Design and construction of artificial microbial consortia to enhance lignocellulosic biomass degradation

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Bioengineering and Alcoholic Drink Technology, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, H-1118 Budapest, Ménesi út 45, Hungary.

2 Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, Nong Lam University, Quarter 6, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

3 Biorefining and Advanced Materials Research Center, SRUC, Barony Campus, Parkgate, Dumfries DG1 3NE, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Cellulose-rich agricultural residues are promising renewable sources for producing various value-added products such as 2nd generation biofuels. However, the efficiency of the bioconversion process is not always satisfactory due to the slow and incomplete degradation of lignocellulosic biomass. An interesting approach would be using microbial communities with high lignocellulose-degrading ability for environmentally friendly pretreatment. This study focused on characterizing the degradation performance of bacteria, fungal, and yeast strains and designing and constructing different microbial consortia for solid-state treatment of wheat bran and wheat straw. The microbial consortia, namely BFY4 and BFY5, contained different bacteria, fungal, and yeast led to high ratios of sugar accumulation ranging from 3.21 to 3.5 with degradation rates over 33%, owing to more favorable hydrolytic enzyme activities and improved reducing sugar yield during the process. After 72 h, the highest FPase (0.213 IU/gds) and xylanase (7.588 IU/gds) activities were also detected in the wheat straw pretreated by BFY4 and BFY5, respectively, while CMCase activity peaked (0.928 IU/gds) when wheat bran was used as substrate. The amount of released glucose increased during the treatment process when the two substrates were used in the same ratio. Our results indicated that substrate composition also plays an important role in the degradation capacity of mixed cultures. These findings can be instrumental in advancing the primary knowledge required to apply such bioprocesses at the pilot scale.

Graphical Abstract

Design and construction of artificial microbial consortia to enhance lignocellulosic biomass degradation

Highlights

  • A new approach was introduced for designing and constructing microbial consortia for lignocellulosic pretreatments.
  • Adding yeast into a mixed culture of fungi and bacteria improved lignocellulosic biodegradation.
  • The developed artificial microbial consortia, BFY4 and BFY5, showed high lignocellulosic degradation capabilities.
  • Pretreatment with BFY4 or BFY5 consortia resulted in the highest yield of reducing sugars.

Keywords

References

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