Biohydrogen is considered a promising and environmentally friendly energy source.
Escherichia coliBW25113hyaB hybC hycA fdoG frdc ldhA aceEhas been previously engineered
for elevated biohydrogen production from glucose. In this study, we show that this strain
can also use biomass from oil palm frond (OPF) juice and sewage sludge as substrates.
Substrate improvement was accomplished when hydrogen productivity increased 8-fold
after enzymatic treatment of the sludge with a mixture of amylase and cellulase. The
OPF juice with sewage sludge provided an optimum carbon/nitrogen ratio since the yield of
biohydrogen increased to 1.5 from 1.3 mol H2/mol glucose compared to our previous study.
In this study, we also reveal that our engineered strain improved 200-fold biohydrogen
productivity from biomass sources compared to the unmodified host. In conclusion, we
determined that our engineered strain can use biomass as an alternative substrate for
enhanced biohydrogen production.