A mutant strain of Clostridium beijerinckii, with high tolerance to ferulic acid, was generated using atmospheric pressure glow discharge and high-throughput screening of C. beijerinckii NCIMB 8052. The mutant strain M11 produced 7.24g/L of butanol when grown in P2 medium containing 30g/L of glucose and 0.5g/L of ferulic acid, which is comparable to the production from non-ferulic acid cultures (8.11g/L of butanol). When 0.8g/L of ferulic acid was introduced into the P2 medium, C. beijerinckii M11 grew well and produced 4.91g/L of butanol. Both cell growth and butanol production of C. beijerinckii M11 were seriously inhibited when 0.9g/L of ferulic acid was added into the P2 medium. Furthermore, C. beijerinckii M11 could produce 6.13g/L of butanol using non-detoxified hemicellulosic hydrolysate from diluted sulfuric acid-treated corn fiber (SAHHC) as the carbon source. These results demonstrate that C. beijerinckii M11 has a high ferulic acid tolerance and is able to use non-detoxified SAHHC for butanol production. (C) 2015 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.