Butanol-isopropanol fermentation with oxygen-tolerant Clostridium beijerinckii XH29

Acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation is a traditional way for solvents production through bioconversion by Clostridium species. It is still a challenge to obtain metabolic engineering strains with high ABE yield. Screening strains with remarkable characteristics from nature and improving ABE yield by mutation are viable approaches. Clostridium beijerinckii XH 0906, a newly isolated strain, produces butanol and isopropanol (BI) as the main end-products (9.1 g/L BI) during fermentation with glucose as the sole carbon source. The screening process for this strain was performed under aerobic conditions rather than anaerobic environment. Thus, it is a robust stain capable of oxygen-tolerant BI fermentation. Furthermore, C. beijerinckii XH 0906 fermented xylose and glucose simultaneously to produce BI. A mutant strain obtained by ultraviolet (UV) mutagenesis, C. beijerinckii XH 29, had improved BI production capacity and could produce 17.0 g/L BI and 18.4 g/L BI using glucose or corn stover hydrolysate, respectively as the carbon source. Interestingly, C. beijerinckii XH 29 also produced up to 19.3 g/L isopropanol through fermentation of a glucose-acetone mix. These results indicate that C. beijerinckii XH 29 is an excellent BI producer with great potential for industrial applications.

Automated summary

This study reports a newly isolated strain of Clostridium beijerinckii XH 0906 capable of oxygen-tolerant butanol and isopropanol fermentation under aerobic conditions. A mutant strain, C. beijerinckii XH 29, obtained by UV mutagenesis, showed improved BI production capacity and could produce high levels of isopropanol through fermentation of a glucose-acetone mix.