Medium optimization for ethanol production with Clostridium autoethanogenum with carbon monoxide as sole carbon source

Plackett–Burman and central composite designs were applied to optimize the medium for ethanol production by Clostridium autoethanogenum with CO as sole carbon source, and a medium containing (g/L): NaCl 1.0, KH2PO4 0.1, CaCl2 0.02, yeast extract 0.15, MgSO4 0.116, NH4Cl 1.694 and pH 4.74 was found optimal. The optimum ethanol yields predicted by response surface methodology (RSM) and an artificial neural network-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) were 247.48 and 261.48 mg/L, respectively. These values are similar to those obtained experimentally under the optimal conditions suggested by the statistical methods (254.26 and 259.64 mg/L). The fitness of the ANN-GA model was higher than that of the RSM model. The yields obtained substantially exceed those previously reported (60–70 mg/L) with this organism.