title: Genetic structure of a novel biofuel-producing microorganism community.
abstract: Biofuels are an important alternative, renewable source of energy in the face of the ongoing depletion of fossil fuels. Cheese whey is a dairy industry waste characterized by high lactose concentration, which represents a significant environmental problem. Bio-ethanol production by cheese whey could be an effective nonvegetable source for renewable energy production. Here, we report the isolation of a mixed microbial population, able to produce ethanol as main fermentation product from fermenting whey. The microbial consortium has been used to perform a batch fermentation of crude whey in both anoxic and hypoxic conditions. Maximum ethanol concentrations achieved in this study was obtained using the mixed culture in hypoxic conditions, grown at pH 4 and 30 °C, with ethanol production yield of 60 g/L. Our research has pointed out an alternative way to both dispose and valorize cheese whey, a dairy by-product that could cause water pollution and harm to the environment if not properly treated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Naples II, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy. bruna.defelice@unina2.it
authors.forename: Bruna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Felice
authors.forename: Vito Onofrio
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Blasi
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: de Castro
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cennamo
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trifuoggi
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Condorelli
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: di Onofrio
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guida
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D056804:Biofuels; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D007785:Lactose / Q000378:metabolism; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D008894:Milk Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D000067816:Whey Proteins; D015003:Yeasts / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D008894:Milk Proteins; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012331:RNA, Fungal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D000067816:Whey Proteins; D000431:Ethanol; D007785:Lactose