Brazilian researchers increase 2G ethanol efficiency via metabolic engineering

In Brazil, a Brazilian study paves the way to increased efficiency of second-generation (2G) ethanol production based on the discovery of novel targets for metabolic engineering in a more robust strain of industrial yeast. An article on the study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The databases compiled by the authors are at the disposal of the scientific community in the repository of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), which is a member of the Dataverse Project, an international collaborative initiative supported by FAPESP.

The main challenge in 2G ethanol production is conversion efficiency since cellulose and hemicellulose are hard to hydrolyze. The first step has to be the removal of tough, stringy lignin, which is basically fiber, to make the simple sugars located in the cellulose and hemicellulose available to the yeast. This is costly, consumes a great deal of energy, and releases substances that can inhibit the fermentation process.