Background The utilization of both C6 and C5 sugars is required for economical lignocellulosic bio-based processes. A co-culture system containing multiple strains of the same or different organisms holds promise for conversion of the sugar mixture available in different lignocellulosic feedstock into ethanol.
Results Herein a co-culture kinetic model has been developed which can describe the co-cultivation of S. stipitis and S. cerevisiae for ethanol fermentation in mixed C6/C5 sugars. The predicted fermentation kinetics and ethanol production performance agreed well with experimental results, thus validating the model. The co-culture kinetic model has been implemented to design the optimal cell ratio for efficient conversion of rice straw or sugarcane bagasse feedstock into ethanol. The results reveal that the optimal co-culture system could enhance ethanol titer by up to 26 %, and ethanol productivity by up to 29 % compared to a single-strain culture. The maximum ethanol titer and productivity reached by the optimized co-culture was 46 and 0.49 g/l h, respectively.
Conclusion The co-culture model described here is a useful tool for rapid optimization of S. stipitis/S. cerevisiae co-culture for efficient and sustainable lignocellulosic ethanol production to meet the economic requirements of the lignocellulosic ethanol industry. The developed modeling tool also provides a systematic strategy for designing the optimal cell ratio of co-culture, leading to efficient fermentation of the C6/C5 sugars available in any biomass feedstock.
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