New Biotechnology Volume 25S September 2009

main features of ZVM and biological treatments used for the dehalogenation and removal of CACs, as well as an analysis of their corresponding advantages and disadvantages; (ii) recent applications of ZVM in permeable reactive barriers (PRB) for in situ treatment of groundwaters polluted with CAC; (iii) implementation of ZVM in reactors and bioreactors for ad situ or ex situ treatment of waters; (iv) types of biological treatment that effectively degrade CACs; (v) new applications of hybrid systems ZVM-biological as well as and nanotechnological approaches. By far the most commonly used MZV has been iron. The main drawback of MZV is related to its difcult reactivation and handling when implemented as permeable reactive barriers for aquifer remediation. Concerning biological treatment of CACs, it is attractive due to its relative low cost; however, there is a disadvantage due to the long times required by the microorganisms to acclimate to the effective degradation of CACs. Anaerobic treatment and bioreactors bioaugmented (inoculated) with dehalogenating bacteria have been shown to carry out efcient degradation of CACs. ZVM has been demonstrated at full scale, particularly as iron in PRB. At lab scale, bi-metallic applications for CAC removal have succeeded. Yet, demonstration projects and full-scale applications of bi-metallic technologies are scarce. New approaches such as the use of bi-metallic nanoparticles of Fe/Ni combined with surfactants show promise and some research shows that its efciency could be higher than that of monometallic iron. Another application consists of the immobilization of nanometric ZMV on porous silica particles for the removal of CAC from aquifers. An emerging technology is the use of microorganisms with the capability to reduce and precipitate Pd (II) to nanocrystals of zero-valent Pd that affect CAC dehalogenation. Another research area that deserves more attention is the coupling of biological reactors with simultaneous electron acceptors to ZVM. doi:10.1016/j.nbt.2009.06.571

Screening study of strains was conducted to determine thermal tolerance and osmophilic properties. Effect of the physicalchemical and biological factors on the physiological and biochemical activity of the producer (strain) was also studied. Alteration of the different parameters of the biobutanol synthesis process was investigated in dynamics (namely aeration, temperature, composition of medium and pH). Investigations results were used to study the biosynthesis mechanisms, the opportunity of biosynthesis limitation by the substrate composition or inhibition by the metabolism products. To accumulate as much as possible of target (desired) metabolites using rationally the nutritional substrate the study was conducted to investigate general patterns of C. acetobutylicum strains cultivation and synthesis of metabolites (solvents) by them. doi:10.1016/j.nbt.2009.06.572

3.1.28 Characterization of coffee husk biomass for biotechnological purposes F.D.O. Ferraz 1, , S.S.D. Silva 1,2
1

Engineering School of Lorena, University of So Paulo, Biotechnology Dept., C. Postal 116, 12.602-810 Lorena, SP, Brazil 2 Faculdades Integradas Teresa Dvila, Caixa Postal 75, 12600-000 Lorena, SP, Brazil

3.1.27 Biotechnology and effective strains producers of biobutanol S. Shulga , Y. Blum, A. Tkachenko
Institute for Food Biotechnology & Genomics, Kyiv, Ukraine

Global energy and environmental problems have stimulated increased efforts toward synthesizing biofuels from renewable resources. Compared to the traditional biofuel, ethanol, higher alcohols offer advantages as gasoline substitutes because of their higher energy density and lower hygroscopicity. In addition, branched-chain alcohols have higher octane numbers compared with their straight-chain counterparts. Anaerobic conversion of carbohydrates by the strain C. acetobutylicum in the ABE-fermentation process leads (result in) to the formation of certain solvents mixture, namely mixture of acetone, butanol and ethanol. It is highly important to increase as much as possible the output of butanol and to reduce the output of other products at the rst stage of this process.

Lignocellulosic materials are cheap and worldwide spreaded source of sugars that can be converted into ethanol and other added-value products by biotechnological processes. Agroindustrial residues as sugarcane bagasse, cassava bagasse, corn stover, among others, are some examples of this sort of raw materials. Coffee husk is a lignocellulosic material produced in large amount in Brazil. In 2009 it is expected a production of more than 2270 ton of treated coffee and it could generate about 900 ton of coffee husk. This material can be used to produce several products such as enzymes, organic acids, avor and aroma compounds by biotechnological processes. In this work, coffee husk from Brazilian farms was obtained after dry process of treatment of coffee was chemically characterized by modied Klason methodology. In this study the total and partial carbohydrates, lignin and ashes were determined. According to the results, coffee husk presented 23.08% of cellulose, composed by 20.76% of glucose and 1.83% of cellobiose; 23.85% of hemicellulose, with 13.56% of xylose, 5.23% of arabinose, 2.56% of acetic acid, 1.95% of glucuronic acid; 28.28% of total lignin, and 0.71% of ashes. Some compounds derived from sugar decomposition, such as hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural, were formed and their values adjusted to the total. The attained results showed that acid pretreatment is able to recover the fermentable sugars from this biomass. The hydrolysate of coffee husk is a potential substrate to be used in fermentation process to produce high added value bioproducts. doi:10.1016/j.nbt.2009.06.573

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