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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2007, p. 2349-2353, Vol. 73, No. 7
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.02880-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Effect of Lignocellulose-Derived Inhibitors on Growth of and Ethanol Production by Growth-Arrested Corynebacterium glutamicum R
Shinsuke Sakai,1
Yoshiki Tsuchida,1,2
Shohei Okino,1
Osamu Ichihashi,1
Hideo Kawaguchi,1
Takashi Watanabe,3
Masayuki Inui,1 and
Hideaki Yukawa1*
Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth, 9-2 Kizugawadai, Kizu-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-0292, Japan,1
Honda R&D Co., Ltd., 1-4-1 Chuo Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0193, Japan,2
Laboratory of Biomass Conversion, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan3
Received 13 December 2006/
Accepted 24 January 2007

ABSTRACT
In cellulosic ethanol production, pretreatment of a biomass
to facilitate enzymatic hydrolysis inevitably yields fermentation
inhibitors such as organic acids, furans, and phenols. With
representative inhibitors included in the medium at various
concentrations, individually or in various combinations, ethanol
production by
Corynebacterium glutamicum R under growth-arrested
conditions was investigated. In the presence of various inhibitors,
the 62 to 100% ethanol productivity retained by the
C. glutamicum R-dependent method far exceeded that retained by previously
reported methods.

INTRODUCTION
Worldwide attention has recently turned to bioethanol production
as a strategy to combat global warming and to improve global
energy security (
15,
24). However, feedstocks of current bioethanol
production methods are currently derived from edible parts of
food crops such as sugarcane and corn. This leads to an undesirable
direct competition between bioethanol production and the food
supply (
6,
25). A switch to a more abundant lignocellulosic
biomass, some of which may be obtained from inedible parts of
food crops, should help to reduce pressure on the food crops
and possibly generate increased demand for bioethanol (
6,
15,
25).
In a previous study of biomass pretreatment with dilute acid and hot water, the major degradation by-products released included organic acids such as acetate, furans such as furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), and phenols such as 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (4-HB), vanillin, and syringaldehyde (10). Although the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomasses is a necessity for efficient saccharification and ethanol production (10, 15), ethanol production by microorganisms is inhibited in the presence of small concentrations of some of these by-products of pretreatment (20, 27-29). In order to avoid such inhibition, various treatments for the detoxification of fermentation inhibitors have been investigated (10). For industrial ethanol production, however, a method that eschews the detoxification steps is desirable to keep costs down and reduce method complexity (26).
The aerobic bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum has widely been used in the industrial biological production of amino acids and nucleic acids (9, 23). C. glutamicum R can metabolize biomass-derived sugars such as glucose and mannose (13). Additionally, we previously isolated adaptive mutants capable of not only metabolizing cellobiose but also simultaneously metabolizing glucose and cellobiose (14). More recently, we also reported recombinant C. glutamicum R strains capable of efficient xylose utilization (8), xylose being one of the most abundant pentose sugars found in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. For ethanol production, we previously constructed ethanologenic C. glutamicum R to demonstrate ethanol production under growth-arrested conditions (7). Growth-arrested conditions were enabled by oxygen deprivation of cells in a reactor, leading to high volumetric ethanol productivity. In this study, we investigated the effect of fermentation inhibitors found in lignocellulosic hydrolysates on ethanol production by ethanologenic C. glutamicum R under growth-arrested conditions.
The microorganism used in this study was a C. glutamicum R marker-less ldhA-deficient mutant bearing pCRA723 (strain R-ldhA-pCRA723) which expressed Zymomonas mobilis genes coding for pyruvate decarboxylase (pdc) and alcohol dehydrogenase (adhB) (7). Growth experiments were initiated using cells at an optical density at 610 nm (OD610) of 0.1 and performed aerobically in a test tube containing 20 ml of A medium (7) with 200 mM glucose and various concentrations of inhibitors. The tubes were shaken (200 rpm) at 33°C for 12 h. Relative growth was the difference between the OD610 of a culture with an inhibitor and that of a reference culture without the inhibitor after 12 h of cultivation. For ethanol production under growth-arrested conditions, C. glutamicum strain R-ldhA-pCRA723 cells grown in aerobic-phase cultures were harvested by centrifugation. Cell pellets were subsequently washed twice with mineral salts medium (7). The cells were then resuspended to a final dry cell concentration of 10 g liter1 in mineral salts medium containing 200 mM glucose and incubated at 33°C. Dissolved oxygen in medium was maintained at less than 0.01 ppm. The relative ethanol productivity (percentage) was the difference between the initial volumetric production rate in the experimental phase with inhibitors and that of a reference culture during the first 3 h of the reaction. Detailed conditions for growth and ethanol production and analytical methods for our study have been described previously (7).

Effect of individual inhibitors.
Xylose and other pentose sugars are liberated during the degradation
of hemicellulose, and further degradation releases furfural,
while 5-HMF is the result of hexose degradation. These furans
are known to be highly toxic for the growth and fermentation
of ethanologenic microorganisms. In
C. glutamicum, the cell
growth of both strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723 (Fig.
1A and B) and type
strain ATCC 13032 (data not shown) significantly decreased with
the increase in concentration of furfural and 5-HMF. The relative
growth of strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723 with 21 mM furfural and 16 mM
5-HMF decreased to 7% and 14% of the growth of the reference
culture, respectively (Fig.
1A and B).
C. glutamicum displayed
sensitivities to furfural and 5-HMF similar to those of yeasts
such as
Saccharomyces cerevisiae CBS 1200,
Candida shehatae ATCC 22984, and
Pichia stipitis NRRL Y 7124 but was more sensitive
to furfural than bacteria such as
Z. mobilis ATCC 10988,
Escherichia coli ATCC 1175, and
E. coli LY01 (
2,
3,
27). We previously reported
that growth-arrested conditions allowed the
C. glutamicum R
wild type and recombinants to metabolize sugar without growth
(
7). This metabolic activity under growth-arrested conditions
may be advantageous in so far as they avoid inhibitory effects
on growth. Therefore, we determined ethanol production by
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723 under growth-arrested conditions
with furfural and 5-HMF. Consequently, strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723
in our growth arrest test retained 82% of its relative ethanol
productivity with 52 mM furfural and 62% with 79 mM 5-HMF (Fig.
2A and B). In contrast, Martín and Jönsson (
16)
and Talebnia et al. (
22) reported that the relative ethanol
productivity of
S. cerevisiae is drastically reduced to 47%
with 52 mM furfural or to 18% with 60 mM 5-HMF (Table
1). This
indicates that our method employing growth-arrested
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723 showed greater tolerance to furfural and
5-HMF than other methods.
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TABLE 1. Ethanol productivity of Corynebacterium glutamicum strain R-ldhA-pCRA723 and other organisms in the presence of inhibitors
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4-HB, vanillin, and syringaldehyde are generated by the partial
breakdown of lignin through the
p-hydroxyphenyl residue, guaiacyl
residue, and syringyl residue, respectively, and exert inhibitory
effects on microbial ethanol production. In growth experiments
with 4-HB, vanillin, and syringaldehyde, the phenols significantly
inhibited the cell growth of
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723
(Fig.
1C to E) and wild-type strain ATCC 13032 (data not shown)
at lower concentrations than those in actual syrup. As shown
in Fig.
1C to E, the relative growth of strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723
with 16 mM 4-HB, 33 mM vanillin, and 11 mM syringaldehyde decreased
to 8%, 2%, and 8% of that of the reference culture, respectively.
C. glutamicum showed sensitivity to phenols similar to that
of yeasts such as
S. cerevisiae CBS 1200,
C. shehatae ATCC 22984,
and
P. stipitis NRRL Y 7124 and of bacteria such as
Z. mobilis ATCC 10988,
E. coli ATCC 1175, and
E. coli LY01 (
2,
3,
27).
Meanwhile, under growth-arrested conditions,
C. glutamicum strain
R-
ldhA-pCRA723 yielded ethanol productivity not less than 93%
of that of the reference culture, with 16 mM 4-HB, 13 mM vanillin,
or 11 mM syringaldehyde (Fig.
2C to E). With 33 mM vanillin
and 28 mM syringaldehyde, relative productivity was 78 to 85%
for the process employing growth-arrested
C. glutamicum strain
R-
ldhA-pCRA723, while 41 mM 4-HB reduced the ethanol productivity
to 49% (Fig.
2C to E). The difference may be due to the molecular
structures of these inhibitors, with the ability of each inhibitor
to penetrate the cell membrane being dependent on the number
of methyl groups that the inhibitor possesses (
3,
12). In contrast,
S. cerevisiae ATCC 96581 showed ethanol productivities that
were 36, 58, and 69% of that of the reference culture with 10
mM concentrations of the phenols 4-HB, vanillin, and syringaldehyde,
respectively (Table
1). Compared to methods employing other
microorganisms (
12), our method employing growth-arrested
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723 showed high tolerance to 4-HB,
vanillin, and syringaldehyde.
Acetate, one of the most abundant organic acids generated through pretreatments, is known to result from the hydrolysis of acetylxylan in hemicellulose. The inhibitory effect of acetate on the ethanol production of various microorganisms is well known (10). In our study of using growth-arrested C. glutamicum strain R-ldhA-pCRA723 with acetate applied as a sole inhibitor at concentrations up to 244 mM, the cells retained 88% of the productivity of the reference culture, with pH controlled at 7.5 (data not shown).

Effect of inhibitors comprising pretreatment hydrolysates.
In previous studies, the concentrations and combinations of
inhibitors in the actual syrup were diversified, due to the
variety and complexity of the pretreatments of biomass involved
(
10). Additive or synergistic inhibition by multiple kinds of
inhibitors were reported for microorganisms (
10). Therefore,
ethanol production by
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723 was
performed under growth-arrested conditions with inhibitor mixtures,
the compositions of which matched those of previous reports
of actual biomass pretreatments, while compounds that were less
than 0.05 g liter
1 were omitted.
Dilute-acid hydrolysis has been investigated as one of the fast and easy operations, but this operation formed furans at high concentrations (10). Dilute-acid hydrolysis pretreatment of corn stover with inhibitors composed of organic acid and furans was employed as a model composition (19). Total furans were included at higher concentrations than other inhibitors tested in model compositions. With inhibitors of this model composition, growth-arrested C. glutamicum strain R-ldhA-pCRA723 retained 98% of its ethanol productivity, indicating a high tolerance to the combination of organic acids and furans (Table 2).
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[in a new window]
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TABLE 2. Relative ethanol productivity of Corynebacterium glutamicum strain R-ldhA-pCRA723 under growth-arrested conditions with model inhibitors of various methods
|
Supercritical water treatment of lignocellulose is a promising
method because it is very rapid, occurring within several seconds,
and requires no catalysts (
18). A model composition of inhibitors
consisting of furans and phenols derived from pretreatment of
cedar with supercritical water (
18) was employed. Of special
note, total phenols were included at higher concentrations than
other model inhibitors tested. In the present study, growth-arrested
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723 with inhibitors of this
model composition retained all (101%) of its ethanol productivity
(Table
2). This indicates that there was no inhibitory effect
of the combination of furans and phenols on ethanol productivity
by growth-arrested
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723.
Alkaline water oxidation pretreatment prevents the formation of furans and phenols (10). Hydroxycarboxylic acids such as glycolic acid and lactic acid are known as common degradation products from alkaline carbohydrate degradation (10). A model composition for alkaline water oxidation pretreated wheat straw was created (11) and was used in this study. This model composition of inhibitors consisted only of organic acids, with formate included at the highest concentration. With inhibitors of this model composition, growth-arrested C. glutamicum strain R-ldhA-pCRA723 retained 97% of its ethanol productivity, indicating a high tolerance to the combination of organic acids (Table 2).
Steam explosion pretreatment has been investigated as one of the attractive pretreatment methods owing to its low use of chemicals and energy consumption (5). The model composition of inhibitors derived from pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse with steam explosion was determined by reference to a previous report (17). This model composition of inhibitors consisted of organic acids, furans, and phenols. As shown in Table 2, growth-arrested strain R-ldhA-pCRA723 retained 104% of its ethanol productivity with the composition of inhibitors found with the steam explosion pretreatment. This indicates that despite the anticipated synergy of multiple inhibitors in an actual production method, the method employing growth-arrested C. glutamicum strain R-ldhA-pCRA723 should retain viable ethanol productivity.

Conclusion.
We investigated the effects of inhibitors generated during the
pretreatment of a lignocellulosic biomass on an ethanol production
method employing growth-arrested
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723.
The method showed high tolerance to all organic acid, furan,
and phenolic inhibitors tested, mainly due to the growth-arrested
conditions. Furthermore, combinations of inhibitors affected
only slightly the relative ethanol productivity of the method
employing
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723, despite the anticipated
synergistic effects of multiple inhibitors. In our previous
investigations of this method in the absence of inhibitors,
a peak volumetric ethanol productivity of 0.62 mol liter
1 h
1 (
7) and a final ethanol concentration of 1.7 M (
21)
were observed. This indicates that ethanol itself is not an
inhibitor. In comparison to concentrations of other ethanol
producers, the highest final ethanol concentrations of 2 M (from
glucose), 1.1 M (from glucose), and 0.9 M (from xylose) have
been reported for
S. cerevisiae 27817,
E. coli LY01, and
Z. mobilis AX 101, respectively (
4,
15). Through further optimization,
the method employing
C. glutamicum strain R-
ldhA-pCRA723 may
be developed into an efficient ethanol production method without
detoxification steps.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Roy H. Doi (University of California, Davis) and C.
A. Omumasaba for critical reading of the manuscript and for
helpful comments.
This work was partially supported by a grant from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth, 9-2 Kizugawadai, Kizu-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-0292, Japan. Phone: 81-774-75-2308. Fax: 81-774-75-2321. E-mail:
mmg-lab{at}rite.or.jp.

Published ahead of print on 2 February 2007. 

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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2007, p. 2349-2353, Vol. 73, No. 7
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.02880-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.