Ethanol production via fungal decomposition and fermentation of biomass. Phase II. Semiannual progress report, October 1980-March 1981. [To ethanol]

Technical Report · Sun Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6051990

Antonopoulos, A A; Wene, E G

A literature review reveals that Fusarium strains decompose cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin, as well as ferment five- and six-carbon sugars to ethanol. During the first part of Phase II (first half of FY 1981) in this program, research efforts focused mainly on continuing the: (a) isolating, culturing, and maintaining of Fusarium strains for biochemical evaluation; (b) screening for potentially cellulolytic F. strains; (c) searching for lignolytic and hemicellulolytic F. strains; (d) screening for effective pentose- and hexose-fermenting F. strains; and (e) evaluating various methods and materials for the optimization of certain fermentation parameters. Approximately 200 additional Fusarium isolates were isolated and screened; all showed cellulolytic activity, with 50 showing increased activity. Several isolates that formed fusoid to spheroid spores and cells on xylan media were observed to retain their morphology in cellulose suspensions. All tested isolates were found to ferment glucose to ethanol; some yielded amounts of ethanol approaching those produced by yeast. In screening more than 600 isolates for xylose fermentation, 25 were identified as effective fermenters. Reutilization of inoculum during consecutive fermentations was employed to facilitate higher ethanol yields from xylose. A few Fusarium isolates indicated relatively high ethanol tolerability.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6051990
• Report Number(s): ANL/EES-TM-148; ON: DE82000104
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
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ALCOHOLS
ALDEHYDES
BIOCONVERSION
BIOMASS
BIOSYNTHESIS
CARBOHYDRATES
CELLULOSE
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
ETHANOL
FERMENTATION
FUNGI
FUSARIUM
HEMICELLULOSE
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
LIGNIN
METABOLISM
MONOSACCHARIDES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PARASITES
PENTOSES
PLANTS
POLYSACCHARIDES
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SACCHARIDES
SYNTHESIS
TOLERANCE
XYLOSE