Lignocellulose is the most abundant renewable organic carbon resource on earth. However, due to its complex structure, it must undergo a series of pretreatment processes before it can be efficiently utilized by microorganisms. The pretreatment process inevitably generates typical inhibitors such as furan aldehydes that seriously hinder the growth of microorganisms and the subsequent fermentation process. It is an important research field for bio-refining to recognize and clarify the furan aldehydes metabolic pathway of microorganisms and further develop microbial strains with strong tolerance and transformation ability towards these inhibitors. This article reviews the sources of furan aldehyde inhibitors, the inhibition mechanism of furan aldehydes on microorganisms, the furan aldehydes degradation pathways in microorganisms, and particularly focuses on the research progress of using biotechnological strategies to degrade furan aldehyde inhibitors. The main technical methods include traditional adaptive evolution engineering and metabolic engineering, and the emerging microbial co-cultivation systems as well as functional materials assisted microorganisms to remove furan aldehydes.
Aldehydes ; Fermentation ; Furans ; Lignin/metabolism*

Aims: Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO) is an enzyme capable of cleaving glycoside bonds of recalcitrant polysaccharides through an oxidative mechanism. LPMO activity, in synergy with hydrolytic enzymes, increases the production of monomer sugars from the biodegradation of lignocellulose. This study was aimed at evaluating actinomycete S2 strain LPMO activity based on the release of xylose as one of reducing sugar and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the course of lignocellulosic biodegradation. Methodology and results: The oxidation activity of LPMO from actinomycete S2 strain was measured by using the substrate of Avicel supplemented with ascorbic acid and copper ions (Cu2+) to identify its effect on the release of xylose as one of reducing sugar. The optimum incubation time for the LPMO production was also conducted. Further, H2O2 quantitative analysis was performed as by-product of LPMO activity and 16S rRNA gene sequence of actinomycete S2 strain were subsequently determined. We found that supplementation of 1 mM ascorbic acid and 0.2 mM Cu2+ increased xylose as one of reducing sugar production by up to 5-fold from 255.03 to 1290 μg/mL after an optimal incubation period of 6 days. Based on H2O2 production, the LPMO activity of actinomycete S2 strain was 0.019 ± 0.001 U/mL. There is likelihood that LPMO activity derived from actinomycete S2 strain has a synergistic effect with the activity of other lignocellulose-degrading enzymes. This actinomycete showed 99% similarity to the 16S rRNA gene sequence of Streptomyces avermitilis strain EAAG80. Conclusion, significance, and impact of study LPMO enzyme activity from actinomycete S2 strain as determined by the production of reducing sugar and H2O2 was greatly increased by supplementation with ascorbic acid as an electron donor and Cu2+ ions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first elucidation of LPMO activity from an indigenous Indonesian actinomycete.
Mixed Function Oxygenases--metabolism ; Lignin--metabolism

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) is a multi-step process in a bioreactor, which completes hydrolase production, enzymatic hydrolysis, and microbial fermentation. It is considered to be the most promising process for the production of second-generation biofuels because of its simple steps and low cost. Due to the complexity of lignocellulose degradation and the butanol synthesis pathway, few wild microorganisms can directly utilize lignocellulose to synthesize butanol. With the development of synthetic biology, single-bacterium directly synthesizes butanol using lignocellulose by introducing a butanol synthesis pathway in the cellulolytic Clostridium. However, there are still some problems such as heavy metabolic load of single bacterium and low butanol yield. Co-culture can relieve the metabolic burden of single bacterium through the division of labor in different strains and can further improve the efficiency of butanol synthesis. This review analyzes the recent research progress in the synthesis of biobutanol using lignocellulose by consolidated bioprocessing from both the single-bacterium strategy and co-culture strategy, to provide a reference for the research of butanol and other biofuels.
1-Butanol ; Biofuels ; Butanols ; Fermentation ; Lignin/metabolism*

Lignocellulose can be hydrolyzed by cellulase into fermentable sugars to produce hydrogen, ethanol, butanol and other biofuels with added value. Pretreatment is a critical step in biomass conversion, but also generates inhibitors with negative impacts on subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. Hence, pretreatment and detoxification methods are the basis of efficient biomass conversion. Commonly used pretreatment methods of lignocellulose are chemical and physic-chemical processes. Here, we introduce different inhibitors and their inhibitory mechanisms, and summarize various detoxification methods. Moreover, we propose research directions for detoxification of inhibitors generated during lignocellulose pretreatment.
Biofuels ; Biomass ; Fermentation ; Hydrolysis ; Lignin/metabolism*

The efficient production of lignocellulolytic enzyme systems is an important support for large-scale biorefinery of plant biomass. On-site production of lignocellulolytic enzymes could increase the economic benefits of the process by lowering the cost of enzyme usage. Penicillium species are commonly found lignocellulose-degrading fungi in nature, and have been used for industrial production of cellulase preparations due to their abilities to secrete complete and well-balanced lignocellulolytic enzyme systems. Here, we introduce the reported Penicillium species for cellulase production, summarize the characteristics of their enzymes, and describe the strategies of strain engineering for improving the production and performance of lignocellulolytic enzymes. We also review the progress in fermentation process optimization regarding the on-site production of lignocellulolytic enzymes using Penicillium species, and suggest prospect of future work from the perspective of building a "sugar platform" for the biorefinery of lignocellulosic biomass.
Biomass ; Cellulase/metabolism* ; Fermentation ; Fungi/metabolism* ; Lignin/metabolism* ; Penicillium

Some degradation products from lignocellulose pretreatment strongly inhibit the activities of cellulolytic enzymes and ethanol fermentation strains, thus the efficient removal of the inhibitor substances ("detoxification") is the inevitable step for the biotransformation processes. In this study, the biological detoxification of furfural by a newly isolated fungus, Amorphotheca resinae ZN1, was studied and the metabolic pathways of furfural degradation was analyzed. The metabolic pathway of furfural degradation in A. resinae ZN1 was described as follows: first, furfural was quickly converted into the low toxic furfuryl alcohol; then the furfuryl alcohol was gradually converted into furfural again but under the low concentration under aerobic condition, which was not lethal to the growth of the fungi; furfural continued to be oxidized to furoic acid by A. resinae ZN1. It is likely that furoic acid was further degraded in the TCA cycle to complete the biological degradation of furfural. The present study provided the important experimental basis for speeding up the biodetoxification of furfural by A. resinae ZN1 and the rate-limiting step in the lignocellulose biotransformation to ethanol.
Biodegradation, Environmental ; Biotransformation ; Ethanol ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Fungi ; metabolism ; Furaldehyde ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Furans ; metabolism ; Lignin ; metabolism

Kenaf stalk was pretreated by the white-rot fungus Pleurotus sajor-caju incubated in solid-state kenaf stalk cultivation medium. Delignification and subsequent enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of kenaf stalk were investigated in order to evaluate effects of microbial pretreatment on bioconversion of kenaf lignocellulose to fuel ethanol production. The highest delignification rate of 50.20% was obtained after 25-35 days cultivation by P. sajor-caju, which could improve subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of kenaf cellulose. And the saccharification rate of pretreated kenaf stalk reached 69.33 to 78.64%, 4.5-5.1 times higher than the control. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with microbial-pretreatment kenaf stalk as substrate was performed. The highest overall ethanol yield of 68.31% with 18.35 to 18.90 mg/mL was achieved after 72 h of SSF.
Biofuels ; Ethanol ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Hibiscus ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Lignin ; metabolism ; Plant Stems ; metabolism ; Pleurotus ; metabolism

Hydrogen production from lignocellulosic biomass is both sustainable and environmentally friendly, which is garnering more and more attention across the world, with an expectation to challenge the shortage of fossil fuels supply and climate change as well. In this article, the update research progress and technology development of biohydrogen production are reviewed, with a focus on biomass pretreatment, hydrogen-producing microorganisms and process engineering strategies. And in the meantime, a roadmap for more efficient and economic biohydrogen production is envisioned.
Bacteria ; metabolism ; Bioelectric Energy Sources ; microbiology ; trends ; Biomass ; Biotransformation ; Fermentation ; Hydrogen ; metabolism ; Lignin ; metabolism

The phenomenon that waste of fungus-growing materials in the planting process of Gastrodia elata is very common. It has been proved by practice that the used fungus-growing materials planted with G. elata can be used to plant Phallus impudicus. But the mechanism is unclear. In this study, we compared the different infested-capacity of Armillaria gallica and Phallus impudicus by morphological anatomy of the used fungus-growing materials. We also compared the differences on the two fungi consumed the main contents of fungus-growing materials, cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose, by using nitric acid-95% ethanol method, sulfuric acid method and tetrabromide method respectively, so that to explore the mechanism of A. gallica and P. impudicus recycle the fungus-growing materials, and to provide scientific basis for recycling the used fungus-growing materials of G. elata. The results showed that A. gallica had a strong ability to invade some parts outside the vascular cambium, but it had a weak ability to invade some parts inside the vascular cambium, while P. impudicus had a strong ability to invade the same parts. The contents of lignin and cellulose, which from inside and outside the vascular cambium of fungus-growing materials were significantly different. In the parts of outside the vascular cambium of fungus-growing materials, A. gallica degraded more lignin and cellulose, while P. impudicus degraded more hemicellulose. In the parts of inside the vascular cambium of fungus-growing materials, A. gallica degraded more cellulose, while P. impudicus degraded more hemicellulose. The present results suggested that A. gallica and P. impudicus made differential utilization of the carbon source in the fungus-growing materials to realize that P. impudicus recycle the used fungus-growing materials of G. elata. A. gallica used lignin and cellulose as the main carbon source, while P. impudicus used hemicellulose as the main carbon source.
Agaricales/growth & development* ; Armillaria/growth & development* ; Cellulose/metabolism* ; Lignin/metabolism* ; Polysaccharides/metabolism*

To efficiently use both cellulose and hemicellulose for lipid production, rice straw was hydrolyzed by a two-step process including dilute acid pretreatment and then enzymatic hydrolysis, and the hydrolysate was used as carbon source for lipid fermentation by Trichosporon fermentans HWZ004. After a simple overliming, the concentrations of acetic acid, furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural were 0.4 g/L, 0.1 g/L and 0.05 g/L, respectively. The hydrolysate could be used for lipid fermentation with T. fermentans HWZ004 without adding other nutrients except for a small amount of nitrogen source and trace CuSO4.5H2O. The optimum inoculum size, initial pH and temperature were 5.0%, 7.0 and 25 degrees C, respectively. A total biomass of 26.4 g/L with a lipid content of 52.2% (corresponding to a lipid yield of 13.8 g/L) was achieved after cultivation of T. fermentans HWZ004 under the above-mentioned conditions for 7 days. The lipid coefficient (lipid yield on substrate consumed) is 17.0, which is much higher than the corresponding one (11.9) obtained on detoxified rice straw hemicullulose hydrolysate by original yeast T. fermentans CICC 1368. The fatty acid composition of the lipid was found to be similar to that of vegetable oil and its unsaturated fatty acid content was over 70%, thus the lipid is a promising material for biodiesel production.
Fermentation ; Lignin ; metabolism ; Oils ; metabolism ; Oryza ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Trichosporon ; metabolism