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Dekkera/Brettanomyces yeasts for ethanol production from renewable sources under oxygen-limited and low-pH conditions

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

Industrial fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates to ethanol requires microorganisms able to utilise a broad range of carbon sources and generate ethanol at high yield and productivity. D. bruxellensis has recently been reported to contaminate commercial ethanol processes, where it competes with Saccharomyces cerevisiae [4, 26]. In this work Brettanomyces/Dekkera yeasts were studied to explore their potential to produce ethanol from renewable sources under conditions suitable for industrial processes, such as oxygen-limited and low-pH conditions. Over 50 strains were analysed for their ability to utilise a variety of carbon sources, and some strains grew on cellobiose and pentoses. Two strains of D. bruxellensis were able to produce ethanol at high yield (0.44 g g−1 glucose), comparable to those reported for S. cerevisiae. B. naardenensis was shown to be able to produce ethanol from xylose. To obtain ethanol from synthetic lignocellulosic hydrolysates we developed a two-step fermentation strategy: the first step under aerobic conditions for fast production of biomass from mixtures of hexoses and pentoses, followed by a second step under oxygen limitation to promote ethanol production. Under these conditions we obtained biomass and ethanol production on synthetic lignocellulosic hydrolysates, with ethanol yields ranging from 0.2 to 0.3 g g−1 sugar. Hexoses, xylose and arabinose were consumed at the end of the process, resulting in 13 g l−1 of ethanol, even in the presence of furfural. Our studies showed that Brettanomyces/Dekkera yeasts have clear potential for further development for industrial processes aimed at production of ethanol from renewable sources.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially funded by INTAS (ref. no. 05-1000005-7730) to C.C. and J.P. J.P. and L.H. thank the Futura and Tryggers Foundation for their funding support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari e Biotecnologie, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Silvia Galafassi, Annamaria Merico, Francesca Pizza & Concetta Compagno

  2. Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, 22362, Lund, Sweden

    Linda Hellborg & Jure Piškur

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Alimentari e Microbiologiche, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 2, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Francesco Molinari

Authors
  1. Silvia Galafassi
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  2. Annamaria Merico
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  3. Francesca Pizza
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  4. Linda Hellborg
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  5. Francesco Molinari
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  7. Concetta Compagno
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Correspondence to Concetta Compagno.

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Galafassi, S., Merico, A., Pizza, F. et al. Dekkera/Brettanomyces yeasts for ethanol production from renewable sources under oxygen-limited and low-pH conditions. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 38, 1079–1088 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-010-0885-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-010-0885-4

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