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Sejarah Bio Ethanol
Sejarah Bio Ethanol
For well over one hundred years, researchers around the world have pursued ways to
make ethanol from biomass such as wood, grasses, and waste materials. To distinguish
it from ethanol made from starch and sugars in traditional agricultural crops, we refer
to ethanol made from biomass as “bioethanol.” The effort to develop bioethanol
technology gained significant momentum in the late 1970s as a result of the energy
crises that occurred in that decade. This article briefly reviews the broader history of
bioethanol technology development. With this as a background, we focus our attention
on the strategic thinking behind the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioethanol Program,
which envisions remarkable advances in cellulase enzyme research and as the basis
for significant future process cost reductions.
options. Using biocatalysts (microorganisms including cellulose is extremely susceptible to hydrolysis at this
yeast and bacteria) to ferment the sugars released from point. Thus, dilution with water at modest temperatures
biomass to produce ethanol in a relatively dilute aqueous provides complete and rapid hydrolysis to glucose, with
solution is probably the oldest form of biotechnology little degradation. In fact, the use of concentrated sulfuric
developed by humankind. This dilute solution can be acid is an accepted test method for quantifying the
processed to yield ethanol that meets fuel-grade specifi- potential glucose content of cellulose (26) and for quan-
cations. Finally, the economics of biomass utilization tifying the lignin content (14).
demands that any unfermented residual material left In 1937, the Germans built and operated commercial
over after ethanol production must be used, as well. concentrated acid hydrolysis plants based on the use and
Keeping this simplistic description of biofuels technol- recovery of hydrochloric acid. Several such facilities were
ogy in mind will help provide a clearer, more logical, successfully operated. During World War II, researchers
framework for the various technology development strat- at USDA’s Northern Regional Research Laboratory in
egies we describe in this review. In essence, all of the Peoria, Illinois, further refined the concentrated sulfuric
strategies we propose for the program fit into the second acid process for corncobs. The Japanese developed a
or third step shown in Figure 1. concentrated sulfuric acid process that was commercial-
ized in 1948. The remarkable feature of their process was
Methods the use of membranes to separate the sugar and acid in
the product stream. The membrane separation, a tech-
Five Technology Platforms For Bioethanol. As nology that was way ahead of its time, achieved 80%
indicated earlier, the technology pathways pursued in the recovery of acid (27). Research and development based
Biofuels Program differ primarily in the approach used on the concentrated sulfuric acid process studied by
to produce sugars from biomass (step 2 in Figure 1). USDA (and which came to be known as the “Peoria
Releasing the sugars from the biopolymers in plant Process”) picked up again in the United States in the
matter involves hydrolysis of the linkages between the 1980s, particularly at Purdue University (28) and at TVA
sugar moieties. Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which (29).
a water molecule is added across the glycosidic linkages
Commercial Status. The concentrated sulfuric acid
to break the bonds. The discovery of sugar production
process has been commercialized in the past, particularly
by acid hydrolysis of cellulose dates back to 1819 (21, 22).
in the former Soviet Union and Japan (27). However,
By 1898, a German researcher had already attempted
these processes were only successful during times of
to use this chemistry in a commercial process for produc-
national crisis, when economic competitiveness of ethanol
ing sugars from wood. This early process included
production could be ignored. Conventional wisdom in the
fermentation of the sugars to ethanol (23). In the one
literature suggests that the Peoria and TVA processes
hundred years since then, researchers have continued to
cannot be economical because of the difficulty of recover-
pursue different approaches to achieving high yields of
ing the high volumes of acid required (30). Today, despite
fermentable sugars from the acid hydrolysis of biomass.
that “wisdom”, two companies in the U.S. are working
It is easy to lose this historical perspective on acid
with DOE and NREL to commercialize this technology
hydrolysis technologies.
by taking advantage of niche opportunities involving the
The U.S. Biofuels Program supports the development use of biomass as a means of mitigating waste disposal
of five technology platforms for bioethanol production. or other environmental problems (31).
The first three are based on different approaches to Dilute Sulfuric Acid Process. Background. Dilute
producing sugars. The fourth is a radically different acid hydrolysis of biomass is, by far, the oldest technology
approach to ethanol production involving thermal pro- for converting biomass to ethanol. As indicated earlier,
cessing of biomass to gaseous hydrogen and carbon the first attempt at commercializing a process for ethanol
monoxide, followed by gas-phase fermentation to ethanol. from wood was done in Germany in 1898. It involved the
Finally, we are working on a fifth technology platform use of dilute acid to hydrolyze the cellulose to glucose
that uses a fluidized-bed reactor design as the basis for and was able to produce 7.6 L of ethanol per 100 kg of
the fermentation step. The three sugar routes include the wood waste (18 gal per ton). This process soon found its
following: way to the United States, culminating in two commercial
• Low Temperature, Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis plants operating in the southeast during World War I.
• High Temperature, Dilute Acid Hydrolysis These plants used what was called “the American Pro-
• Enzymatic Hydrolysis cess”, a one stage dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis. A drop
The two acid hydrolysis technology platforms have the in lumber production forced the plants to close shortly
longest history of development, while the use of enzymes after the end of World War I (32). In the meantime, a
to produce sugars from biomass is, in the scheme of small, but steady, amount of research on dilute acid
things, a relatively recent concept. Newer still is the hydrolysis continued at the USDA’s Forest Products
concept of gas-phase fermentations that form the basis Laboratory.
for biomass gasification (24). In 1932, the Germans developed an improved “percola-
Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Process. Back- tion” process using dilute sulfuric acid, known as the
ground. The concentrated acid process for producing “Scholler Process.” These reactors were simple systems
sugars and ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass has a in which a dilute solution of sulfuric acid was pumped
long history. The ability to dissolve and hydrolyze native through a bed of wood chips. Several years into World
cellulose in cotton using concentrated sulfuric acid fol- War II, the U.S. found itself facing shortages of ethanol
lowed by dilution with water was reported in the litera- and sugar crops. The U.S. War Production Board rein-
ture as early as 1883 (25). The hydrolysis that occurs in vigorated research on wood-to-ethanol as an “insurance”
the dilution step gives almost quantitative yields of sugar. measure against future worsening shortages and even
The concentrated acid disrupts the hydrogen bonding funded construction of a plant in Springfield, Oregon. The
between cellulose chains, converting it to a completely board directed the Forest Products lab to look at im-
amorphous state. Once the cellulose has been decrystal- provements in the Scholler Process (33). Their work
lized, it forms a homogeneous gelatin with the acid. The resulted in the “Madison Wood Sugar” process, which
820 Biotechnol. Prog., 1999, Vol. 15, No. 5
showed substantial improvements in productivity and and energy products (40). In 1976 the Under Secretary
yield over its German predecessor (34). Problems with of the Army set the tone for the future of enzymatic
start up of the Oregon plant prompted additional process hydrolysis with this prediction:
development work on the Madison process at TVA’s “As the army’s development of “ENIAC” proved to be
Wilson Dam facility. Their pilot plant studies further the stimulus for the worldwide computer industry, I look
refined the process by increasing yield and simplifying forward to this emerging technology whose birth stems
mechanical aspects of the process (35). The dilute acid from a lonely fungus found in New Guinea many years
hydrolysis percolation reactor, culminating in the design ago, to have an equivalent worldwide impact on our way
developed in 1952, is still one of the simplest and most of life.”
effective means of producing sugars from biomass. The --The Honorable Norman R. Augustine, Under Secre-
percolation reactor still serves as a benchmark against tary of the Army 1976, U.S. Army Natick Laboratories
which we measure R + D progress. In fact, many such By 1979, genetic enhancement of T. reesei had already
systems are still operating in Russia. produced mutant strains with up to 20 times the pro-
Commercial Status. There is quite a bit of industrial ductivity of the original organisms isolated from New
experience with the dilute acid process. As indicated Guinea (41, 42). For roughly 20 years, cellulases made
earlier, Germany, Japan, and Russia have operated from submerged culture fungal fermentations have been
dilute acid hydrolysis percolation plants off and on over commercially available. In another ironic twist, the most
the past 50 years. In many cases, however, these percola- lucrative market for cellulases today is in the textile
tion designs would not survive in a completely competi- industry for stonewashing denim blue jeans, where
tive market situation. In the late 1970s, a renewed “partial system” preparations displaying minimal cel-
interest in this technology took hold in the U.S. because lulose degradation are employed.
of the petroleum shortages experienced in that decade. The science of cellulases has come a long way since
Modeling and experimental studies on dilute hydrolysis World War II. It has grown in conjunction with the
systems were carried out during the first half of the monumental changes that have occurred in molecular
1980s. DOE and USDA sponsored much of this work. By biology, protein chemistry, and enzymology over the past
1985, most researchers recognized that, while the dilute 50 years. It is easy to forget just how extensive this
acid percolation designs were the most practical and well change has been. In 1876, the German researcher Wil-
understood, these systems had reached the limits of their helm Friedrich Kuhne coined the term “enzyme.” Its
potential. Their comparatively high glucose yields (around Greek roots simply mean “in yeast.” Kuhne used it to
70%) were achieved at the expense of producing highly describe the “unorganized ferment from yeast and other
dilute sugar streams. Today, companies are beginning organisms.” The debate in his time was whether the
to look at commercial opportunities for this technology, catalytic activity observed in these “ferments” could exist
which combine recent improvements and niche op- independently of living cells (43). From the published
portunities to solve environmental problems. work of de Bary (44), scientists were aware as early as
Enzymatic Hydrolysis Process. Background. En- 1886 that an enzyme (from fungal extracts) degraded
zymes are the relative newcomers with respect to bio- plant cell-wall polysaccharides. In 1890, Brown and
mass-to-ethanol processing. While the chemistry of sugar Morris (45) concluded that the cellulose-dissolving power
production from wood has almost two centuries of re- in barley extracts is due to a special enzyme and that
search and development history and a hundred years of this enzyme is not diastase (the name for starch-degrad-
process development, enzymes for biomass hydrolysis can ing enzymes at the time). Newcombe (46) showed con-
barely speak of fifty years of serious effort. The search clusively in 1899 that the cellulose-degrading enzyme
for biological cellulose hydrolysis did not begin in earnest (named cytase or cytohydrolyst) in barley malt was
until World War II, when the U.S. Army mounted a basic distinct from starch-degrading enzymes. Interestingly,
research program to understand the causes of deteriora- the German literature at the time referred to cellulose-
tion of military clothing and equipment in the jungles of degrading enzymes as “celluloselosendes enzyms”, or
the South Pacific, a problem that was wreaking havoc cellulose-loosening enzymes (47). From our review of the
with cargo shipments during the war. This campaign literature, Pringsheim made the first reference to “cel-
resulted in the formation of the U.S. Army Natick lulases” as enzymes that degrade cellulose in 1912 (48).
Laboratories (36). Out of this effort to screen thousands By the 1920s, evidence was mounting that these enzymes
of samples collected from the jungle came the identifica- were actually proteins and that proteins were discrete
tion of what has become one of the most important chemical entities. However, the answer to this question
organisms in the development of cellulase enzymes, had to wait for sufficiently sophisticated protein purifica-
Trichoderma viride (eventually renamed Trichoderma tion techniques to be developed. It was not until 1951,
reesei). T. reesei QM9414 is the ancestor (or precursor) with the elucidation of the amino acid sequence for part
of many of the most potent enzyme-producing fungi in of insulin, that enzymes were indisputably recognized as
commercial use today. independent protein chemicals (49).
Ironically, the research on cellulases was prompted by In many ways, however, our understanding of cellu-
a need to prevent their hydrolytic attack on cellulose. lases is in its infancy compared to other enzymes. There
Today, we turn to these enzymes in hope of increasing are some good reasons for this. Cellulase-cellulose
their hydrolytic power. This turning point in the focus systems involve soluble enzymes working on insoluble
of cellulase research did not occur until the early 1960s, substrates. The jump in complexity from homogeneous
when sugars from cellulose were recognized as a possible enzyme-substrate systems is tremendous. It became
food source (37), echoing similar notions expressed by clear fairly quickly that the enzyme known as “cellulase”
researchers in earlier days on acid hydrolysis research was really a complex system of enzymes that work
(38). In the mid-1960s, the discovery that extracellular together synergistically to attack native cellulose. In
enzyme preparations could be made from the likes of T. 1950, this complex was crudely described as systems in
reesei (39) accelerated scientific and commercial interest which an enzyme known as “C1” acts to decrystallize the
in cellulases. In 1973, the army was beginning to look at cellulose, followed by a consortium of hydrolytic enzymes,
cellulases as a means of converting solid waste into food known as “Cx” that breaks down the cellulose to sugar
Biotechnol. Prog., 1999, Vol. 15, No. 5 821
pretreated biomass in 120 h at 50 °C. Improved case would reflect same level of conversion with lesser enzyme. b Includes end product
inhibition relief. c Upper limit assumes that the action of cellulases on cellulose can be improved to more closely resemble the action of
starch-degrading enzymes on soluble starch: hyperbolic ) reach goal asymptotically; exponential ) reach goal rapidly once progressed
past slow phase; step-change ) short, positive improvements which are always additive ending in asymptote.
benefits to be realized from enhancing the temperature reesei CBH I CBD has been further investigated by the
tolerance, as well as cellulose decrystallization, of sac- genetic construction of a synthetic, two-CBD molecule
charifying cellulases is unknown at this time. Table 1 separated by a long linker peptide (90) and a series of
shows a breakdown of strategies, which might be used CBH I enzymes with modified linker peptides (91). More
to improve the specific activity of cellulases. recently, the construction of a CBH I with an EG I CBD
An Artificial Enzyme Consortium. Since the late produced an enzyme with hydrolytic activity on insoluble
1980s, we have worked on constructing an artificial cellulose very close to that of the native CBH I (92). In
cocktail of cellulase enzyme components that shows as 1998, Irwin and co-workers (93) reported the genetic
good or better activity than any existing cellulase com- construction of four combinations of the T. fusca E4
plexes found in nature. Our approach has been to draw catalytic and binding domains to study the preferred
upon the best cellulase components from bacteria and conformation of this enzyme. In all cases, efforts to
fungi isolated by researchers from around the world. The improve the action of cellulases on insoluble cellulose by
ultimate goal of this work is to develop genetically modifying the native conformation at the domain orga-
engineered organisms capable of producing optimal mixes nizational level have not succeeded.
of cellulase components for efficient release of sugars Early work using site-directed mutagenesis to under-
from biomass (80). The best results obtained to date have stand cellulase function primarily focused on identifica-
been for a ternary combination of T. reesei cellobiohy- tion and confirmation of active site and other essential
drolase (CBH) I (an exoglucanse), an endoglucanase from residues. In 1990, Rouvinen and co-workers (94) identi-
a bacterial thermophile (Acidothermus cellulolyticus), and fied two Asp residues in the active site of T. reesei CBH
a β-glucosidase from the fungus Aspergillus niger (81). II that, upon mutation to Ala, resulted in partial or
The A. cellulolitycus E1 endoglucanase is one of the most complete loss of activity. In 1991, a combination of site-
active cellulases known (82), and when tested in combi- directed and chemical mutagenesis was reportedly used
nation with the exocellulase CBH I from Trichoderma to identify a His residue important for catalytic function
reesei (83), EI gave the highest saccharification and of Clostridium thermocellum endoglucanase D (95). All
degree of synergism acting on cellulose of all cellulases twelve His residues in Cel D were replaced with Ala or
tested (84). Despite a mismatch in temperature optima Ser by site-directed mutagenesis, and the resulting
among these three enzymes, this combination performs mutants showed from 5% to 80% of wild-type activity.
nearly as well as the native enzyme complex from T. Early on, T. reesei cellobiohydrolase active site elucida-
reesei on pretreated yellow poplar at 120 h of digestion tion relied on site-directed mutagenesis. In 1993, Rou-
(unpublished results). Once the cellulase system compo- honen and co-workers (96) reported the confirmation of
nent enzymes have been selected, the task of improving rCBH II Asp 221 as proton donor. The same year, Barnett
each one by protein engineering can commence. and co-workers (97) reported the kinetic properties of
Engineering Cellulases. Rational Design. Protein rCBH II mutations to sites Glu 184, Asp 173, Asp 175,
engineering using the “informational” approach offers and Glu 244. In the latter case, no mutation resulted in
powerful opportunities for enhancing the activity of an enzyme with improved kinetics on insoluble sub-
enzymes. Simple modifications to the amino acid se- strates, however. In 1995, Bortoli-German and co-work-
quence of a protein can have dramatic impacts on ers (98) reported an extensive series of mutations made
performance. The limiting factor for such improvements, to the endoglucanase (EG) Z from Erwinia chrysanthemi.
however, is fundamental knowledge, which comes at the This study generated 224 mutants chosen from Family
expense of resources and time. We need to understand 5 alignment as essential or highly conserved. When
the three-dimensional structure of the enzymes we are assayed with a carboxymethylcellulose clearing plate
working on in order to have a reasonable chance of assay, no EG Z mutant showed improved specific activity
designing the right changes to make in these enzymes. compared to wild-type. Confirmation of the essential
However, compared to many other enzyme systems, the active site residues in T. reesei CBH I by site-directed
available data on structure/function relationships for mutagenesis was reported in 1996 by Stahlberg and co-
cellulases is still limited (85, 86). High-resolution cellu- workers (99). The definitive study of the architecture and
lase structures are needed to give us insight into the function of the active site tunnel of CBH I was reported
enzyme-substrate interactions necessary to design cata- in 1998 by Divne and co-workers (100). In 1997, Zhang
lytically enhanced enzymes. and Wilson (101) reported the investigation of the roles
The engineering of cellulases was initiated with reports played by selected fifteen surface and five loop amino acid
of cellulose binding domain (CBD) deletions or additions residues in T. fusca E2. These authors conclude that the
to cellulase catalytic domains (87) and other enzymes rate-limiting step in the action of this endoglucanase is
(88). At least one report in the patent literature il- the binding of the substrate into the active site cleft, not
lustrates that a CBD-free endoglucanase catalytic domain hydrolysis. They showed that at least one surface amino
shows enhanced thermal tolerance (89). The role of T. acid mutant, E2:Trp16Ile, resulted in a substantial
824 Biotechnol. Prog., 1999, Vol. 15, No. 5
change in substrate specificity by lowering activity on have no opportunity to sense evolutionary pressure to
swollen cellulose, yet maintaining activity on filter paper select for thermal tolerance or relief of end product
and bacterial micro crystalline cellulose. Another recent inhibition, the rationale for the latter being the tight
study of the substrate specificity and catalysis of a barley coupling between the site of sugar production and
1,3-1,4-β-D-glucanase using site-directed mutagenesis utilization by the cell. We conclude, therefore, that
was reported by Planas (102). Planas produced twelve random mutagenesis/screening conducted in the labora-
mutant enzymes for selected loop amino acid residues tory may be expected to improve thermal tolerance and
and discovered that, although most were less active than cellobiose inhibition resistance, but not necessarily ki-
the wild-type on soluble substrates, the Met58Ala enzyme netic turnover.
showed a 7-fold increase in kcat compared to wild-type. Of course, the key for successful implementation of
Application of rational protein design has also been random mutagenesis is to provide a means for selection
applied to noncatalytic cellulase domains, the CBD. The of the desired traits or phenotypes. Simple screening, or
function of mutated T. reesei CBH I cellulose-binding testing for survival, that is, selection under pressure, may
domains was reported by Reinikainen and co-workers accomplish this objective, although very high throughput
(103) in 1992 and extended by Linder and co-workers robotic screening capability is usually required. Selection
(104) in 1995. These studies helped identify the amino pressures have been used successfully to improve char-
acid residues critical for optimum interaction of the CBD acteristics, such as antibiotic resistance, following ran-
with the cellulose surface (i.e., Tyr31, Tyr32, and Gln34). dom mutation (114). More often than not, however, the
In 1998, Himmel and co-workers (105) demonstrated desired trait is not one that can be linked to survival. In
for the first time that cellulase action on insoluble the case of cellulase engineering for enhanced specific
substrates could be improved by modifying specific amino activity, the effectiveness of enzymes acting on pretreated
acids in the active site of a thermal tolerant endogluca- biomass throughout the entire course of the saccharifi-
nase, EI from A. cellulolyticus. Target sites for modifica- cation process must be improved. Measurements of initial
tion were based on extensive structural modeling and rates of cellulose hydrolysis will not necessarily provide
analysis of the protein (106). PCR mutation was used to information about final (maximal) extents of conversion;
generate mutant EI coding sequences, and following thus, an effective random mutagenesis experimental plan
verification of the mutation sites and gene fidelity by for the improvement of cellulases must also include
DNA sequencing, the mutants enzymes were purified by strides in assay design. To date, we are not aware of the
sequential column chromatography. The glycine mutant successful application of random mutagenesis to the
EI enzyme (EI:Tyr245Gly) showed substantially en- improvement of the specific activity of saccharifying
hanced activity (12% ( 1%) over the wild-type enzyme cellulases. We therefore conclude that the noninforma-
using a novel dialysis assay (107), which measures the tional approaches to protein engineering should be used
progress of saccharification on pretreated biomass. to complement existing efforts based in informational,
Non-Rational Design. Random mutagenesis coupled or rational design, strategies in order to ensure success
to high throughput screening, or DirectEvolution, is a of the cellulase improvement program.
concept that has gained tremendous momentum in the
past five years. It is, as the name implies, an attempt to Acknowledgment
use nature’s strategies for evolutionary development in This work was funded by the Biochemical Conversion
controlled laboratory experiments to create new mol- Element of the Biofuels Program of the U.S. Department
ecules with enhanced properties (108). Error-prone PCR of Energy. The authors thank Douglas Eveleigh, David
and oligonucleotide cassette mutations have been used Wilson, Jim Hettenhaus, David Glassner, and David Wu
to explore new combinations of mutations for selected for suggestions leading to the development of strategies
enzymes with a considerable degree of success. Gene shown in Table 1.
shuffling (109) is a more recent extension of this concept,
where DNA polymerase is used to recombine DNA References and Notes
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