Kansai Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd.

Bio-energy Corporation

Kansai Chemical Eng. Col. Ltd.

Osaka University

Suntory Limited

Aisin Aw Co., Ltd.

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Kobe University

Maruzen Petrochemical Company, Limited

Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd.

Kimura Chemical Plants Co., Ltd.

Sutai Co., Ltd.

Hideo Noda

Akihiko Kondo

Takaya Inoue

Shinji Hama

Hideki Fukuda

Hiroshi Yamaji

Nobuyuki Kuratani

Hiroshi Uyama

Hiroshi Tanahashi

Masahiro Yotsumoto

Yuzuru Wakabayashi

Toshiaki Tazawa

Takahiko Terada

Naotake Ohta

Haruo Nishino

Hajime Kato

Tadahiro Mukaida

Hiroshi Ooshima

Nobuyuki Kobayashi

Kazuhiko Hata

Takeshi Matsumoto

Mitsuo Yamamoto

Tomoaki Takada

Masamitsu Funaoka

Tsutomu Tanaka

Takashi Tsujimoto

Masahiro Makuta

Kazumasa Aso

Keigo Mikame

Ayumi Yoshida

Shohei Kaneko

Hiroshi Matsuo

Hiroyuki Kawatsu

Naoshi Ito

Yasuhiko Sugino

Yasuo Noda

Ryosuke Yamada

Goro Nishimura

Kohsuke Nakano

Yinan Yin

Kunio Kataoka

Kenji Okano

Hiroaki Ueda

The present invention provides a transformed microorganism capable of displaying &#x3b1;-galactosidase on its surface layer. Also provided is a method for producing an alcohol, which includes the step of culturing the transformed microorganism in a culture medium containing a material that contains an oligosaccharide &#x3b1;-1,6 linked &#x3b1;-galactose. Also provided is a method for producing lactic acid using such a transformed microorganism together with a material that contains an oligosaccharide &#x3b1;-1,6 linked &#x3b1;-galactose. According to the present invention, a microorganism can be provided, which can degrade an oligosaccharide containing &#x3b1;-1,6 linked &#x3b1;-galactose, which may occur in soybean molasses.

Microorganism capable of displaying &#x3b1;-galactosidase on surface layer thereof, and use thereof

A method for producing a fatty acid ester according to the present invention includes mixing a raw fat or oil, a liquid enzyme, and an alcohol having 1 to 8 carbon atoms in the presence of water and an electrolyte. According to the present invention, a fatty acid ester can be efficiently produced via a transesterification reaction without using any expensive buffer solution or amphipathic substance. Furthermore, in the reaction, it is not necessarily required to agitate reactants at a high speed, which makes the present invention adaptive to various production facilities and conditions.

Method for producing fatty acid ester

An evaporator of the present invention includes an agitation vessel having a volatile component outlet and a concentrate outlet and configured to receive a raw material liquid, a heat source provided inside the agitation vessel, a liquid distributing portion provided within the agitation vessel and configured to cause the raw material liquid to flow down the heat source, and a first condenser provided on an outer circumference of the agitation vessel and configured to cool an inner wall of the agitation vessel. The evaporator of the present invention is useful in, for example, the concentration of various liquid chemicals and chemical products and the removal of volatile impurities from these chemicals and chemical products.

Evaporator

An evaporation device including an agitation vessel to which raw material liquid is supplied. The agitation vessel has a volatile component outlet and a concentrate outlet, a jacket provided on an outer circumference and configured to heat an inner wall, and a liquid-distributing portion configured to cause the raw material liquid to flow down the inner wall. The agitation vessel includes storage portion surrounded by a bottom, the inner wall, and a partition wall portion configured to temporarily store the raw material liquid that flows down, the liquid-distributing portion is constituted by a rotating shaft and at least one channel part having a flow passage which, as the rotating shaft rotates, the raw material liquid temporarily stored in the storage portion flows upward from a lower side of the agitation vessel. The channel part is mounted to the rotating shaft, and the concentrate outlet is provided in the bottom.

Evaporation device

A method for continuously producing a fatty acid ester of the present invention comprises (a) mixing and agitating an oil and fat starting material and a lower alcohol, and supplying a mixture to one of the catalyst reaction tubes filled with a lipase; (b) producing a fatty acid ester and glycerin in the catalyst reaction tube; (c) introducing an outflowing liquid from the catalyst reaction tube into a glycerin separation tank, thereby collecting the glycerin; (d) adding a lower alcohol to a separated liquid obtained by separating the glycerin from the outflowing liquid, mixing and agitating an obtained material, and supplying a mixture to a following catalyst reaction tube; (e) repeating the steps (b) to (d) until supply to a last catalyst reaction tube is performed; and (f) collecting a fatty acid ester from the separated liquid obtained from the last catalyst reaction tube. According to the method of the present invention, the concentration of a lower alcohol can be strictly controlled and by-product glycerin can be automatically removed.

Continuous production of biodiesel fuel by enzymatic method

Disclosed is a method for producing ethanol, including: culturing yeast transformed so as to display an enzyme on the cell surface in a medium containing particles of lignocellulosic biomass, thereby producing ethanol, wherein the enzyme is an enzyme involved in hydrolysis of the lignocellulosic biomass. The present invention makes it possible to provide a method for producing ethanol by which a high ethanol yield can be achieved from lignocellulosic biomass with lower initial cell concentration and added enzyme amount.

Method for producing ethanol

A method for producing ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass using yeast at low cost is provided. The method of the present invention for producing ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass includes steps of (1) pretreating lignocellulosic biomass, (2) treating a cellulose fraction obtained in Step (1) with a cellulose hydrolase, (3) mixing saccharified biomass obtained in Step (2) with yeasts to perform ethanol fermentation, and (4) subjecting a fermentation product obtained in Step (3) to a solid-liquid separation, wherein a cycle consisting of Steps (1), (2), (3) and (4) is repeated twice or more, and yeasts obtained in Step (4) are used as all or a portion of yeasts in Step (3) of the subsequent cycle.

A lactic acid component (e.g., lactic acid or oligo (lactic acid)) can be obtained by extraction from a lactic acid fermentation liquor with a pH of 4.8 or less, using at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of toluene, xylene, mesitylene, ethylbenzene, methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, and mineral spirit. Furthermore, oligo (lactic acid) can be obtained, by heating a lactic acid fermentation liquor with a pH of 4.8 or less under reduced pressure, and washing, with water, the fermentation liquor containing a produced oligo (lactic acid). Hence, a method is provided for separating a lactic acid component from a lactic acid fermentation liquor, which is free from incorporation of impurities and which includes simple steps.

Method for separation of lactic acid component from lactic acid fermentation liquor, and separation apparatus

Provided is a lactic acid bacterium capable of homolactic fermentation using a pentose as a substrate, the lactic acid bacterium utilizing a pentose, and in which a phosphoketolase pathway is blocked and a pentose phosphate pathway is activated. Also provided is a method for producing lactic acid from a pentose using the lactic acid bacterium and a method for preparing the lactic acid bacterium.

Homolactic fermentation from pentose

A concentrated acid treatment unit is composed of a reaction section and an agitation extraction section. A phenol sorped raw material obtained by defatting botanical resource-derived raw material by solvent to subject sorption phenols to sorption is introduced, thus obtaining mixed solution of phenol solution including a lignophenol derivative and concentrated acid solution including a cellulose hydrolysate. The reaction section agitates and mixes the phenol sorped raw material and concentrated acid to cause cellulose to be swollen to thereby convert lignin to lignophenol. A part of the cellulose is subjected to hydrolysis. The agitation extraction section receives the treated liquid sent from the reaction section and adds phenols for extraction thereto to cause lignophenol dispersed in the concentrated acid solution to be dissolved and extracted in phenols for extraction.

Concentrated acid treatment unit, concentrated acid treatment method, phase-separation system plant for botanical resource, and conversion method

The present invention provides a method for producing an yeast having an increased cellulose hydrolysis ability. The method includes the step of introducing increased integration copy numbers of both a gene for an enzyme capable of hydrolyzing crystalline cellulose and a gene for an enzyme capable of hydrolyzing noncrystalline cellulose into a noncellulolytic yeast to give a transformed yeast. The yeast having an increased cellulose hydrolysis ability can be suitably used for ethanol production from cellulose-based materials.

Production and use of yeast having increased cellulose hydrolysis ability

The present invention provides a method for producing a cellulose degradable yeast, comprising the step of co-introducing genes coding for at least two cellulose-degrading enzymes into a yeast host via integration with a yeast &#x3b4; sequence. According to the invention, a yeast having an improved cellulose degradation ability are provided.

Cellulose degradable yeast and method for production thereof

A solution component recovery method, a solution component recovery apparatus, and an impregnation process/impregnation component recovery system for separating a first component from a second component. The separation between the first and second components is accomplished by reducing the pressure on a solution that contains the first component, which results in the solidification of the first component in the solution at a temperature that is equal to or higher than a predetermined solidification temperature. The second component, in which the first component is dissolved, is evaporated at a temperature range that is less than the predetermined solidification temperature. The evaporated second component is then recovered by a cooling step.

Solution component recovery method, solution component recovery apparatus, and impregnation process/impregnation component recovery system

Provided is a microorganism that can display, on the cell surface, any molecules other than a molecule comprising amino acids, more specifically, a microorganism that displays biotin on a cell surface. The microorganism is capable of co-expressing a biotinylating enzyme and an acceptor peptide having a sequence recognized by the biotinylating enzyme, wherein the acceptor peptide is expressed on the cell surface, so that lysine of the acceptor peptide is biotinylated to display biotin on the cell surface. Also provided is a method for displaying an intended molecule, including not only a molecule comprising amino acids but also any molecules, on a cell surface of a microorganism.

Microorganism that displays biotin on cell surface

A star-branched polyester polyol is obtained by polymerizing lactide or lactic acid, using, as an initiator, a fat and oil composed mainly of a triacylglycerol that has at least three hydroxyl groups or epoxy groups in its molecule. This polyester polyol has low crystallinity and a low melting point, and thus shows good working properties when used in various applications. Furthermore, this polyester polyol is derived from renewable resources, and, thus, it is highly desirable in view of its effectiveness in protecting the global environment and preventing fossil resources from being depleted.

Polyester polyol

Growing community of inventors

Amagasaki, Japan

Hideo Noda