Identification of a potential fungal species by 18S rDNA for ligninases production.

Fungal species for ligninases production was investigated by 18S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis. Two primer sets were chosen to amplify a major part of the 18S rDNA, which resulted in intense PCR product of approximately 550-820 bp in size per sample. The results suggest that the 18S rDNA-based approach is a useful tool for identification of unknown potential fungal species for ligninases production. The isolated fungal species produces mainly manganese peroxidase (MnP). The enzyme oxidized a variety of the usual MnP substrates, including lignin related polyphenols. Time course studies showed that maximum production of ligninolytic enzymes MnP (64 IU L⁻¹), lignin peroxidase (26.35 IU L⁻¹), and laccase (5.44 IU L⁻¹), respectively, were achieved after 10 days of cultivation under optimum conditions. Furthermore, the biological decolorization of Remazol Brilliant Blue R dye following 10 days of cultivation was 94 %. NCBI BLAST was used to search for closest matched sequences in the GenBank database and based on sequence homology the first BLAST hit was Dothioraceae sp. LM572 with accession number EF060858.1.

Kinetics and thermodynamics of ethanol production by a thermotolerant mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a microprocessor-controlled bioreactor.

AIMS: The present investigation deals with the development of thermotolerant mutant strain of yeast for studying enhanced productivity of ethanol from molasses in a fully controlled bioreactor. METHODS AND RESULTS: The parental culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 26602 was mutated using UV treatment. A single thermotolerant mutant was isolated after extensive screening and optimization, and grown on molasses medium in liquid cultures. The mutant was 1.45-fold improved than its wild parent with respect to ethanol productivity (7.2 g l-1 h-1), product yield (0.44 g ethanol g-1 substrate utilized) and specific ethanol yield (19.0 g ethanol g-1 cells). The improved ethanol productivity was directly correlated with titres of intracellular and extracellular invertase activities. The mutant supported higher volumetric and product yield of ethanol, significantly (P