Co-fermentation of Cellulose and Sucrose/Xylose by Engineered Yeasts for Bioethanol Production

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) of cellulose mixed with fermentable sugar(s) is considered as a promising alternative to the use of cellulose as sole substrate for bioethanol production. Our research metabolically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae to allow for the co-conversion of cellulose and either sucrose or xylose to bioethanol. Constitutive promoter substitution and xylose metabolic pathway integration were carried out in a strain previously modified to express both bifunctional minicellulosomes by galactose induction and a cellodextrin pathway. Strain EBY101-CC, engineered for the co-fermentation of cellulose and sucrose, produced 4.3 g/L ethanol from 10 g/L carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and batch-fed sucrose with an ethanol yield of 0.43 g/g of total sugars. Strains modified for co-fermentation of xylose and cellulose, EBY101-XSCC and EBY101-XSCP were able to produce 2.9 g/L cellulosic ethanol from 8.0 g/L CMC and 1.2 g/L from 3.2 g/L phosphoric acid-swollen cellulose (PASC), respectively, when xylose was depleted.