University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne researchers improve ethanol production via yeast fermentation

In Illinois, scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne have found a way to boost ethanol production via yeast fermentation, a standard method for converting plant sugars into biofuels. Their approach, detailed in the journal Nature Communications, relies on careful timing and a tight division of labor among synthetic yeast strains to yield more ethanol per unit of plant sugars than previous approaches have achieved. 

The researchers conducted a series of experiments testing the use of their two specialist yeast strains. They altered the order in which the different strains were added to the sugar mixture and the timing of each addition. 

The researchers discovered that adding the xylose-fermenting yeast specialist to the mixture first, followed 14 to 29 hours later by the glucose specialist, dramatically boosted ethanol production, more than doubling the yield.