Raw starch conversion by Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing Aspergillus tubingensis amylases

Abstract

In a semi-industrial amylolytic S. cerevisiae strain expressing the A. tubingensis α-amylase and glucoamylase genes, 200 g l-1 raw starch was completely hydrolysed (saccharified) in 120 hours with 74% converted to released sugars plus fermentation products and the remainder presumably to biomass. The single-step conversion of raw starch represents significant progress towards the realisation of CBP without the need for any heat pretreatment. Furthermore, the amylases were produced and secreted by the host strain, thus circumventing the need for exogenous amylases.