Refine
Year of publication
Institute
Has Fulltext
- no (96)
Document Type
- Conference: Meeting Abstract (43)
- Article (32)
- Conference Proceeding (9)
- Patent (6)
- Part of a Book (5)
- Review (1)
Keywords
- ABE (1)
- Acid crash (1)
- Adsorbentien (1)
- Adsorption (1)
- Bioethanol (1)
- Biorefinery (1)
- Butanol (1)
- C. acetobutylicum (1)
- Enzymatischer Ligninabbau (1)
- Genetischer Algorithmus (1)
New insights into the influence of pre-culture on robust solvent production of C. acetobutylicum
(2024)
Clostridia are known for their solvent production, especially the production of butanol. Concerning the projected depletion of fossil fuels, this is of great interest. The cultivation of clostridia is known to be challenging, and it is difficult to achieve reproducible results and robust processes. However, existing publications usually concentrate on the cultivation conditions of the main culture. In this paper, the influence of cryo-conservation and pre-culture on growth and solvent production in the resulting main cultivation are examined. A protocol was developed that leads to reproducible cultivations of Clostridium acetobutylicum. Detailed investigation of the cell conservation in cryo-cultures ensured reliable cell growth in the pre-culture. Moreover, a reason for the acid crash in the main culture was found, based on the cultivation conditions of the pre-culture. The critical parameter to avoid the acid crash and accomplish the shift to the solventogenesis of clostridia is the metabolic phase in which the cells of the pre-culture were at the time of inoculation of the main culture; this depends on the cultivation time of the pre-culture. Using cells from the exponential growth phase to inoculate the main culture leads to an acid crash. To achieve the solventogenic phase with butanol production, the inoculum should consist of older cells which are in the stationary growth phase. Considering these parameters, which affect the entire cultivation process, reproducible results and reliable solvent production are ensured.
Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is an underutilized lignocellulosic biomass that has several benefits such as high availability, renewability, and biomass yield. The grass press-juice obtained from the mechanical pretreatment can be used for the bio-based production of chemicals. Lactic acid is a platform chemical that has attracted consideration due to its broad area of applications. For this reason, the more sustainable production of lactic acid is expected to increase. In this work, lactic acid was produced using complex medium at the bench- and reactor scale, and the results were compared to those obtained using an optimized press-juice medium. Bench-scale fermentations were carried out in a pH-control system and lactic acid production reached approximately 21.84 ± 0.95 g/L in complex medium, and 26.61 ± 1.2 g/L in press-juice medium. In the bioreactor, the production yield was 0.91 ± 0.07 g/g, corresponding to a 1.4-fold increase with respect to the complex medium with fructose. As a comparison to the traditional ensiling process, the ensiling of whole grass fractions of different varieties harvested in summer and autumn was performed. Ensiling showed variations in lactic acid yields, with a yield up to 15.2% dry mass for the late-harvested samples, surpassing typical silage yields of 6–10% dry mass.
The concept of energy conversion into platform chemicals using bioelectrochemical systems (BES) has gained increasing attention in recent years, as the technology simultaneously provides an opportunity for sustainable chemical production and tackles the challenge of Power-to-X technologies. There are many approaches to realize the industrial scale of BES. One concept is to equip standard bioreactors with static electrodes. However, large installations resulted in a negative influence on various reactor parameters. In this study, we present a new single-chamber BES based on a stirred tank reactor in which the stirrer was replaced by a carbon fiber brush, performing the functions of the working electrode and the stirrer. The reactor is characterized in abiotic studies and electro-fermentations with Clostridium acetobutylicum. Compared to standard reactors an increase in butanol production of 20.14±3.66 % shows that the new BES can be efficiently used for bioelectrochemical processes.
Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) is aproductive and high-quality forage grass indigenous to Southern Europe, temperate Asia, and North Africa. Nowadays it is widespread and the dominant grass species on green areas in temperate climates. This abundant source of biomass is suitable for the development of bioeconomic processes because of its high cellulose and water-soluble carbohydrate content. In this work, novel breeds of the perennial ryegrass are being examined with regards to their quality parameters and biotechnological utilization options within the context of bioeconomy. Three processing operations are presented. In the first process, the perennial ryegrass is pretreated by pressing or hydrothermal extraction to derive glucosevia subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. A yield of up to 82 % glucose was achieved when using the hydrothermal ex-traction as pretreatment. In a second process, the ryegrass is used to produce lactic acid in high concentrations. The influence of the growth conditions and the cutting time on the carboxylic acid yield is investigated. A yield of lactic acid of above 150 g kg⁻¹ dry matter was achieved. The third process is to use Lolium perenne as a substrate in the fermentation of K. marxianus for the microbial production of single-cell proteins. The perennial ryegrass is screw-pressed and the press juice is used as medium. When supplementing the press juice with yeast media components, a biomass concentration of up to 16 g L⁻¹ could be achieved.
The emerging environmental issues due to the use of fossil resources are encouraging the exploration of new renewable resources. Biomasses are attracting more interest due to the low environmental impacts, low costs, and high availability on earth. In this scenario, green biorefineries are a promising platform in which green biomasses are used as feedstock. Grasses are mainly composed of cellulose and hemicellulose, and lignin is available in a small amount. In this work, a perennial ryegrass was used as feedstock to develop a green bio-refinery platform. Firstly, the grass was mechanically pretreated, thus obtaining a press juice and a press cake fraction. The press juice has high nutritional values and can be employed as part of fermentation media. The press cake can be employed as a substrate either in enzymatic hydrolysis or in solid-state fermentation. The overall aim of this work was to demonstrate different applications of both the liquid and the solid fractions. For this purpose, the filamentous fungus A. niger and the yeast Y. lipolythica were selected for their ability to produce citric acid. Finally, the possibility was assessed to use the press juice as part of fermentation media to cultivate S. cerevisiae and lactic acid bacteria for ethanol and lactic acid fermentation.
Bacterial cell appendix formation supports cell-cell interaction, cell adhesion and cell movement. Additionally, in bioelectrochemical systems (BES), cell appendages have been shown to participate in extracellular electron transfer. In this work, the cell appendix formation of Clostridium acetobutylicum in biofilms of a BES are imaged and compared with conventional biofilms. Under all observed conditions, the cells possess filamentous appendages with a higher number and density in the BES. Differences in the amount of extracellular polymeric substance in the biofilms of the electrodes lead to the conclusion that the cathode can be used as electron donor and the anode as electron acceptor by C. acetobutylicum. When using conductive atomic force microscopy, a current response of about 15 nA is found for the cell appendages from the BES. This is the first report of conductivity for clostridial cell appendices and represents the basis for further studies on their role for biofilm formation and electron transfer.
A future bio-economy should not only be based on renewable raw materials but also in the raise of carbon yields of existing production routes. Microbial electrochemical technologies are gaining increased attention for this purpose. In this study, the electro-fermentative production of biobutanol with C. acetobutylicum without the use of exogenous mediators is investigated regarding the medium composition and the reactor design. It is shown that the use of an optimized synthetic culture medium allows higher product concentrations, increased biofilm formation, and higher conductivities compared to a synthetic medium supplemented with yeast extract. Moreover, the optimization of the reactor system results in a doubling of the maximum product concentrations for fermentation products. When a working electrode is polarized at −600 mV vs. Ag/AgCl, a shift from butyrate to acetone and butanol production is induced. This leads to an increased final solvent yield of Yᴀᴃᴇ = 0.202 gg⁻¹ (control 0.103 gg⁻¹), which is also reflected in a higher carbon efficiency of 37.6% compared to 23.3% (control) as well as a fourfold decrease in simplified E-factor to 0.43. The results are promising for further development of biobutanol production in bioelectrochemical systems in order to fulfil the principles of Green Chemistry.
The development prospects of the world markets for petroleum and other liquid fuels are diverse and partly contradictory. However, comprehensive changes for the energy supply of the future are essential. Notwithstanding the fact that there are still very large deposits of energy resources from a geological point of view, the finite nature of conventional oil reserves is indisputable. To reduce our dependence on oil, the EU, the USA, and other major economic zones rely on energy diversification. For this purpose, alternative materials and technologies are being sought, and is most obvious in the transport sector. The objective is to progressively replace fossil fuels with renewable and more sustainable fuels. In this respect, biofuels have a pre-eminent position in terms of their capability of blending with fossil fuels and being usable in existing cars without substantial modification. Ethanol can be considered as the primary renewable liquid fuel. In this chapter enzymes, micro-organisms, and processes for ethanol production based on renewable resources are described.
Das strikt anaerobe Bakterium Clostridium acetobutylicum bildet die Lösemittel Aceton, Butanol und Ethanol (ABE-Fermentation). Im Fall einer Eisenlimitierung kommt es zusätzlich zu einer Riboflavinsekretion (RF), was durch die gelbe Färbung des Kulturüberstands erkennbar ist. In dieser Arbeit wurde beobachtet, dass während Elektrofermentationen mit C. acetobutylicum bei –600 mV eine gelbe Färbung auftritt. Es wurde deshalb untersucht, ob eine Eisenlimitierung im bio-elektrochemischen System (BES) vorliegt. Hierzu wurden die Flavinspezien bei Kultivierungen in Medien mit einer Eisenlimitierung bzw. mit ausreichend Eisen in Serumflaschen sowie im BES mit und ohne angelegtem Potenzial verglichen. In den Serumflaschenversuchen wurden RF und Flavinadenindinukleotid (FAD)-Konzentrationen von ‡ 20 mg L⁻¹ sowie Flavinmononukleotid (FMN)-Konzentrationen von ca. 5 mg L⁻¹ detektiert. Bei ausreichender Eisenverfügbarkeit hingegen wurden in den Serumflaschen fast keine Flavine sekretiert. Im BES bei –600 mV hingegen wurde auch in diesen Kulturüberständen FMN und FAD (1–5 mg L⁻¹ ),jedoch kein RF gemessen. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Flavinbildung im BES mit angelegtem Potenzial nicht mit der Flavinbildung unter Eisenlimitierung in Serumflaschen korreliert. Andere Faktoren für eine mögliche Flavinbildung werden aktuell näher betrachtet.