Expression of adhA from different organisms in Clostridium thermocellum

Background Clostridium thermocellum is a cellulolytic anaerobic thermophile that is a promising candidate for consolidated bioprocessing of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels such as ethanol. It was previously shown that expressing Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum adhA in C. thermocellum increases ethanol yield.In this study, we investigated expression of adhA genes from different organisms in Clostridium thermocellum. Methods Based on sequence identity to T. saccharolyticum adhA, we chose adhA genes from 10 other organisms: Clostridium botulinum, Methanocaldococcus bathoardescens, Thermoanaerobacterium ethanolicus, Thermoanaerobacter mathranii, Thermococcus strain AN1, Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum, Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus, Fervidobacterium nodosum, Marinitoga piezophila, and Thermotoga petrophila. All 11 adhA genes (including T. saccharolyticum adhA) were expressed in C. thermocellum and fermentation end products were analyzed. Results All 11 adhA genes increased C. thermocellum ethanol yield compared to the empty-vector control. C. botulinum and T. ethanolicus adhA genes generated significantly higher ethanol yield than T. saccharolyticum adhA. Conclusion Our results indicated that expressing adhA is an effective method of increasing ethanol yield in wild-type C. thermocellum, and that this appears to be a general property of adhA genes.