Development of industrial yeast for second generation bioethanol production

The cost of lignocellulose-based bioethanol needs to be reduced, in order to commercialize this clean and sustainable fuel substitute for fossil fuels. A microorganism that can completely and efficiently convert all the sugars in lignocellulose into ethanol is one of the prerequisites of a cost-effective production process.

In addition, the microorganisms should also have a high tolerance towards the inhibitory compounds present in the lignocellulosic hydrolysate, which are formed during the pretreatment of lignocellulose. Baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is generally regarded as a robust microorganism and can efficiently ferment glucose.

But it lacks the ability to ferment xylose which comprises 20-35% of lignocellulose. Naturally xylose-fermenting yeast such as Pichia stipitis is much more sensitive to inhibitors than S. cerevisiae and it requires accurately controlled microaerophilic conditions during the xylose fermentation, rendering the process technically difficult and expensive.

In this study, a novel xylose fermenting yeast Spathaspora passalidarum displayed fast cell growth and efficient xylose fermentation under anaerobic conditions. In contrast, P. stipitis was almost unable to utilize xylose under the same conditions. It is further demonstrated that S. passalidarum converts xylose by means of NADH-preferred xylose reductase (XR) and NAD"+-dependent xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH).

Thus, the capacity of S. passalidarum to utilize xylose under anaerobic conditions is possibly due to a balance between supply and demand of cofactor through this XR-XDH pathway. Only one other XR with NADH preference has been reported so far. Unfortunately, S. passalidarum also has a low tolerance towards inhibitors generated during pretreatment, which prevents immediate use of this yeast in industrial application.

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