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Enhanced ethanol production from industrial lignocellulose hydrolysates by a hydrolysate-cofermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain

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Abstract

Industrial production of lignocellulosic ethanol requires a microorganism utilizing both hexose and pentose, and tolerating inhibitors. In this study, a hydrolysate-cofermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain was obtained through one step in vivo DNA assembly of pentose-metabolizing pathway genes, followed by consecutive adaptive evolution in pentose media containing acetic acid, and direct screening in biomass hydrolysate media. The strain was able to coferment glucose and xylose in synthetic media with the respective maximal specific rates of glucose and xylose consumption, and ethanol production of 3.47, 0.38 and 1.62 g/g DW/h, with an ethanol titre of 41.07 g/L and yield of 0.42 g/g. Industrial wheat straw hydrolysate fermentation resulted in maximal specific rates of glucose and xylose consumption, and ethanol production of 2.61, 0.54 and 1.38 g/g DW/h, respectively, with an ethanol titre of 54.11 g/L and yield of 0.44 g/g. These are among the best for wheat straw hydrolysate fermentation through separate hydrolysis and cofermentation.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Science and Engineering Research Council of the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR) Singapore (Grant no. 092 139 0035). The authors are grateful for the industrial lignocellulose hydrolysate samples provided by Teck Guan Holdings Sdn Bhd, Tawau, Malaysia and Inbicon A/S, Fredericia, Denmark. We are also thankful for the internship opportunities provided by Ngee Ann Polytechnic Singapore to Shuangcheng Huang and Tingting Liu.

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  1. School of Life Sciences and Chemical Technology, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 535 Clementi Road, Singapore, 599489, Singapore

    Shuangcheng Huang, Tingting Liu, Bingyin Peng & Anli Geng

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  1. Shuangcheng Huang
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  2. Tingting Liu
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Correspondence to Anli Geng.

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Huang, S., Liu, T., Peng, B. et al. Enhanced ethanol production from industrial lignocellulose hydrolysates by a hydrolysate-cofermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 42, 883–896 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-019-02090-0

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