Chemical of the week: Ethanol
http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/ethanol/ethanol.html
This website covering different chemical substances contains useful general information. It gives a broad overview of the properties and uses of ethanol.
GO term: Ethanol biosynthetic process during fermentation
http://db.yeastgenome.org/cgi-bin/GO/goTerm.pl?goid=43458
The ethanol fermentation process is now described by a GO, or genome ontology, term. The GO term is like a dictionary description of a biological process; in this case, covering various aspects of ethanol biosynthesis that are useful in genome annotation.
Evolutionary ecology of ethanol production
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4054/is_200408/ai_n9415562
Ethanol is formed naturally in rotting fruits by the action of adventitiously inoculated yeast cells. There is consideration of the idea that some organisms, including early humans, were attracted to ethanol from this source, and this may have led to the current practice of drinking alcoholic beverages.
Fermented foods
http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Microtextbook/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=50&page=1
There are many fermented foods in use, a few of which generate ethanol. This educational website provides an excellent overview of the microbiology underlying fermented foods.
Biomass to ethanol
http://www.energy.ca.gov/pier/renewable/biomass/ethanol/index.html
This government website provides a good overview of the industrial conversion of biomass to ethanol. The current process uses Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the ethanol-producing organism.
DOE on ethanol
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/ethanol.html
This webpage of the United States Department of Energy provides an excellent overview of ethanol use as a fuel. It contains links to additional useful information.
GTL: Fuel ethanol production
http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/biofuels/ethanolproduction.shtml
This website deals with ethanol fermentation for fuel with a special emphasis on the role of genomics. Genome sequencing of biomass-converting and ethanol-forming organisms will potentially aid in developing superior processes for bioethanol production.
Ethanol fermentation
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/jitkangl/Fermentation%20of%20Ethanol/Fermentation%20of%20Ethanol.htmThis page provides an excellent primer on ethanol production by microorganisms. It considers both eukaryotic and prokaryotic microorganisms. While current processes use a eukaryote, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, bacteria are being engineered to improve their ethanol-producing capabilities.
A list of cellulolytic bacteria
http://www.wzw.tum.de/mbiotec/cellmo.htm
This webpage contains an extensive list of bacteria that hydrolyze the major plant biopolymer, cellulose. The list is augmented with an extensive set of references.
Cellulose and cellulosomes
http://www.wzw.tum.de/mbiotec/cellpage.htm
This webpage provides an excellent overview of cellulose and its enzymatic hydrolysis by microbes and their enzymes. It describes the multi-component enzyme complexes known as cellulosomes.
The cellulosome concept
http://www.weizmann.ac.il/Biological_Chemistry/scientist/Bayer/BayerCellulo.html#Anchor%204
Cellulosomes are multi-enzyme structures that act to bind to and hydrolyze cellulose. Understanding this process is thought to be important for designing industrial schemes that efficiently degrade cellulosic material to be used for ethanol fermentation.
Saccharomyces genome database
http://www.yeastgenome.org/
Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the main organism currently used in industrial ethanol fermentation. The genome of this yeast has been sequenced and the broad community benefited by the genome data uses the Saccharomyces genome database.
Zymomonas mobilis ZM4 genome page
http://cmr.tigr.org/tigr-scripts/CMR/GenomePage.cgi?org=ntzm01
Zymomonas mobilis is a prokaryotic organism that produces ethanol and has been investigated and engineered for enhanced ethanol synthesis.
Antibiotics for commercial ethanol fermentations
http://lactrol.com/EthanolMicrobial.asp
It is not generally appreciated that industrial ethanol fermentations promote the broad usage of antibiotics for non-medical purposes. Large-batch ethanol fermentations are prone to unwanted bacterial contamination and antibiotics can prevent large economic losses froom spoiled fermentations.
BioFuels Database: Ethanol
https://dbw2.msi.umn.edu/wiki/index.php5/Ethanol_Pathway
This page describes the current chemical synthesis and biochemical pathway for ethanol production by yeast. It is part of a database on chemical and biochemical synthesis of fuel molecules from renewable resources.