The flocculation gene FLO1 was transferred into the robust industrial strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae PE-2 by the lithium acetate method. The recombinant strain showed a fermentation performance similar to that of the parental strain. In 10 repeat-batch cultivations in VHG medium with 345 g glucose/L and cell recycling by flocculation-sedimentation, an average final ethanol concentration of 142 g/L and an ethanol productivity of 2.86 g/L/h were achieved. Due to the flocculent nature of the recombinant strain it is possible to reduce the ethanol production cost because of lower centrifugation and distillation costs. (c) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.