• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2022

A novel brown rot fungus Phaeolus schweinitzii IUM 5048 was firstly used for ethanol production. It was found that this fungus produced ethanol with various sugars, such as glucose, mannose, galactose and cellobiose at 0.28, 0.22, 0.06, and 0.22 g of ethanol per g of sugar consumed, respectively. This fungus showed relatively good ethanol production from xylose at 0.23 g of ethanol per g of sugar consumed. However, the ethanol conversion rate of arabinose was relatively low (at 0.08 g of ethanol per g sugar). P. schweinitzii was capable of producing ethanol directly from rice straw and corn stalks at 0.11 g and 0.13 g of ethanol per g of substrates, respectively, when the fungus was cultured in a basal medium supplemented with 20 g/L rice straw or corn stalks. These results suggest that P. schweinitzii can hydrolyze cellulose or hemicellulose to fermentable sugars and convert them to ethanol simultaneously under oxygen limited condition.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.78-86
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• 1989

The effective saccharification of cellulosic biomass to glucose is the most critical step for the conversion of renwable biomass to alternative liquid fuel. The enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass can be significantly enhanced provide the attrition milling media is added during hydrolysis. The enhancing mechanism of hydrolysis reaction in an agitated bead system was investigated. An attrition-reactor (bioattritor) which installed specially designed torque measuring apparatus was developed, and the potimal saccharification conditions of bioattritor were determined. The relationship between the power consumption required for agitation of attrition-milling media and enhanced extent of hydrolysis of biomass was compared to evaluatic economic feasibility of the process.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.303-307
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• 2013

This study compares the efficacy of soaking and percolation pretreatments with alkaline solutions for lignocellulosic biomass. Various biomass such as rice straw and barley were pretreated by soaking processes in various alkaline solutions including sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, aqueous ammonia and sodium carbonate. The enzymatic digestibility of rice straw and barley that had been pretreated by soaking in aqueous ammonia was over 80%. Eucalyptus residue, Larix leptolepis and Pinus rigida exhibited relatively low enzymatic digestibility. Nevertheless, the enzymatic digestibility of pretreated eucalyptus residue was increased by five times compared to that of the initial biomass. And, the enzymatic digestibility of the percolation pretreated eucalyptus residue was increased 12 times.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.565-573
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• 2019

Production of biofuels and value-added materials from cellulosic biomass requires the development of a microbial strain capable of efficiently fermenting mixed sugars. In this study, the natural xylose fermenting yeast, Pichia stipitis, was evolved to simultaneously ferment cellobiose and xylose. Serial subcultures of wild-type P. stipitis in 20 g/l cellobiose were performed to increase the rate of cellobiose consumption. A total of ten rounds of the serial subculture led to the isolation of an evolved strain fermenting cellobiose significantly faster than the parental strain. The evolved strain displayed enhanced ethanol yield from 0 to 0.4 g ethanol/g cellobiose. The evolved P. stipitis simultaneously fermented cellobiose and xylose in batch fermentation. The genetic information of our evolved P. stipitis would be valuable in the development of a microbial host for the production of biofuels and biomaterials from cellulosic biomass.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1280-1290
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• 2014

In order to obtain the cellulolytic bacterial consortia, sediments from Great Basin hot springs (Nevada, USA) were sampled and enriched with cellulosic biomass as the sole carbon source. The bacterial composition of the resulting anaerobic ethanol-producing celluloytic bacterial consortium, named SV79, was analyzed. With methods of the full-length 16S rRNA library-based analysis and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, 21 bacteria belonging to eight genera were detected from this consortium. Clones with closest relation to the genera Acetivibrio, Clostridium, Cellulosilyticum, Ruminococcus, and Sporomusa were predominant. The cellulase activities and ethanol productions of consortium SV79 using different agricultural residues (sugarcane bagasse and spent mushroom substrate) and energy crops (Spartina anglica, Miscanthus floridulus, and Pennisetum sinese Roxb) were studied. During cultivation, consortium SV79 produced the maximum filter paper activity (FPase, 9.41 U/ml), carboxymethylcellulase activity (CMCase, 6.35 U/ml), and xylanase activity (4.28 U/ml) with sugarcane bagasse, spent mushroom substrate, and S. anglica, respectively. The ethanol production using M. floridulus as substrate was up to 2.63 mM ethanol/g using gas chromatography analysis. It has high potential to be a new candidate for producing ethanol with cellulosic biomass under anoxic conditions in natural environments.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1559-1565
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• 2014

Cellulase and xylanase are main hydrolysis enzymes for the degradation of cellulosic and hemicellulosic biomass, respectively. In this study, our aim was to develop and test the efficacy of a rapid, high-throughput method to screen hydrolytic-enzyme-producing microbes. To accomplish this, we modified the 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method for microwell plate-based screening. Targeted microbial samples were initially cultured on agar plates with both cellulose and xylan as substrates. Then, isolated colonies were subcultured in broth media containing yeast extract and either cellulose or xylan. The supernatants of the culture broth were tested with our modified DNS screening method in a 96-microwell plate, with a $200{\mu}l$ total reaction volume. In addition, the stability and reliability of glucose and xylose standards, which were used to determine the enzymatic activity, were studied at $100^{\circ}C$ for different time intervals in a dry oven. It was concluded that the minimum incubation time required for stable color development of the standard solution is 20 min. With this technique, we successfully screened 21 and 31 cellulase- and xylanase-producing strains, respectively, in a single experimental trial. Among the identified strains, 19 showed both cellulose and xylan hydrolyzing activities. These microbes can be applied to bioethanol production from cellulosic and hemicellulosic biomass.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.412-418
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• 2023

The surge in the oil prices, increasing global population, climate change, and waste management problems are the major issues which have led to the development of biofuels from lignocellulosic wastes. Cellulosic or second generation (2G) bioethanol is produced from lignocellulosic biomass via pretreatment, hydrolysis, and fermentation. Pretreatment of lignocellulose is of considerable interest due to its influence on the technical, economic and environmental sustainability of cellulosic ethanol production. In this study, furniture waste sawdust was subjected to alkaline peroxide (H₂O₂) for the production of reducing sugars. Sawdust was pretreated at different concentrations from 1-3% H₂O₂ (v/v) loadings at a pH of 11.5 for a residence time of 15-240 min at 50, 75 and 90 ℃. Optimum pretreatment conditions, such as time of reaction, operating temperature, and concentration of H₂O₂, were varied and evaluated on the basis of the amount of total reducing sugars produced. It was found that the changes in the amount of lignin directly affected the yield of reducing sugars. A maximum of 50% reduction in the lignin composition was obtained, which yielded a maximum of 75.3% total reducing sugars yield and 3.76 g/L of glucose. At optimum pretreatment conditions of 2% H₂O₂ loading at 75 ℃ for 150 min, 3.46 g/L glucose concentration with a 69.26% total reducing sugars yield was obtained after 48 hr. of the hydrolysis process. Pretreatment resulted in lowering of crystallinity and distortion of the sawdust after the pretreatment, which was further confirmed by XRD and SEM results.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

Lactic acid, the most widely occurring hydroxy-carboxylic acid, has traditionally been used as food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. Even though it has tremendous potential for large scale production and use in a wide variety of applications, high cost lactic acid materials are primarily problems. Lactic acid can be obtained on either by fermentation or chemical synthesis. In recent years, the fermentation approach has become more successful because of the increasing market demand for naturally produced lactic acid. Generally, lactic acid was produced from pure starch or from glucose. As an alternative, biomass which is the most abundant renewable resources on earth have been considered for conversion to readily utilizable hydrolysate. In this study, we conducted the fermentation method to produce L(+)-lactic acid production from pretreated hydrolysate was investigated by Lactobacillus rhamnosus ATCC 10863. The hydrolysate was obtained from pretreatment process of biomass using Ammonia percolation process (AP) followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. In order to effectively enhance lactic acid conversion and product yield, controlled medium, temperature, glucose concentration was conducted under pure glucose conditions. The optimum conditions of lactic acid production was investigated and compared with those of hydrolysate.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.135-144
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• 2016

Due to the high price volatility and environmental concern of petroleum, biofuels such as bioethanol produced from lignocellulosic biomass have attracted much attention. It is also expected that the amount of lignin residue generated from pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass will increase as the volume of cellulosic bioethanol increases. Lignin is a natural aromatic polymer and has very complex chemical structures with chemical functional groups. Chemical modification of lignin such as oxypropylation and epoxidation has also been applied to the production of value-added bioplastics such as polyurethane and polyester with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties. In addition, lignin can be used for carbon fiber production in automobile industries. This review highlights recent progresses in utilizations and chemical modifications of lignin for the production of bioplastics, resins, and carbon fiber.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.172-182
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• 2014

Extraction is a necessary element in the bioconversion of lignocellulosics to fuels and chemicals. Although various forms of chemical pretreatment of cellulosic materials have been proposed, their effectiveness varies depending on the treatment conditions and substrate. In this study, mixed hardwood (MH) and loblolly pine (LP) were pretreated with dilute acid in a 100 mL accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) at the predetermined optimal conditions: temperature: $170^{\circ}C$, acid concentration: 0.5% (w/v), and reaction time: 2~64 min. This method was highly effective for extracting the hemicellulose fraction. Total xmg (defined as the sum of xylose, mannose, and galactose) can be extracted from milled MH and LP through pressurized dilute acid treatment in maximum yields of 12.6 g/L and 15.3 g/L, respectively, representing 60.5% and 70.4% of the maximum possible yields, respectively. The crystallinity index increased upon pretreatment, reflecting the removal of the amorphous portion of biomass. The crystalline structure of the cellulose in the biomass, however, was not changed by the ASE extraction process.