Efficient Fermentation of Pretreated Napiergrass to Ethanol Using Metabolically Engineered Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

The simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) configuration is favored due to its economically feasible ethanol production process. However, pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass generates inhibitory compounds such as furfural, hydroxymethyl furfural and acetic acid. These inhibitors affect the ability of yeasts to ferment the pretreated biomass in the SSCF process.

In this work, an efficient SSCF process was developed consisting of fermentation of steam-pretreated napiergrass with S. cerevisiae, which was engineered to improve tolerance to inhibitory compounds by genetic and evolutionary engineering.