Engineering and Technology

Strain dynamics of contaminating bacteria modulate the yield of ethanol biorefineries

F. S. D. O. Lino, S. Garg, et al.

Discover how researchers, including Felipe Senne de Oliveira Lino and Shilpa Garg from The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, are tackling the challenges of industrial bioethanol production! By exploring microbial dynamics and their impact on efficiency, this study sheds light on improving yields in a US $60 billion industry.

00:00

Playback language: English

Index

Abstract

Industrial bioethanol production, crucial for sustainable energy, suffers from suboptimal efficiency due to bacterial contamination. This study investigates the microbiome across all process steps in two Brazilian biorefineries over three timepoints. Using shotgun metagenomics and cultivation, researchers identified beneficial and detrimental bacteria, linking improved outcomes to higher yeast-to-bacteria ratios. A microbial gene catalogue revealed bacteria-specific pathways affecting performance, with *Limosilactobacillus fermentum* overgrowth significantly lowering yields. Temperature emerged as a key driver of strain-level dynamics. Improved microbial management could significantly enhance this US $60 billion industry.

Publisher

Nature Communications

Published On

Jun 22, 2024

Authors

Felipe Senne de Oliveira Lino, Shilpa Garg, Simone S. Li, Maria-Anna Misiakou, Kang Kang, Bruno Labate Vale da Costa, Tobias Svend-Aage Beyer-Pedersen, Thamiris Guerra Giacon, Thiago Olitta Basso, Gianni Panagiotou, Morten Otto Alexander Sommer

Related Publications

Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.

Earth Sciences

The role of ocean and atmospheric dynamics in the marine-based collapse of the last Eurasian Ice Sheet

H. P. Sejrup, B. O. Hjelstuen, et al.

Humanities

Analysing inter-state communication dynamics and roles in the networks of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation

R. Rodríguez-casañ, E. Carbó-catalan, et al.

Agriculture

The optimization of model ensemble composition and size can enhance the robustness of crop yield projections

L. Li, B. Wang, et al.

Chemistry

A Computational Biology Study on the Structure and Dynamics Determinants of Thermal Stability of the Chitosanase from Aspergillus fumigatus

Q. Wang, S. Liu, et al.

Listen, Learn & Level Up

Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.

No more digging through PDFs, just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.

listen to research audio papers with researchbunny