The acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation.

Renewed interest in the acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation as a route for industrial production of butanol has been evident since the oil crisis of the 1970s. The present review includes an historical recap of the traditional industrial process and culturing practices useful in maintaining viable solvent-producing cultures, and then summarizes new and exciting research on the physiology and genetics of the microorganisms as well as process design. Most of these reports relate to improvements in solvent yield and the overall process, since traditional production is not efficient under present economic conditions. Conclusions are then made on future developments necessary for the establishment of an economically viable industrial process.

[1]  W. Perkins.  Production of Clostridial Spores , 1965 .

[2]  Frédéric Monot,et al.  Acetone and Butanol Production by Clostridium acetobutylicum in a Synthetic Medium , 1982, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[3]  C. L. Gabriel,et al.  Development of the Butyl-Acetonic Fermentation Industry , 1930 .

[4]  Rathin Datta,et al.  Modulation of Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol Fermentation by Carbon Monoxide and Organic Acids , 1985, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[5]  W. H. Peterson,et al.  Growth factor requirements of Clostridia. , 1943 .

[6]  C. Forsberg,et al.  Cellulolytic Activity of Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1985, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[7]  R. Hutkins,et al.  Phosphotransferase Activity in Clostridium acetobutylicum from Acidogenic and Solventogenic Phases of Growth , 1986, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[8]  J. Linden,et al.  Agitation and pressure effects on acetone‐butanol fermentation , 1985, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[9]  T. Tosa,et al.  Transformations of organic compounds by immobilized microbial cells. , 1977, Advances in applied microbiology.

[10]  E. M. Wood,et al.  Extractive fermentation for the production of butanol , 1984 .

[11]  W. G. Murrell.  The Biochemistry of the Bacterial Endospore , 1967 .

[12]  Terry G. Lenz,et al.  Economic Evaluation of the Acetone-Butanol Fermentation , 1980 .

[13]  David T. Jones,et al.  Transformation of Clostridium acetobutylicum Protoplasts with Bacteriophage DNA , 1983, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[14]  H. Petitdemange,et al.  Induction of acetoacetate decarboxylase in Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1985 .

[15]  J. G. Morris,et al.  The induction of acetone and butanol production in cultures of Clostridium acetobutylicum by elevated concentrations of acetate and butyrate , 1981 .

[16]  E. B. Fred,et al.  Butyl-Acetone Fermentation of Corn Meal Interrelations of Substrate and Products , 1932 .

[17]  J. Millet,et al.  Cloning of ten distinct DNA fragments of Clostridium thermocellum coding for cellulases , 1985 .

[18]  B. Mattiasson,et al.  Solvent Production by Clostridium Acetobutylicum in Aqueous Two-Phase Systems , 1982 .

[19]  F. Robb,et al.  Bacteriocin production by Clostridium acetobutylicum in an industrial fermentation process , 1979, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[20]  D. Woods,et al.  Carboxymethyl cellulase and cellobiase production by Clostridium acetobutylicum in an industrial fermentation medium , 1981, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[21]  T. Brocklehurst,et al.  Characterization of Strains of Clostridium puniceum sp.no v., a Pink-pigmented, Pectolytic Bacterium , 1981 .

[22]  V. Sharma,et al.  A sporulation medium for strict anaerobes , 1985 .

[23]  C. Weizmann,et al.  The specific nutritive requirements of Clostridium acetobutylicum (Weizmann). II. , 1939, The Biochemical journal.

[24]  W. Brill,et al.  Genetics and regulation of nitrogen fixation. , 1981, Annual review of microbiology.

[25]  M. Sebald,et al.  Conjugal transfer of plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance from streptococci to Clostridium acetobutylicum. , 1985, Annales de l'Institut Pasteur. Microbiologie.

[26]  J. Gillespie,et al.  THE BACTERIOLOGY, GROWTH FACTOR REQUIREMENTS AND FERMENTATION REACTIONS OF CLOSTRIDIUM ACETOBUTYLICUM (WEIZMANN) , 1941 .

[27]  E. B. Fred,et al.  A Cultural Study of the Acetone Butyl Alcohol OrganismOne Plate , 1926 .

[28]  R. Rowlands,et al.  Industrial strain improvement: Mutagenesis and random screening procedures , 1984 .

[29]  G. C. Robinson.  A STUDY OF THE ACETONE AND BUTYL ALCOHOL FERMENTATION OF VARIOUS CARBOHYDRATES , 1922 .

[30]  David T. Jones,et al.  Purification and Characterization of an Autolysin from Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1981, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[31]  David T. Jones,et al.  Sporulation of Clostridium acetobutylicum P262 in a Defined Medium , 1983, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[32]  S. Beesch.  Acetone-butanol fermentation of starches. , 1953, Applied microbiology.

[33]  D. Hopwood.  Genetic studies with bacterial protoplasts. , 1981, Annual review of microbiology.

[34]  L. K. Bowles,et al.  Effects of butanol on Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1985, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[35]  J. Morris,et al.  Mutagenesis of Clostridium acetobutylicum. , 1985, The Journal of applied bacteriology.

[36]  D. F. Gibbs,et al.  The rise and fall (… and rise?) of acetone/butanol fermentations , 1983 .

[37]  M. Nagashima,et al.  Continuous ethanol fermentation using immobilized yeast cells , 1984, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[38]  F. B. Kolot.  Immobilized cells for solvent production , 1984 .

[39]  Hans P. Blaschek,et al.  Butanol Production by a Butanol-Tolerant Strain of Clostridium acetobutylicum in Extruded Corn Broth , 1983, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[40]  M. Sebald,et al.  Minimal growth requirements for Clostridium perfringens and isolation of auxotrophic mutants. , 1975, Applied microbiology.

[41]  L. Ingram.  Adaptation of membrane lipids to alcohols , 1976, Journal of bacteriology.

[42]  R. E. Hungate,et al.  The Roll-Tube Method for Cultivation of Strict Anaerobes , 1972 .

[43]  W. H. Peterson,et al.  Growth factor and other nutritional requirements of the acetone butanol organism, Cl. acetobutylicum. , 1940, The Biochemical journal.

[44]  J. Rabinowitz,et al.  Cloning and nucleotide sequence determination of the Clostridium pasteurianum ferredoxin gene. , 1985, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[45]  D. Hartl,et al.  Selection in chemostats. , 1983, Microbiological reviews.

[46]  David T. Jones,et al.  Autolytic Activity and an Autolysis-Deficient Mutant of Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1981, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[47]  J. G. Morris,et al.  Isolation and Partial Characterization of Three Cryptic Plasmids from Strains of Clostridium butyricum , 1981 .

[48]  E. Papoutsakis,et al.  The effect of pH on nitrogen supply, cell lysis, and solvent production in fermentations of Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1985, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[49]  J. L. Martin,et al.  Chapter 6 – Production of Butanol-Acetone by Fermentation , 1979 .

[50]  B. Dale,et al.  Utilization of the fermentor off-gases from an acetone-butanol fermentation , 1982 .

[51]  J. Engasser,et al.  Regulation of acetone butanol production in batch and continuous cultures of Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1983 .

[52]  G. Walker.  Mutagenesis and inducible responses to deoxyribonucleic acid damage in Escherichia coli. , 1984, Microbiological reviews.

[53]  M. Hongo,et al.  Bacteriophages of the genus Clostridium. , 1979, Advances in applied microbiology.

[54]  Masahito Taya,et al.  Monitoring and control for extractive fermentation of Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1985 .

[55]  W. Wood,et al.  CHAPTER 2 – Fermentation of Carbohydrates and Related Compounds , 1961 .

[56]  R. Hardy,et al.  Production of Feedstock Chemicals , 1983, Science.

[57]  J. Gillespie,et al.  Para-Amino Benzoic Acid as a Bacterial Growth Factor , 1940, Nature.

[58]  C L Cooney,et al.  Bioreactors: Design and Operation , 1983, Science.

[59]  M. Roberts,et al.  Ethanol-induced changes in the membrane lipid composition of Clostridium thermocellum. , 1982, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[60]  M. Saier,et al.  Carbohydrate transport in bacteria. , 1980, Microbiological reviews.

[61]  S. Beesch.  Acetone-Butanol Fermentation of Sugars , 1952 .

[62]  David T. Jones,et al.  Clostridium acetobutylicum Protoplast Formation and Regeneration , 1982, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[63]  Molecular Cloning of β-Isopropylmalate Dehydrogenase Gene from Clostridium butyricum M588 , 1983 .

[64]  L. Ingram,et al.  Alcohol-induced changes in the phospholipid molecular species of Escherichia coli , 1980, Journal of bacteriology.

[65]  B. Montenecourt,et al.  Effect of butanol on lipid composition and fluidity of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 , 1984, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[66]  W. J. Groot,et al.  Economic feasibility of the production of iso-propanol-butanol-ethanol fuels from whey permeate , 1985 .

[67]  Studies on the stability of solvent production by Clostridium acetobutylicum in continuous culture , 1985 .

[68]  H. Speakman.  MOLECULAR CONFIGURATION IN THE SUGARS AND ACID PRODUCTION BY BACILLUS GRANULOBACTER PECTINOVORUM , 1923 .

[69]  A. Compere,et al.  Evaluation of substrates for butanol production , 1979 .

[70]  I. Karube,et al.  Cloning and expression of the hydrogenase gene from Clostridium butyricum in Escherichia coli , 1983, FEBS letters.

[71]  H. Goldfine,et al.  Lipid composition in the classification of the butyric acid-producing clostridia. , 1983, Journal of general microbiology.

[72]  W. J. Groot,et al.  Continuos IBE fermentation by immobilized growing Clostridium beijerinckii cells in a stirred‐tank fermentor , 1983, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[73]  Byung Hong Kim,et al.  Control of Carbon and Electron Flow in Clostridium acetobutylicum Fermentations: Utilization of Carbon Monoxide to Inhibit Hydrogen Production and to Enhance Butanol Yields , 1984, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[74]  R. Davies,et al.  Studies on the acetone-butyl alcohol fermentation: Nutritional and other factors involved in the preparation of active suspensions of Cl. acetobutylicum (Weizmann). , 1941, The Biochemical journal.

[75]  D. M. Gates,et al.  Use of the Hungate anaerobic technique in the isolation of phloroglucinol-negative mutants of Coprococcus species , 1976, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[76]  C. Weizmann,et al.  The activation of the butanol-acetone fermentation of carbohydrates by Clostridium acetobutylicum (Weizmann). , 1937, The Biochemical journal.

[77]  M. Young,et al.  Identification of restriction fragments from two cryptic Clostridium butyricum plasmids that promote the establishment of a replication-defective plasmid in Bacillus subtilis. , 1985, Journal of general microbiology.

[78]  Novel neutral solvents fermentations , 1983 .

[79]  M. Young,et al.  Conjugal transfer of plasmid pAMβ1 from Streptococcus lactis and Bacillus subtilis to Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1985 .

[80]  R. Teather.  Maintenance of Laboratory Strains of Obligately Anaerobic Rumen Bacteria , 1982, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[81]  P. Rogers.  Genetics and Biochemistry of Clostridium Relevant to Development of Fermentation Processes , 1986 .

[82]  Cecilia Förberg,et al.  Control of cell adhesion and activity during continuous production of acetone and butanol with adsorbed cells , 1985 .

[83]  T. Kudo,et al.  Molecular Cloning ofβ-Isopropylmalate Dehydrogenase Gene fromClostridium butyricumM588 , 1983 .

[84]  R. O'brien,et al.  Oxygen and the growth and metabolism of Clostridium acetobutylicum. , 1971, Journal of general microbiology.

[85]  C. Forsberg,et al.  Xylanolytic Activity of Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1985, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[86]  J. Linden,et al.  Butanol toxicity in the butylic fermentation , 1981 .

[87]  R. W. Detroy,et al.  Biomass conversion: fermentation chemicals and fuels. , 1983, Critical reviews in microbiology.

[88]  H. Bahl,et al.  Feasible improvements of the butanol production by Clostridium acetobutylicum. , 1981, Basic life sciences.

[89]  C. L. Gabriel.  Butanol Fermentation Process1 , 1928 .

[90]  R. Datta,et al.  Fermentation of xylan by Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1986 .

[91]  D. E. Brown,et al.  Immobilized Cells [and Discussion] , 1983 .

[92]  J. J. Hastings.  2 – Acetone—Butyl Alcohol Fermentation , 1978 .

[93]  E. B. Fred,et al.  An Unknown Factor Stimulating the Formation of Butyl Alcohol by Certain Butyric Acid Bacteria , 1934, Journal of Bacteriology.

[94]  I. Maddox,et al.  The acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation: a current assessment , 1986 .

[95]  S. Gatenbeck,et al.  Intermediary Metabolism in Clostridium acetobutylicum: Levels of Enzymes Involved in the Formation of Acetate and Butyrate , 1984, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[96]  D. T. Jones,et al.  Acetone-butanol fermentation revisited. , 1986, Microbiological reviews.

[97]  J. Grootwassink,et al.  Inducible and Constitutive Formation of -Fructofuranosidase (Inulase) in Batch and Continuous Cultures of the Yeast Kluyveromyces fragilis , 1983 .

[98]  L. Barton,et al.  EFFECT OF CARBON SOURCES ON FORMATION OF α-AMYLASE AND GLUCOAMYLASE BY CLOSTRIDIUM ACETOBUTYLICUM , 1975 .

[99]  J. Saddler,et al.  Enhanced acetone-butanol fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum grown on d-xylose in the presence of acetic or butyric acid , 1983 .

[100]  R. Marchal,et al.  Isolation and characterization of butanol-resistant mutants of Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1985, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[101]  D. T. Jones,et al.  Solvent Production and Morphological Changes in Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1982, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[102]  H. Bahl,et al.  Selection of an Asporogenous Strain of Clostridium acetobutylicum in Continuous Culture Under Phosphate Limitation , 1984, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[103]  H. Speakman.  BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE ACETONE AND BUTYL ALCOHOL FERMENTATION OF STARCH BY BACILLUS GRANULOBACTER PECTINOVORUM , 1920 .

[104]  H. A. George,et al.  Acidic Conditions Are Not Obligatory for Onset of Butanol Formation by Clostridium beijerinckii (Synonym, C. butylicum) , 1983, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[105]  I. Maddox,et al.  A note on procedures for inoculum development for the production of solvents by a strain of Clostridium butylicum , 1983 .

[106]  H. Blaschek,et al.  Transformation of Heat-Treated Clostridium acetobutylicum Protoplasts with pUB110 Plasmid DNA , 1984, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[107]  G. Raval,et al.  Regulation and butanol inhibition of D-xylose and D-glucose uptake in Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1985, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[108]  David T. Jones,et al.  Autolytic Activity and Butanol Tolerance of Clostridium acetobutylicum , 1982, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[109]  G. Goma,et al.  Ethanol production by extractive fermentation , 1982, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[110]  B. Volesky,et al.  Bacterial conversion of pentose sugars to acetone and butanol. , 1983, Advances in biochemical engineering/biotechnology.

[111]  L. Rettger,et al.  A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SIX DIFFERENT STRAINS OF THE ORGANISM COMMONLY CONCERNED IN LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION OF BUTYL ALCOHOL AND ACETONE BY THE BIOLOGICAL PROCESS , 1927, Journal of bacteriology.

[112]  R. Thauer,et al.  Energy Conservation in Chemotrophic Anaerobic Bacteria , 1977, Bacteriological reviews.

[113]  N. Kossen,et al.  Butanol from whey ultrafiltrate: batch experiments with Clostridium beyerinckii LMD 27.6 , 1984, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[114]  R. Rowlands.  Industrial strain improvement: rational screens and genetic recombination techniques , 1984 .

[115]  Parameters affecting solvent production by Clostridium acetobutylicum in continuous culture , 1984 .

[116]  W. J. Groot,et al.  Continuous isopropanol-butanol-ethanol fermentation by immobilized Clostridium beijerinckii cells in a packed bed fermenter , 1983 .

[117]  David T. Jones,et al.  Production of Recombinants after Protoplast Fusion in Clostridium acetobutylicum P262 , 1985 .

[118]  T. Tosa,et al.  Immobilized Living Microbial Cells , 1983 .

[119]  D. T. Jones,et al.  Physiological responses of Bacteroides and Clostridium strains to environmental stress factors. , 1986, Advances in microbial physiology.

[120]  J. Zeikus,et al.  Regulation and genetic enhancement of glucoamylase and pullulanase production in Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum , 1985, Journal of bacteriology.

[121]  David T. Jones,et al.  Immobilized Clostridium acetobutylicum P262 Mutants for Solvent Production , 1985, Applied and environmental microbiology.