T. Sieker

Production of l-lysine on different silage juices using genetically engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum

Corynebacterium glutamicum, the best established industrial producer organism for lysine was genetically modified to allow the production of lysine on grass and corn silages. The resulting strain C. glutamicum lysC(fbr)dld(Psod)pyc(Psod)malE(Psod)fbp(Psod)gapX(Psod) was based on earlier work (Neuner and Heinzle, 2011). That mutant carries a point mutation in the aspartokinase (lysC) regulatory subunit gene as well as overexpression of D-lactate dehydrogenase (dld), pyruvate carboxylase (pyc) and malic enzyme (malE) using the strong Psod promoter. Here, we additionally overexpressed fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase (fbp) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapX) using the same promoter. The resulting strain grew readily on grass and corn silages with a specific growth rate of 0.35 h⁻¹ and lysine carbon yields of approximately 90 C-mmol (C-mol)⁻¹. Lysine yields were hardly affected by oxygen limitation whereas linear growth was observed under oxygen limiting conditions. Overall, this strain seems very robust with respect to the composition of silage utilizing all quantified low molecular weight substrates, e.g. lactate, glucose, fructose, maltose, quinate, fumarate, glutamate, leucine, isoleucine and alanine.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of beech wood lignocellulose at high solid contents and its utilization as substrate for the production of biobutanol and dicarboxylic acids.

The development of a cost-effective hydrolysis for crude cellulose is an essential part of biorefinery developments. To establish such high solid hydrolysis, a new solid state reactor with static mixing is used. However, concentrations >10% (w/w) cause a rate and yield reduction of enzymatic hydrolysis. By optimizing the synergetic activity of cellulolytic enzymes at solid concentrations of 9%, 17% and 23% (w/w) of crude Organosolv cellulose, glucose concentrations of 57, 113 and 152 g L(-1) are reached. However, the glucose yield decreases from 0.81 to 0.72 g g(-1) at 17% (w/w). Optimal conditions for hydrolysis scale-up under minimal enzyme addition are identified. As result, at 23% (w/w) crude cellulose the glucose yield increases from 0.29 to 0.49 g g(-1). As proof of its applicability, biobutanol, succinic and itaconic acid are produced with the crude hydrolysate. The potential of the substrate is proven e.g. by a high butanol yield of 0.33 g g(-1).

Ethanol production from grass silage by simultaneous pretreatment, saccharification and fermentation: first steps in the process development.

Grass silage provides a great potential as renewable feedstock. Two fractions of the grass silage, a press juice and the fiber fraction, were evaluated for their possible use for bioethanol production. Direct production of ethanol from press juice is not possible due to high concentrations of organic acids. For the fiber fraction, alkaline peroxide or enzymatic pretreatment was used, which removes the phenolic acids in the cell wall. In this study, we demonstrate the possibility to integrate the enzymatic pretreatment with a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation to achieve ethanol production from grass silage in a one‐process step. Achieved yields were about 53 g ethanol per kg silage with the alkaline peroxide pretreatment and 91 g/kg with the enzymatic pretreatment at concentrations of 8.5 and 14.6 g/L, respectively. Furthermore, it was shown that additional supplementation of the fermentation medium with vitamins, trace elements and nutrient salts is not necessary when the press juice is directly used in the fermentation step.

2.09 – Bio-Feedstocks

The chemical industry currently depends almost exclusively on fossil sources such as petroleum oil. According to the finite availability of this consuetudinary resource and due to the increasing demand for energy from developing countries and the related rise in prices of oil, renewable resources must be considered as valuable alternatives. Therefore, this article is focused on alternative sources such as wood and other agricultural residues as feedstock for chemical synthesis processes. Especially, the utilization and pretreatment of the lignocellulose feedstock as well as the use of perennial grasses is described. A brief overview about the utilization of synthesis gas derived from gasified biomass is given, which can be used for fermentation processes. Furthermore, the application of methanotrophic/methylotrophic organisms for the production of commodities and high-value products is presented.