The production of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass by Kluyveromyces marxianus CICC 1727-5 and Spathaspora passalidarum ATCC MYA-4345.

Efficient bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass is one of the key challenges for the production of bioethanol and chemicals. Therefore, the present work focuses on finding a robust microorganism able to convert all sugars in lignocellulosic hydrolysates efficiently. The fermentation performance showed that Kluyveromyces marxianus CICC 1727-5 could produce ethanol from glucose with productivity 4.2 g/L/h and higher ethanol yields (0.44 g/g) under 40 °C, outdistance the productivity 0.258 g/L/h of S. passalidarum ATCC MYA-4345. The xylose utilization of S. passalidarum ATCC MYA-4345 was faster than K. marxianus CICC 1727-5 with the ethanol yield 0.31 g/g at 30 °C. However, K. marxianus CICC 1727-5 could produce xylitol from xylose with the yield 0.58 g/g at 40 °C. Meanwhile, the two yeasts both had the ability to use arabinose naturally, but K. marxianus CICC 1727-5 could consume arabinose completely and quickly. Furthermore, the two yeasts both could ferment glucose and xylose simultaneously, but K. marxianus CICC 1727-5 showed much better performance in the cofermentation. The peak ethanol concentration of K. marxianus CICC 1727-5 and S. passalidarum ATCC MYA-4345 was 42.6 and 31.9 g/L, respectively. In the saccharification and cofermentation (SSCF) process using non-detoxificated corncob, K. marxianus CICC 1727-5 showed better performance. K. marxianus CICC 1727-5 was more tolerant in the presence of formic acid, acetic acid, and mix inhibitors and even was capable to grow in the medium with the acetic acid concentration up to 15 g/L. K. marxianus CICC 1727-5 is a promising candidate strain for further metabolic engineering to develop robust industrial strains for the lignocellulosic ethanol.