Recent advances on bio-alcohol production from syngas using microorganisms

Abstract

Cellulosic alcohol fermentation has recently gained more attention in the production of ethanol, butanol, and 2,3- butanediol. However, it was revealed that the process had several hurdles, such as, an expensive cost for biomass decomposition to yield fermentable sugars and a production of byproduct lignin. As an alternative for the process through biomass saccharification, the alcohol production through syngas from biomass has been studied. In this study, we reviewed acetogen and its central metabolic pathway, Wood-Ljungdahl route, capable of utilizing syngas. Furthermore, the metabolic engineering strategies of acetogen for bio-alcohol production from syngas was also reviewed with a brief perspective. ? The Korean Society for Applied Biological Chemistry 2017.