Comprehensive characterization of non-cellulosic recalcitrant cell wall carbohydrates in unhydrolyzed solids from AFEX-pretreated corn stover.

BACKGROUND: Inefficient carbohydrate conversion has been an unsolved problem for various lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment technologies, including AFEX, dilute acid, and ionic liquid pretreatments. Previous work has shown 22% of total carbohydrates are typically unconverted, remaining as soluble or insoluble oligomers after hydrolysis (72 h) with excess commercial enzyme loading (20 mg enzymes/g biomass). Nearly one third (7 out of 22%) of these total unconverted carbohydrates are present in unhydrolyzed solid (UHS) residues. The presence of these unconverted carbohydrates leads to a considerable sugar yield loss, which negatively impacts the overall economics of the biorefinery. Current commercial enzyme cocktails are not effective to digest specific cross-linkages in plant cell wall glycans, especially some of those present in hemicelluloses and pectins. Thus, obtaining information about the most recalcitrant non-cellulosic glycan cross-linkages becomes a key study to rationally improve commercial enzyme cocktails, by supplementing the required enzyme activities for hydrolyzing those unconverted glycans. RESULTS: In this work, cell wall glycans that could not be enzymatically converted to monomeric sugars from AFEX-pretreated corn stover (CS) were characterized using compositional analysis and glycome profiling tools. The pretreated CS was hydrolyzed using commercial enzyme mixtures comprising cellulase and hemicellulase at 7% glucan loading (~20% solid loading). The carbohydrates present in UHS and liquid hydrolysate were evaluated over a time period of 168 h enzymatic hydrolysis. Cell wall glycan-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were used to characterize the type and abundance of non-cellulosic polysaccharides present in UHS over the course of enzymatic hydrolysis. 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronic acid-substituted xylan and pectic-arabinogalactan were found to be the most abundant epitopes recognized by mAbs in UHS and liquid hydrolysate, suggesting that the commercial enzyme cocktails used in this work are unable to effectively target those substituted polysaccharide residues. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first report using glycome profiling as a tool to dynamically monitor recalcitrant cell wall carbohydrates during the course of enzymatic hydrolysis. Glycome profiling of UHS and liquid hydrolysates unveiled some of the glycans that are not cleaved and enriched after enzyme hydrolysis. The major polysaccharides include 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronic acid-substituted xylan and pectic-arabinogalactan, suggesting that enzymes with glucuronidase and arabinofuranosidase activities are required to maximize monomeric sugar yields. This methodology provides a rapid tool to assist in developing new enzyme cocktails, by supplementing the existing cocktails with the required enzyme activities for achieving complete deconstruction of pretreated biomass in the future.

Toward high solids loading process for lignocellulosic biofuel production at a low cost.

High solids loadings (>18 wt%) in enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation are desired for lignocellulosic biofuel production at a high titer and low cost. However, sugar conversion and ethanol yield decrease with increasing solids loading. The factor(s) limiting sugar conversion at high solids loading is not clearly understood. In the present study, we investigated the effect of solids loading on simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) of AFEX™ (ammonia fiber expansion) pretreated corn stover for ethanol production using a xylose fermenting strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A(LNH-ST). Decreased sugar conversion and ethanol yield with increasing solids loading were also observed. End-product (ethanol) was proven to be the major cause of this issue and increased degradation products with increasing solids loading was also a cause. For the first time, we show that with in situ removal of end-product by performing SSCF aerobically, sugar conversion stopped decreasing with increasing solids loading and monomeric sugar conversion reached as high as 93% at a high solids loading of 24.9 wt%. Techno-economic analysis was employed to explore the economic possibilities of cellulosic ethanol production at high solids loadings. The results suggest that low-cost in situ removal of ethanol during SSCF would significantly improve the economics of high solids loading processes. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 980-989. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Saccharification of newspaper waste after ammonia fiber expansion or extractive ammonia.

The lignocellulosic fractions of municipal solid waste (MSW) can be used as renewable resources due to the widespread availability, predictable and low pricing and suitability for most conversion technologies. In particular, after the typical paper recycling loop, the newspaper waste (NW) could be further valorized as feedstock in biorefinering industry since it still contains up to 70 % polysaccharides. In this study, two different physicochemical methods-ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) and extractive ammonia (EA) were tested for the pretraetment of NW. Furthermore, based on the previously demonstrated ability of the recombinant enzymes endocellulase rCelStrep, α-L-arabinofuranosidase rPoAbf and its evolved variant rPoAbf F435Y/Y446F to improve the saccharification of different lignocellulosic pretreated biomasses (such as corn stover and Arundo donax), in this study these enzymes were tested for the hydrolysis of pretreated NW, with the aim of valorizing the lignocellulosic fractions of the MSW. In particular, a mixture of purified enzymes containing cellulases, xylanases and accessory hemicellulases, was chosen as reference mix and rCelStrep and rPoAbf or its variant were replaced to EGI and Larb. The results showed that these enzymatic mixes are not suitable for the hydrolysis of NW after AFEX or EA pretreatment. On the other hand, when the enzymes rCelStrep, rPoAbf and rPoAbf F435Y/Y446F were tested for their effect in hydrolysis of pretreated NW by addition to a commercial enzyme mixture, it was shown that the total polysaccharides conversion yield reached 37.32 % for AFEX pretreated NW by adding rPoAbf to the mix whilst the maximum sugars conversion yield for EA pretreated NW was achieved 40.80 % by adding rCelStrep. The maximum glucan conversion yield obtained (45.61 % for EA pretreated NW by adding rCelStrep to the commercial mix) is higher than or comparable to those reported in recent manuscripts adopting hydrolysis conditions similar to those used in this study.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of pelletized AFEX™-treated corn stover at high solid loadings.

Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX™) pretreatment can be performed at small depots, and the pretreated biomass can then be pelletized and shipped to a centralized refinery. To determine the feasibility of this approach, pelletized AFEX-treated corn stover was hydrolyzed at high (18-36%) solid loadings. Water absorption and retention by the pellets was low compared to unpelletized stover, which allowed enzymatic hydrolysis slurries to remain well mixed without the need for fed-batch addition. Glucose yields of 68% and xylose yields of 65% were obtained with 20 mg enzyme/g glucan and 18% solid loading after 72 h, compared to 61% and 59% for unpelletized corn stover. Pelletization also slightly increased the initial rate of hydrolysis compared to unpelletized biomass. The ease of mixing and high yields obtained suggests that pelletization after AFEX pretreatment could have additional advantages beyond improved logistical handling of biomass.

Effect of storage conditions on the stability and fermentability of enzymatic lignocellulosic hydrolysate.

To minimize the change of lignocellulosic hydrolysate composition during storage, the effects of storage conditions (temperature, pH and time) on the composition and fermentability of hydrolysate prepared from AFEX™ (Ammonia Fiber Expansion - a trademark of MBI, Lansing, MI) pretreated corn stover were investigated. Precipitates formed during hydrolysate storage increased with increasing storage pH and time. The precipitate amount was the least when hydrolysate was stored at 4 °C and pH 4.8, accounting for only 0.02% of the total hydrolysate weight after 3-month storage. No significant changes of NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectra and concentrations of sugars, minerals and heavy metals were observed after storage under this condition. When pH was adjusted higher before fermentation, precipitates also formed, consisting of mostly struvite (MgNH4PO4·6H2O) and brushite (CaHPO4·2H2O). Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation studies and yeast cell growth assays showed no significant difference in fermentability between fresh hydrolysate and stored hydrolysate.

Phenotypic selection of a wild Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain for simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation of AFEX™ pretreated corn stover.

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) process involves enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass and fermentation of glucose and xylose in one bioreactor. The optimal temperatures for enzymatic hydrolysis are higher than the standard fermentation temperature of ethanologenic Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Moreover, degradation products resulting from biomass pretreatment impair fermentation of sugars, especially xylose, and can synergize with high temperature stress. One approach to resolve both concerns is to utilize a strain background with innate tolerance to both elevated temperatures and degradation products. RESULTS: In this study, we screened a panel of 108 wild and domesticated Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains isolated from a wide range of environmental niches. One wild strain was selected based on its growth tolerance to simultaneous elevated temperature and AFEX™ (Ammonia Fiber Expansion) degradation products. After engineering the strain with two copies of the Scheffersomyces stipitis xylose reductase, xylitol dehydrogenase and xylulokinase genes, we compared the ability of this engineered strain to the benchmark 424A(LNH-ST) strain in ethanol production and xylose fermentation in standard lab medium and AFEX pretreated corn stover (ACS) hydrolysates, as well as in SSCF of ACS at different temperatures. In SSCF of 9% (w/w) glucan loading ACS at 35°C, the engineered strain showed higher cell viabilities and produced a similar amount of ethanol (51.3 g/L) compared to the benchmark 424A(LNH-ST) strain. CONCLUSION: These results validate our approach in the selection of wild Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains with thermo-tolerance and degradation products tolerance properties for lignocellulosic biofuel production. The wild and domesticated yeast strains phenotyped in this work are publically available for others to use as genetic backgrounds for fermentation of their pretreated biomass at elevated temperatures.

Continuous SSCF of AFEX™ pretreated corn stover for enhanced ethanol productivity using commercial enzymes and Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST).

High productivity processes are critical for commercial production of cellulosic ethanol. One high productivity process-continuous hydrolysis and fermentation-has been applied in corn ethanol industry. However, little research related to this process has been conducted on cellulosic ethanol production. Here, we report and compare the kinetics of both batch SHF (separate hydrolysis and co-fermentation) and SSCF (simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation) of AFEX™ (Ammonia Fiber Expansion) pretreated corn stover (AFEX™-CS). Subsequently, we designed a SSCF process to evaluate continuous hydrolysis and fermentation performance on AFEX™-CS in a series of continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs). Based on similar sugar to ethanol conversions (around 80% glucose-to-ethanol conversion and 47% xylose-to-ethanol conversion), the overall process ethanol productivity for continuous SSCF was 2.3- and 1.8-fold higher than batch SHF and SSCF, respectively. Slow xylose fermentation and high concentrations of xylose oligomers were the major factors limiting further enhancement of productivity.

Quantitatively understanding reduced xylose fermentation performance in AFEX™ treated corn stover hydrolysate using Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST) and Escherichia coli KO11.

Reduced xylose fermentation performance has been an issue during fermentation of AFEX™ hydrolysate using Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST) or Escherichia coli KO11. To better understand why fermentation performance is reduced, we quantitatively studied the effects of compounds present in the fermentation broth on xylose consumption. The compounds include biomass degradation products, ethanol and fermentation metabolites. The xylose consumption capability of E. coli KO11 was almost totally inhibited by the presence of both degradation products and ethanol. On the other hand, for S. cerevisiae 424A, 89% reduction of xylose consumption rate was found during hydrolysate fermentation. Degradation products, ethanol and fermentation metabolites were responsible for 32%, 24% and 33% of such reduction, respectively. Those results suggest that to further improve the xylose fermentation in hydrolysate, strains should be selected not only for degradation products tolerance but also for ethanol and fermentation metabolites tolerance.

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) of AFEX™-pretreated corn stover for ethanol production using Clostridium phytofermentans at a high solids loading.

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) using Clostridium phytofermentans (ATCC 700394) on ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX™)-treated corn stover (AFEX™-CS) at a low solids loading showed promising results [Jin et al. (2011) Biotechnol Bioeng 108(6): 1290-1297]. However, industrial relevant process requires high solids loading. Therefore, we studied high solids loading CBP performance on AFEX™-CS. The factors potentially affecting the performance including solids loading, CBP products acetate and ethanol, and degradation products resulting from pretreatment were investigated. At 4% (w/w) glucan loading, C. phytofermentans performed well on AFEX™-CS with no nutrients supplementation and reached similar sugar conversions as a fermentation with nutrients supplementation. A glucan conversion of 48.9% and a xylan conversion of 77.9% were achieved after 264 h with 7.0 g/L ethanol and 8.8 g/L acetate produced. Relatively high concentrations of acetate produced at high solids loading was found to be the major factor limiting the CBP performance. Degradation products in AFEX™-CS helped enhance ethanol production.

Simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) of AFEX(TM) pretreated corn stover for ethanol production using commercial enzymes and Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A(LNH-ST).

Xylose consumption by Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A(LNH-ST) during simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) of AFEX(TM) pretreated switchgrass was inhibited by unhydrolyzed solids. Such inhibitory effects were not found in unhydrolyzed solids from AFEX(TM) pretreated corn stover (AFEX(TM)-CS). However, the xylose consumption was still unsatisfactory during 6h pre-hydrolysis SSCF. By extending the pre-hydrolysis time to 24h or longer, the xylose consumption was improved significantly. In order to better understand the reasons for such improvement, the hydrolysate slurries after 6h pre-hydrolysis and 24h pre-hydrolysis were studied and compared. We found that the glucose concentration after pre-hydrolysis was the critical factor that determined cell viability and hence xylose consumption during SSCF. Low temperature (30°C) and ethanol inhibition were shown to be the factors limiting hydrolysis rate and hence productivity during SSCF.

Comparative genomics of xylose-fermenting fungi for enhanced biofuel production.

Cellulosic biomass is an abundant and underused substrate for biofuel production. The inability of many microbes to metabolize the pentose sugars abundant within hemicellulose creates specific challenges for microbial biofuel production from cellulosic material. Although engineered strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae can use the pentose xylose, the fermentative capacity pales in comparison with glucose, limiting the economic feasibility of industrial fermentations. To better understand xylose utilization for subsequent microbial engineering, we sequenced the genomes of two xylose-fermenting, beetle-associated fungi, Spathaspora passalidarum and Candida tenuis. To identify genes involved in xylose metabolism, we applied a comparative genomic approach across 14 Ascomycete genomes, mapping phenotypes and genotypes onto the fungal phylogeny, and measured genomic expression across five Hemiascomycete species with different xylose-consumption phenotypes. This approach implicated many genes and processes involved in xylose assimilation. Several of these genes significantly improved xylose utilization when engineered into S. cerevisiae, demonstrating the power of comparative methods in rapidly identifying genes for biomass conversion while reflecting on fungal ecology.

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) performance of Clostridium phytofermentans on AFEX-treated corn stover for ethanol production.

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) is believed to be a potentially cost-efficient and commercially viable way to produce cellulosic biofuels. In this study, we have evaluated the performance of the CBP organism Clostridium phytofermentans (ATCC 700394) on AFEX-treated corn stover (AFEX-CS). Fermentation conditions including temperature, inoculation size, nutrients, and initial pH were investigated. At optimal conditions with 0.5% (w/w) glucan loading of AFEX-CS, C. phytofermentans hydrolyzed 76% of glucan and 88.6% of xylan in 10 days. These values reached 87% and 102% of those obtained by simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) using commercial enzymes and S. cerevisiae 424A. Ethanol titer for CBP was found to be 2.8 g/L which was 71.8% of that yielded by SSCF (3.9 g/L). Decomposition products from AFEX-CS helped to increase ethanol yield somewhat during CBP. Particle size played a crucial role in the enhancement of sugar conversion by CBP.

Comparing the fermentation performance of Escherichia coli KO11, Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A(LNH-ST) and Zymomonas mobilis AX101 for cellulosic ethanol production.

BACKGROUND: Fermentations using Escherichia coli KO11, Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A(LNH-ST), and Zymomonas mobilis AX101 are compared side-by-side on corn steep liquor (CSL) media and the water extract and enzymatic hydrolysate from ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX)-pretreated corn stover. RESULTS: The three ethanologens are able produce ethanol from a CSL-supplemented co-fermentation at a metabolic yield, final concentration and rate greater than 0.42 g/g consumed sugars, 40 g/L and 0.7 g/L/h (0-48 h), respectively. Xylose-only fermentation of the tested ethanologenic bacteria are five to eight times faster than 424A(LNH-ST) in the CSL fermentation.All tested strains grow and co-ferment sugars at 15% w/v solids loading equivalent of ammonia fiber explosion (AFEX)-pretreated corn stover water extract. However, both KO11 and 424A(LNH-ST) exhibit higher growth robustness than AX101. In 18% w/w solids loading lignocellulosic hydrolysate from AFEX pretreatment, complete glucose fermentations can be achieved at a rate greater than 0.77 g/L/h. In contrast to results from fermentation in CSL, S. cerevisiae 424A(LNH-ST) consumed xylose at the greatest extent and rate in the hydrolysate compared to the bacteria tested. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm that glucose fermentations among the tested strains are effective even at high solids loading (18% by weight). However, xylose consumption in the lignocellulosic hydrolysate is the major bottleneck affecting overall yield, titer or rate of the process. In comparison, Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A(LNH-ST) is the most relevant strains for industrial production for its ability to ferment both glucose and xylose from undetoxified and unsupplemented hydrolysate from AFEX-pretreated corn stover at high yield.

Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation on empty palm fruit bunch fiber (EPFBF) for cellulosic ethanol production.

Empty palm fruit bunch fiber (EPFBF), a readily available cellulosic biomass from palm processing facilities, is investigated as a potential carbohydrate source for cellulosic ethanol production. This feedstock was pretreated using ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) and enzymatically hydrolyzed. The best tested AFEX conditions were at 135 °C, 45 min retention time, water to dry biomass loading of 1:1 (weight ratio), and ammonia to dry biomass loading of 1:1 (weight ratio). The particle size of the pretreated biomass was reduced post-AFEX. The optimized enzyme formulation consists of Accellerase (84 µL/g biomass), Multifect Xylanase (31 µL/g biomass), and Multifect Pectinase (24 µL/g biomass). This mixture achieved close to 90% of the total maximum yield within 72 h of enzymatic hydrolysis. Fermentation on the water extract of this biomass affirms that nutrients solely from the pretreated EPFBF can support yeast growth for complete glucose fermentation. These results suggest that AFEX-treated EPFBF can be used for cellulosic biofuels production because biomass recalcitrance has been overcome without reducing the fermentability of the pretreated materials.

The impacts of pretreatment on the fermentability of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass: a comparative evaluation between ammonia fiber expansion and dilute acid pretreatment.

BACKGROUND: Pretreatment chemistry is of central importance due to its impacts on cellulosic biomass processing and biofuels conversion. Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) and dilute acid are two promising pretreatments using alkaline and acidic pH that have distinctive differences in pretreatment chemistries. RESULTS: Comparative evaluation on these two pretreatments reveal that (i) AFEX-pretreated corn stover is significantly more fermentable with respect to cell growth and sugar consumption, (ii) both pretreatments can achieve more than 80% of total sugar yield in the enzymatic hydrolysis of washed pretreated solids, and (iii) while AFEX completely preserves plant carbohydrates, dilute acid pretreatment at 5% solids loading degrades 13% of xylose to byproducts. CONCLUSION: The selection of pretreatment will determine the biomass-processing configuration, requirements for hydrolysate conditioning (if any) and fermentation strategy. Through dilute acid pretreatment, the need for hemicellulase in biomass processing is negligible. AFEX-centered cellulosic technology can alleviate fermentation costs through reducing inoculum size and practically eliminating nutrient costs during bioconversion. However, AFEX requires supplemental xylanases as well as cellulase activity. As for long-term sustainability, AFEX has greater potential to diversify products from a cellulosic biorefinery due to lower levels of inhibitor generation and lignin loss.