ARS | Publication request: Engineer Sccharomyces cerevisiae for consolidated bioprocessing

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 22, 2009
Publication Date: July 16, 2009
Citation: Wong, D., Batt Throne, S.B., Wan, D., Lee, C.C., Wagschal, K.C. 2009. Engineer Sccharomyces cerevisiae for consolidated bioprocessing. Meeting Abstract.

Technical Abstract: The current commercial biofuel production is based on a two-stage process of enzymatic treatment to degrade starch to fermentable sugar, followed by yeast fermentation of the sugar to ethanol. An attractive alternative would be to engineer Saccharomyces cerevisiae for cell-based saccharification and fermentation. An approach was designed to saturate potential integration sites in the yeast genome with gene cassettes of biomass-degrading enzymes. Yeast cointegrated with mixed gene constructs of alpha-amylase and glucoamylase resulted in the expression and secretion of these enzymes in active forms. The recombinant yeast acquired the capacity of starch hydrolysis with over 75% conversion. Yeast engineered with cellulase, xylanase, and ferulic acid esterase genes individually and their combinations also produced active enzymes capable of breaking down respective substrates.