP), a byproduct of the corn starch-processing industry, was used to replace tryptone and yeast extract. At a concentration of 12.5 g/l, it was able to support the fermentation of glucose (80.0 g/l) to ethanol, with both ethanol yield and volumetric productivity comparable to those obtained with fermentation media containing tryptone and yeast extract. Hemicellulose hydrolysate of sugar cane bagasse supplemented with tryptone and yeast extract was also readily fermented to ethanol within 48 h, and ethanol yield achieved 91.5% of the theoretical maximum conversion efficiency. However, fermentation of bagasse hydrolysate supplemented with 12.5 g of CSP/l took twice as long to complete. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.