Improved Yeast Strains Produce Ethanol from Waste More Efficiently
September 4, 2013Journal reference (summary): http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/content/6/1/120/abstract
Journal reference (full paper): http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/content/pdf/1754-6834-6-120.pdf
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Researchers from VIB, a life sciences research institute in Belgium, have reported in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels the development of yeast strains that can efficiently ferment pentose sugars in waste biomass.
Ethanol production from lignocellulosic waste materials like stubble and wood chips is constrained by the lack of industrial strains of yeast capable of converting the pentose sugars in the biomass into ethanol. In addition, industrial yeast strains cannot resist potential inhibitors of fermentation in the biomass hydrolysate.
The Belgian group attempted to take out these obstacles by screening a huge yeast collection for the inhibitor tolerance trait and then mating the most strongly tolerant strain with a compatible strain that easily ferments the pentose sugar xylose. The improved strains resulting from this mating have shown to efficiently ferment undetoxified biomass hydrolysate into bio-ethanol under real industrial conditions. They produced up to 23 percent more ethanol compared to the unimproved strain.
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