Direct ethanol production from glucose, xylose and sugarcane bagasse by the corn endophytic fungi Fusarium verticillioides and Acremonium zeae

• Fusarium verticillioides produced ethanol from glucose/xylose (yields up to 0.5 g/g).
• Acremonium zeae produced ethanol from glucose/xylose (yields up to 0.48 g/g).
• Both fungi were able to co-ferment glucose and xylose.
• Both fungi were able to hydrolyze sugarcane bagasse and ferment it into ethanol.
• F. verticillioides and A. zeae are suitable to be used in consolidated bioprocessing.

Production of ethanol with two corn endophytic fungi, Fusarium verticillioides and Acremonium zeae, was studied. The yield of ethanol from glucose, xylose and a mixture of both sugars were 0.47, 0.46 and 0.50 g/g ethanol/sugar for F. verticillioides and 0.37, 0.39 and 0.48 g/g ethanol/sugar for A. zeae. Both fungi were able to co-ferment glucose and xylose. Ethanol production from 40 g/L of pre-treated sugarcane bagasse was 4.6 and 3.9 g/L for F. verticillioides and A. zeae, respectively, yielding 0.31 g/g of ethanol per consumed sugar. Both fungi studied were capable of co-fermenting glucose and xylose at high yields. Moreover, they were able to produce ethanol directly from lignocellulosic biomass, demonstrating to be suitable microorganisms for consolidated bioprocessing.