title: Using the second law of thermodynamics for enrichment and isolation of microorganisms to produce fuel alcohols or hydrocarbons.
abstract: Fermentation of crops, waste biomass, or gases has been proposed as a means to produce desired chemicals and renewable fuels. The second law of thermodynamics has been shown to determine the net direction of metabolite flow in fermentation processes. In this article, we describe a process to isolate and direct the evolution of microorganisms that convert cellulosic biomass or gaseous CO2 and H2 to biofuels such as ethanol, 1-butanol, butane, or hexane (among others). Mathematical models of fermentation elucidated sets of conditions that thermodynamically favor synthesis of desired products. When these conditions were applied to mixed cultures from the rumen of a cow, bacteria that produced alcohols or alkanes were isolated. The examples demonstrate the first use of thermodynamic analysis to isolate bacteria and control fermentation processes for biofuel production among other uses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA. Electronic address: rkohn@umd.edu.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Seon-Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000438:Alcohols / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D056804:Biofuels / Q000382:microbiology*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D011312:Pressure; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols; D056804:Biofuels; D005740:Gases; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D006859:Hydrogen; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Advanced biofuels; Bacterial species competition and selection pressure; Fermentation; Mathematical modeling of microbial ecosystems; Rumen microbiome