Co-production of hydrogen and ethanol by Escherichia coli SS1 and its recombinant

Background: The development of a potential single culture that can co-produce hydrogen and ethanol is beneficial for industrial application. Strain improvement via molecular approach was proposed on hydrogen and ethanol co-producing bacterium, Escherichia coli SS1. Thus, the effect of additional copy of native hydrogenase gene hybC on hydrogen and ethanol co-production by E. coli SS1 was investigated. Results: Both E. coli SS1 and the recombinant hybC were subjected to fermentation using 10 g/L of glycerol at initial pH 7.5. Recombinant hybC had about 2-fold higher cell growth, 5.2-fold higher glycerol consumption rate and 3-fold higher ethanol productivity in comparison to wild-type SS1. Nevertheless, wild-type SS1 reported hydrogen yield of 0.57 mol/mol glycerol and ethanol yield of 0.88 mol/mol glycerol, which were 4- and 1.4-fold higher in comparison to recombinant hybC. Glucose fermentation was also conducted for comparison study. The performance of wild-type SS1 and recombinant hybC showed relatively similar results during glucose fermentation. Additional copy of hybC gene could manipulate the glycerol metabolic pathway of E. coli SS1 under slightly alkaline condition. Conclusions: HybC could improve glycerol consumption rate and ethanol productivity of E. coli despite lower hydrogen and ethanol yields. Higher glycerol consumption rate of recombinant hybC could be an advantage for bioconversion of glycerol into biofuels. This study could serve as a useful guidance for dissecting the role of hydrogenase in glycerol metabolism and future development of effective strain for biofuels production.

Improvement of hydrogen yield of ethanol-producing Escherichia coli recombinants in acidic conditions

Background: An effective single culture with high glycerol consumption and hydrogen and ethanol coproduction yield is still in demand. A locally isolated glycerol-consuming Escherichia coli SS1 was found to produce lower hydrogen levels under optimized ethanol production conditions. Molecular approach was proposed to improve the hydrogen yield of E. coli SS1 while maintaining the ethanol yield, particularly in acidic conditions. Therefore, the effect of an additional copy of the native hydrogenase gene hycE and recombinant clostridial hydrogenase gene hydA on hydrogen production by E. coli SS1 at low pH was investigated. Results: Recombinant E. coli with an additional copy of hycE or clostridial hydA was used for fermentation using 10 g/L (108.7 mmol/L) of glycerol with an initial pH of 5.8. The recombinant E. coli with hycE and recombinant E. coli with hydA showed 41% and 20% higher hydrogen yield than wild-type SS1 (0.46 ± 0.01 mol/mol glycerol), respectively. The ethanol yield of recombinant E. coli with hycE (0.50 ± 0.02 mol/mol glycerol) was approximately 30% lower than that of wild-type SS1, whereas the ethanol yield of recombinant E. coli with hydA (0.68 ± 0.09 mol/mol glycerol) was comparable to that of wild-type SS1. Conclusions: Insertion of either hycE or hydA can improve the hydrogen yield with an initial pH of 5.8. The recombinant E. coli with hydA could retain ethanol yield despite high hydrogen production, suggesting that clostridial hydA has an advantage over the hycE gene in hydrogen and ethanol coproduction under acidic conditions. This study could serve as a useful guidance for the future development of an effective strain coproducing hydrogen and ethanol.

Mini review: hydrogen and ethanol co-production from waste materials via microbial fermentation.

The simultaneous production of hydrogen and ethanol by microorganisms from waste materials in a bioreactor system would establish cost-effective and time-saving biofuel production. This review aims to present the current status of fermentation processes producing hydrogen accompanied by ethanol as a co-product. We outlined the microbes used and their fundamental pathways for hydrogen and ethanol fermentation. Moreover, we discussed the exploitation of renewable and sustainable waste materials as promising feedstock and the limitations encountered. The low substrate bioconversion rate in hydrogen and ethanol co-production is regarded as the primary constraint towards the development of large scale applications. Thus, microbes with an enhanced capability have been generated via genetic manipulation to diminish the inefficiency of substrate consumption. In this review, other potential approaches to improve the performance of co-production through fermentation were also elaborated. This review will be a useful guide for the future development of hydrogen and ethanol co-production using waste materials.