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Techniques for the Evolution of Robust Pentose-fermenting Yeast for Bioconversion of Lignocellulose to Ethanol
Published on: October 24, 2016
Enhanced butanol production by eukaryotic Saccharomyces cerevisiae engineered to contain an improved pathway
Hiroshi Sakuragi1, Hironobu Morisaka, Kouichi Kuroda
1a Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture , Kyoto University , Kyoto , Japan.
Abstract:
Compared with ethanol, butanol has more advantageous physical properties as a fuel, and biobutanol is thus considered a promising biofuel material. Biobutanol has often been produced by Clostridium species; however, because they are strictly anaerobic microorganisms, these species are challenging to work with. We attempted to introduce the butanol production pathway into yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is a well-known microorganism that is tolerant to organic solvents. 1-Butanol was found to be produced at very low levels when the butanol production pathway of Clostridium acetobutylicum was simply introduced into S. cerevisiae. The elimination of glycerol production pathway in the yeast contributed to the enhancement of 1-butanol production. In addition, by the use of trans-enoyl-CoA reductase in the engineered pathway, 1-butanol production was markedly enhanced to yield 14.1 mg/L after 48 h of cultivation.
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