Abstract
Isobutanol is an important and valuable platform chemical and an appealing biofuel that is compatible with contemporary combustion engines and existing fuel distribution infrastructure. The present study aimed to compare the potential of triticale, wheat and barley starch as feedstock for isobutanol production using an engineered strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) approach showed that all three starches were viable feedstock for co-production of isobutanol and ethanol and could produce titres similar to that produced using purified sugar as feedstock. A fed-batch process using triticale starch yielded 0.006 g isobutanol and 0.28 g ethanol/g starch. Additionally, it is demonstrated that Fusarium graminearum infected grain starch contaminated with mycotoxin can be used as an effective feedstock for isobutanol and ethanol co-production. These findings demonstrate the potential for triticale as a purpose grown energy crop and show that mycotoxin-contaminated grain starch can be used as feedstock for isobutanol biosynthesis, thus adding value to a grain that would otherwise be of limited use.
Highlights
A growing desire for energy security coupled with concerns over climate change have driven interest in the production of fuels and chemicals from renewable feedstock
We investigated the potential of the prairie grains triticale, barley and wheat as feedstock for the production of isobutanol
The differences between glucose released from triticale and wheat was statistically significant p = 0.01, as was the difference between triticale and barley p = 0.029
Summary
A growing desire for energy security coupled with concerns over climate change have driven interest in the production of fuels and chemicals from renewable feedstock. Ethanol is currently the most widely used biofuel and all indications are that demand for it will continue to grow [1]. Its miscibility with water means that it is not fully compatible with existing fuel storage and distribution infrastructure. Other candidate biofuels include butanol and its isomer, isobutanol. These four carbon alcohols possess greater energy density than ethanol and are immiscible with water [2]. Butanol and isobutanol are compatible with existing fuel distribution infrastructure and they can be used directly in contemporary combustion engines or blended with gasoline in any proportion [3]. Isobutanol production by E. coli and S. cerevisiae has used glucose as feedstock but microbial strains have been engineered to achieve isobutanol synthesis from xylose, cellulose, methanol, cheese whey and acetate [9,10,11,12,13]
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