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Elucidating and alleviating impacts of lignocellulose-derived microbial inhibitors on Clostridium beijerinckii during fermentation of Miscanthus giganteus to butanol

  • Bioenergy/Biofuels/Biochemicals
  • Published:
Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

Fermentation of liquid hot water (LHW) pretreated Miscanthus giganteus (MG) by Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 was investigated towards understanding the toxicity of lignocellulose-derived inhibitors to solventogenic Clostridium species vis-à-vis butanol production. While C. beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 did not grow in undiluted MG hydrolysate-based fermentation medium, supplementation of this medium with Calcium carbonate enabled the growth of C. beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 and production of butanol. Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and spectrophotometric assays, LHW-pretreated MG was found to contain lignocellulose-derived microbial inhibitory compounds; some of which were transformed by exponentially growing C. beijerinckii to less inhibitory compounds during fermentation. Contrary to all expectations, the reduction product of furfural, furfuryl alcohol, inhibited butanol production by C. beijerinckii by more than 16 %. Collectively, these results provide new insights into why lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates are recalcitrant to fermentation to biofuels and chemicals.

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Acknowledgments

Salaries and research support was provided in part by State funds appropriated to the Ohio Plant Biotechnology Consortium by The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), Western Region Sungrant (Prime award No. 2010-38502-21839), and the Hatch grant (Project No. OHO01222).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Sciences and Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), The Ohio State University, 305 Gerlaugh Hall, 1680 Madison Avenue, Wooster, OH, 44691, USA

    Yan Zhang & Thaddeus Chukwuemeka Ezeji

  2. Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Yan Zhang

Authors
  1. Yan Zhang
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  2. Thaddeus Chukwuemeka Ezeji
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Correspondence to Thaddeus Chukwuemeka Ezeji.

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Zhang, Y., Ezeji, T.C. Elucidating and alleviating impacts of lignocellulose-derived microbial inhibitors on Clostridium beijerinckii during fermentation of Miscanthus giganteus to butanol. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 41, 1505–1516 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-014-1493-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-014-1493-5

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