Influence of spores concentration and pH on the Aspergillus niger morphology and endoglucanases production

• Grant number: 17/24068-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Alberto Colli Badino Junior
• Grantee: André Luís Zozzi Ferreira
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Currently there is a great economic and environmental concern regarding the energy sources used. In anticipation of the scarcity and / or limitation of the use of fossil fuels for environmental reasons, it is necessary to search for renewable and sustainable alternative energy sources. One of the alternatives that takes into account the use of agricultural residues as lignocellulosic materials is second generation ethanol (2G). The production of 2G ethanol comprises at least three steps: pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation. One of the process bottlenecks is still the high cost of the enzymes used in the biomass hydrolysis step. Therefore, the production of low cost cellulases is still a bottleneck in the development of a sustainable process for the production of 2G ethanol. In the culture of filamentous fungi, pH and spore concentration influence the morphology of these microorganisms, which in turn affects the production of different metabolites. However, few works in the literature prove the best morphology for the production of cellulases. Therefore, the present work intends to advance the analysis of the influence of cellular fungi morphology on the production of cellulolytic enzymes, more specifically endoglucanases, by the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. It is proposed to define different morphologies in the preparation phase of the fungus inoculum through the variation of the pH of the culture medium and the initial spore concentration and to verify the best for the production of endoglucanases by A. niger. In this way, it is intended to contribute to the improvement of the stage of obtaining enzymes for the production of 2G ethanol. (AU)