U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Crops Pathology and Genetics Research: Davis, CA
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    Careers


        


                    Outreach Events
                        UC Davis Picnic Day
                                    Kinders go to College
                                    STEM Girls
                                    Future Scientist Program
                                    Agriculture Future of America
                                    Wallace-Carver Fellowship
                                    Young Scholars Program
                                    Annual Awards Banquet
                    About Us
                        About Us
                                    Our Mission
                                    Principal InvestigatorsSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Pacific West Area Davis, California Crops Pathology and Genetics Research Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications
- Etiology and Biology of Tree Crop Diseases
- Rice Genetics
- Sustainable Floriculture
- Sustainable Viticulture

Title:   Author  item
                                            ZILIANG, FAN - University Of Californiaitem
                                            WEIHUA, WU - University Of Californiaitem
                                            HILDEBRAND, AMANADA - University Of Californiaitem
                                            Kasuga, Takaoitem
                                            ZHANG, RUIFU - University Of Californiaitem
                                            XIAOCHAO, XIONG - University Of California
  Submitted to: PLOS ONE
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 1/12/2012
                                    Publication  Date: 2/23/2012
                                    Citation: Ziliang, F., Weihua, W., Hildebrand, A., Kasuga, T., Zhang, R., Xiaochao, X. 2012. A novel biochemical platform for fuels and chemicals production from cellulosic biomass. PLoS One. 7(2).Interpretive Summary: Cellulosic biomass is a sustainable source for organic fuels, chemicals, and materials; and is available at low cost and in large abundance.  The central obstacle impeding the widespread utilization of cellulosic biomass is the absence of a low-cost processing technology.  One strategy to reduce the processing cost is through process consolidation. We propose a novel biochemical platform for fuels and chemical production, which combines the three most expensive steps: pretreatment, cellulase production, and enzymatic hydrolysis into a single biological step and produces sugar aldonates instead of sugars as the reactive intermediates.
                                Technical Abstract: The conventional biochemical platform for biofuels production featuring enzymatic hydrolysis involves five key steps: pretreatment, cellulase production, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, and product recovery. Sugars are produced as reactive intermediates for subsequent fermentation to fuels and chemicals. Herein, an alternative biochemical platform is proposed. Pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and cellulase production is consolidated into one single step, referred to as consolidated aerobic processing, and sugar aldonates are produced as the reactive intermediates for biofuels production by fermentation. 
In this study, we investigated the primary feasibility of the proposed platform using Neurospora crassa as the model microorganism and the conversion of cellulose to ethanol as the model system. We intended to prove the two hypotheses: 1) cellulose can be directed to produce cellobionate by reducing '-glucosidase production and by enhancing cellobiose dehydrogenase production; and 2) cellobionate can be utilized as a carbon source for ethanol and other chemical production, which lay the foundation of the proposed new platform. Our results showed that knocking out multiple copies of '-glucosidase led to cellobionate production from cellulose, without jeopardizing the cellulose hydrolysis rate.  Simulating CDH over-expression by addition of exogenous CDH led to more cellobionate production.  Gluconate was metabolized by an ethanologen Escherichia coli KO11 for ethanol production at a high yield and at a rate even faster than that of glucose.  Glucose and gluconate was utilized simultaneously in glucose and gluconate co-fermentation.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov