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Increasing butanol/acetone ratio and solvent productivity in ABE fermentation by consecutively feeding butyrate to weaken metabolic strength of butyrate loop

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Abstract

In this study, we attempted to increase butanol/acetone ratio and total solvent productivity in ABE fermentations with corn- and cassava-based media, by consecutively feeding a small amount of butyrate/acetate during solventogenic phase to weaken the metabolic strengths in butyrate/acetate closed-loops. Consecutively feeding a small amount of butyrate (a total of 3.0 g/L-broth) is most effective in improving performance of corn-based ABE fermentations, as it simultaneously increased average butanol/acetone ratio by 23 % (1.92–2.36) and total solvent productivity by 16 % (0.355–0.410 g/L/h) as compared with those of control. However, the butyrate feeding strategy could not improve butanol/acetone ratio and total solvent productivity in cassava-based ABE fermentations, where the metabolic strength of butyrate closed-loop had already been very low.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation Program of China (#20976072). The authors also appreciated Mr. Enock Mpofu’s assistance in refining English of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Xin Li, Zhongping Shi & Zhigang Li

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  1. Xin Li
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  2. Zhongping Shi
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  3. Zhigang Li
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Correspondence to Zhongping Shi.

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Li, X., Shi, Z. & Li, Z. Increasing butanol/acetone ratio and solvent productivity in ABE fermentation by consecutively feeding butyrate to weaken metabolic strength of butyrate loop. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 37, 1609–1616 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-014-1133-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-014-1133-5

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