Mixed cultures of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus brevis was studied for improving utilization of both cellulose- and hemicellulose-derived sugars from corn stover for lactic acid production. During simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of NaOH-treated corn stover by the mixed cultures, a lactic acid yield of 0.70 g/g was obtained, which was about 18.6% and 29.6% higher than that by single cultures of L. rhamnosus and L. brevis, respectively. Our results indicated that lactic acid yield from NaOH-pretreated corn stover by mixed cultures of L rhamnosus and L brevis was comparable to that from pure sugar mixtures (0.73 g/g of glucose/xylose mixture at 3:1 w/w). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.