Mining diversity of the natural biorefinery housed within Tipula abdominalis larvae for use in an industrial biorefinery for production of lignocellulosic ethanol

Abstract

Although they are the largest taxonomic group of animals, relatively few insects have been examined for symbiotic relationships with micro‐organisms. However, this is rapidly changing because of the potential for examination of the natural insect–microbe–lignocellulose interactions to provide insights for biofuel technology. Micro‐organisms associated with lignocellulose‐consuming insects often facilitate the digestion of the recalcitrant plant diet; therefore these microbial communities may be mined for novel lignocellulose‐degrading microbes, or for robust and inexpensive biocatalysts necessary for economically feasible biofuel production from lignocellulose. These insect–microbe interactions are influenced by the ecosystem and specific lignocellulose diet, and appreciating the whole ecosystem–insect–microbiota–lignocellulose as a natural biorefinery provides a rich and diverse framework from which to design novel industrial processes. One such natural biorefinery, the Tipula abdominalis larvae in riparian ecosystems, is reviewed herein with applications for biochemical processes and overcoming challenges involved in conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuel ethanol. From the dense and diverse T. abdominalis larval hindgut microbial community, a cellulolytic bacterial isolate, 27C64, demonstrated enzymatic activity toward many model plant polymers and also produced a bacterial antibiotic. 27C64 was co‐cultured with yeast in fermentation of pine to ethanol, which allowed for a 20% reduction of commercial enzyme. In this study, a micro‐organism from a lignocellulose‐consuming insect was successfully applied for improvement of biomass‐to‐biofuel technology.

Isolation and Identification of Cellulolytic Bacteria from the Gut of Holotrichia parallela Larvae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

“…Additionally, a number of protozoa and bacteria with cellulolytic activity have been isolated from Zootermopsis angusticollis [ 25 ], silver cricket Lepisma sp . [ 27 ], Tipula abdominalis [ 28 ], Saperda vestita [ 29 ], Dendroctonus frontalis [ 29 ], and Pachnoda marginata [ 30 ]. These studies suggest that lignocellulose-degrading insects are an attractive potential source of novel cellulolytic microorganisms and enzymes and suggest that these enzymes may be useful in biofuel production [ 28 , 31 ].…”

Unlocking the potential of insect and ruminant host symbionts for recycling of lignocellulosic carbon with a biorefinery approach: a review

“…For instance, acid pretreated pine biomass inoculated with cellulolytic bacterial isolate 27C64 of Tipula abdominalis larvae produced cellulase and xylanase with an activity of about 0.13 IU/mL and 0.19 IU/mL. Further, the bacterial strain has been co-cultured with the S. cerevisiae that resulted in 29.8 g/L of ethanol after 48 h of fermentation [ 127 ]. A purified endoglucanase of about 43 kDa with 73.210 ± 86 IU specific activity was produced from Bacillus tequilensis strain G9 isolates of Achatina fulica (snail).…”

Analysis of gut bacterial diversity and exploration of cellulose-degrading bacteria in xylophagous insects

“…국제적으로 바이오에너지 연구 계획의 주요 목표는 바이오매스를 다양한 화학물질과 연료로 전환시키는 효율을 향상시키는 것이다 (Eriksson et al, 2002). 특히 lignocellulose 를 당으로 분해할 수 있는 새롭고 강력하며, 보다 경제적인 효 소의 개발이 필요하다 (Cook and Doran-Peterson, 2010).…”

“…초식성 곤충은 먹이로써 다양한 수종을 이용할 수 있지만 (Despres et al, 2007), 대부분의 식물은 독성을 지니고 있으며 소화하기 힘든 lignocellulose로 구성되어 있어서 대부분의 동물들이 이용하 기 어렵거나 불가능하다 (Watanabe and Tokuda, 2010). 초식 성 곤충의 장내에 공생하는 미생물들은 바이오매스를 분해하 는 역할을 수행하며 (Shi et al, 2011), 이곳에서 발견한 새로운 미생물이 생산하는 효소를 바이오연료 분야에 적용할 수 있을 것이다 (Cook and Doran-Peterson, 2010;Huang et al, 2010).…”