Strategies to Enhance Biobutanol Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass

摘要: Within the context of production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials (LCM), glucose is the main sugar obtained after the pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. The conversion of glucose is usually performed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae since this yeast has proved to be the most efficient in terms of ethanol yields. However, LCM also contains a significant proportion of hemicelluloses and thereby other potential fermentable sugars are available. For example, the pentose xylose is one of the main sugars in this fraction, which can account for up to 35% of LCM dry weight. Hence, the conversion of this hemicellulosic sugar into ethanol would increase the overall yield and improve the economics of the whole conversion process. As conventional strains of S. cerevisiae do not have the capability of fermenting pentoses, the process requires the application of other microorganisms that are generally …