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Continuous production of acetone, n-butanol, and ethanol (ABE) was carried out using immobilized cells of Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 792 using glucose and sugar mixture as a substrate. Among various lignocellulosic materials screened as a support matrix, coconut fibers and wood pulp fibers were found to be promising in batch experiments. With a motive of promoting wood-based bio-refinery concept, wood pulp was used as a cell holding material. Glucose and sugar mixture (glucose, mannose, galactose, arabinose, and xylose) comparable to lignocellulose hydrolysate was used as a substrate for continuous production of ABE. We report the best solvent productivity among wild-type strains using column reactor. The maximum total solvent concentration of 14.32 g L was obtained at a dilution rate of 0.22 h with glucose as a substrate compared to 12.64 g L at 0.5 h dilution rate with sugar mixture. The maximum solvent productivity (13.66 g L h) was obtained at a dilution rate of 1.9 h with glucose as a substrate whereas solvent productivity (12.14 g L h) was obtained at a dilution rate of 1.5 h with sugar mixture. The immobilized column reactor with wood pulp can become an efficient technology to be integrated with existing pulp mills to convert them into wood-based bio-refineries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clostridium beijerinckii DSM 6423 was studied using different continuous production methods to give maximum and stable production of isopropanol and n-butanol. In a single-stage continuous culture, when wood pulp was added as a cell holding material, we could increase the solvent productivity from 0.47 to 5.52 g L h with the yield of 54% from glucose. The overall solvent concentration of 7.51 g L (39.4% isopropanol and 60.6% n-butanol) with the maximum solvent productivity of 0.84 g L h was obtained with two-stage continuous culture. We were able to run the process for more than 48 overall retention times without losing the ability to produce solvents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-covalent interaction of alcohol dehydrogenase with polysaccharides was studied using three neutral and three anionic polysaccharides. The process of interaction of alcohol dehydrogenase with gum Arabic was optimized with respect to the ratio of enzyme to gum Arabic, pH, and molarity of buffer. Alcohol dehydrogenase-gum Arabic complex formed under optimized conditions showed 93 % retention of original activity with enhanced thermal and pH stability. Lower inactivation rate constant of alcohol dehydrogenase-gum Arabic complex within the temperature range of 45 to 60 °C implied its better stability. Half-life of alcohol dehydrogenase-gum Arabic complex was higher than that of free alcohol dehydrogenase. A slight increment was observed in kinetic constants ( K and V) of gum Arabic-complexed alcohol dehydrogenase which may be due to interference by gum Arabic for the binding of substrate to the enzyme. Helix to turn conversion was observed in complexed alcohol dehydrogenase as compared to free alcohol dehydrogenase which may be responsible for observed stability enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]