Abstract
Reducing the cost of cellulosic ethanol production, especially the use of expensive exogenous cellulose hydrolytic enzymes such as cellulase and β-glucosidase, is a critical challenge and vital for a sustainable advanced biofuel industry. Here, we report a novel ethanologenic yeast strain Clavispora NRRL Y-50464 that produces sufficient innate β-glucosidase enzyme activity for cellulosic ethanol production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). In a bottled SSF, strain Y-50464 produced 40.44 g/L ethanol from pure cellulose within 72 h at a conversion rate of 0.04 g/L/h, applying conventional cellulase without supplementary β-glucosidase. Ethanol conversion from delignified corn stover by Y-50464 showed significantly higher titers and rates at various solids loading levels than that from conventional pretreated corn stover with over 40 to 60 % improved efficiency in a bottled SSF. However, the bottled SSF was inefficient for mixing higher levels of cellulose feedstock and should be replaced by a more suitable experimental apparatus. In a 2-L bioreactor SSF using conventional dilute acid pretreated corn stover, strain Y-50464 produced 32 g/L ethanol from 20 % solids loading at 48 h applying cellulase alone without addition of β-glucosidase. This represented a conversion rate of 0.088 g/L/h, the highest rate so far for cellulosic ethanol production from lignocellulosic materials. Elimination of β-glucosidase in cellulose-to-ethanol fermentation would be expected to reduce cost of cellulose conversion. The robustness, fast growth rate, and the capability of producing both ethanol and β-glucosidase illustrated the potential of strain Y-50464 as a potential candidate biocatalyst for advanced biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Daniel Schell from the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, for providing dilute acid pretreated corn stover used in this study and to Scott Weber for technical assistance. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the US Department of Agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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Liu, Z.L., Cotta, M.A. Technical Assessment of Cellulosic Ethanol Production Using β-Glucosidase Producing Yeast Clavispora NRRL Y-50464. Bioenerg. Res. 8, 1203–1211 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9575-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9575-9