Ethanol and hydrogen production by two thermophilic, anaerobic bacteria isolated from Icelandic geothermal areas

Abstract

Microbial fermentations are potential producers of sustainable energy carriers. In this study, ethanol and hydrogen production was studied by two thermophilic bacteria (strain AK15 and AK17) isolated from geothermal springs in Iceland. Strain AK15 was affiliated with Clostridium uzonii (98.8%), while AK17 was affiliated with Thermoanaerobacterium aciditolerans (99.2%) based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Both strains fermented a wide variety of sugar residues typically found in lignocellulosic materials, and some polysaccharides. In the batch cultivations, strain AK17 produced ethanol from glucose and xylose fermentations of up to 1.6 mol-EtOH/mol-glucose (80% of the theoretical maximum) and 1.1 mol-EtOH/mol-xylose (66%), respectively. The hydrogen yields by AK17 were up to 1.2 mol-H2/ mol-glucose (30% of the theoretical maximum) and 1.0 mol-H2/mol-xylose (30%). The strain AK15 produced hydrogen as the main fermentation product from glucose (up to 1.9 mol-H2/mol-glucose [48%]) and xylose (1.1 mol-H2/mol-xylose [33%]). The strain AK17 tolerated exogenously added ethanol up to 4% (v/v). The ethanol and hydrogen production performance from glucose by a co-culture of the strains AK15 and AK17 was studied in a continuous-flow bioreactor at 60 degrees C. Stable and continuous ethanol and hydrogen co-production was achieved with ethanol yield of 1.35 mol-EtOH/mol-glucose, and with the hydrogen production rate of 6.1 mmol/h/L (H2 yield of 0.80 mol-H2/mol-glucose). PCR-DGGE analysis revealed that the AK17 became the dominant bacterium in the bioreactor. In conclusion, strain AK17 is a promising strain for the co-production of ethanol and hydrogen with a wide substrate utilization spectrum, relatively high ethanol tolerance, and ethanol yields among the highest reported for thermoanaerobes.