Overexpression of SFA1 in engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae to increase xylose utilization and ethanol production from different lignocellulose hydrolysates

Here, an engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain SFA1(OE) was constructed by overexpressing SFA1 in a reported WXY70 with effective six-gene clusters. Under simulated maize hydrolysate, SFA1(OE) produced an ethanol yield of 0.492 g/g total sugars within 48 h. The productivity of SFA1(OE) was comprehensively evaluated in typical hydrolysates from stalks of maize, sweet sorghum, wheat and Miscanthus. Within 48 h, SFA1(OE) achieved an ethanol yield of 0.489 g/g total sugars in the optimized hydrolysate of alkaline-distilled sweet sorghum bagasse derived from Advanced Solid-State Fermentation process. By crossing SFA1(OE) with a DQ1-derived haploid strain, we obtained an evolved diploid strain SQ-2, exhibiting improved ethanol production and thermotolerance. This study demonstrates that overexpressing SFA1 enables efficient fermentation performance in different lignocellulosic hydrolysates, especially in the hydrolysate of alkaline-distilled sweet sorghum bagasse. The increased cellulosic bioethanol production of SFA1(OE) provides a promising platform for efficient biorefineries.