Effective conversion of xylose into ethanol is important for lignocellulosic ethanol production. In the present study, UV-C mutagenesis was used to improve the efficiency of xylose fermentation. The mutated Scheffersomyces shehatae strain TTC79 fermented glucose as efficiently and xylose more efficiently, producing a higher ethanol concentration than the wild-type. A maximum ethanol concentration of 29.04 g/L was produced from 71.31 g/L xylose, which was 58.95 % higher than that of the wild-type. This mutant also displayed significantly improved hydrolysate inhibitors tolerance and increased ethanol production from non-detoxified lignocellulosic hydrolysates. The ethanol yield, productivity and theoretical yield by TTC79 from sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate were 0.46 g/g, 0.20 g/L/h and 90.61 %, respectively, while the corresponding values for the wild-type were 0.20 g/g, 0.04 g/L/h and 39.20 %, respectively. These results demonstrate that S. shehatae TTC79 is a useful non-recombinant strain, combining efficient xylose consumption and high inhibitor tolerance, with potential for application in ethanol production from lignocellulose hydrolysates.

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Four ethanologenic ethanol-tolerant yeast strains, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ATKU132), Saccharomycodes ludwigii (ATKU47), and Issatchenkia orientalis (ATKU5-60 and ATKU5-70), were isolated by an enrichment technique in yeast extract peptone dextrose (YPD) medium supplemented with 10% (v/v) ethanol at 30°C. Among non-Saccharomyces yeasts, Sd. ludwigii ATKU47 exhibited the highest ethanol-tolerance and ethanol production, which was similar to S. cerevisiae ATKU132. The maximum range of ethanol concentrations produced at 37°C by S. cerevisiae ATKU132 and Sd. ludwigii ATKU47 from an initial D-glucose concentration of 20% (w/v) and 28% (w/v) sugarcane molasses were 9.46-9.82% (w/v) and 8.07-8.32% (w/v), respectively.