The ability of Candida shehatae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or the combination of these two yeasts in converting the mixed sugar composition of rice hull hydrolysate (RHH) as substrate for ethanol production is presented. In shake flask experiments, co-cultures showed ethanol yields (Y-P/S) of 0.42 and 0.51 in synthetic medium simulating the sugar composition of RHH and in RHH, respectively, with both glucose and xylose being completely depleted, while pure cultures of C shehatae produced slightly lower ethanol yields (0.40). Experiments were scaled-up to bioreactors, in which anaerobiosis and oxygen limitation conditions were tested. Bioreactor co-cultures produced similar ethanol yields in both conditions (0.50-0.51) in synthetic medium, while in RHH, yields of 0.48 and 0.44 were obtained, respectively. The results showed near-theoretical yields of ethanol. Results suggest the feasibility of co-cultures of C shehatae, a newly isolated strain, and S. cerevisiae in RHH as substrate for second-generation ethanol production. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.