TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - BIOTECHNOLOGY - Preferred Yeast: The yeast is a haploid strain. Under appropriate conditions, the yeast converts sugars to ethanol at a yield of at least 90%. The yeast exhibits significantly less growth inhibition at 20 g/L acetate and an initial pH of 5.6 than wild type yeast or a yeast lacking the duplication of at least a portion of the lpp1 gene; or the yeast exhibits significantly less growth inhibition at 50 g/L of ethanol than does a yeast lacking the at least duplication. Additionally, the yeast exhibits increased resistance to acetate and ethanol compared to wild type yeast. It produces less than 0.5 g/L of succinate from 300 g/L 6-carbon sugars, or it produces less than 7 g/L of glycerol from 300 g/L 6-carbon sugars. Additionally, the yeast produces reduced amounts of succinate and glycerol compared to wild type yeast. Preferred Progeny Yeast: The progeny yeast is diploid. Preferred Bacterium: The bacterium utilizes 5-carbon and 6-carbon sugars simultaneously or essentially simultaneously in the production of ethanol. It exhibits reduced or undetectable amounts of one or more of the functional polypeptides due to a mutation in a gene encoding the one or more polypeptides, or it exhibits reduced or undetectable amounts of one or more of the functional polypeptides due to deletion of a gene encoding the one or more polypeptides. The bacterium comprises a deletion of each of the zwf, ndh, sfcA/maeB, ldhA, frdA, poxB and pta genes, where the deletion results in reduced or undetectable amounts of functional PPP1, OPM4r, ANA2, FEM3, TCA10, FEM2 and FEM7 polypeptides, respectively. Additionally, the bacterium produces ethanol at an increased rate compared to wild type Escherichia coli. It converts 5-carbon sugars to ethanol at a yield of at least 91% and up to at least 98%. Additionally, bacterium converts a mixture of 5-carbon and 6-carbon sugars to ethanol at a yield of at least 85% and up to at least 95%. Under appropriate fermentation conditions, the bacterium utilizes glycerol as a substrate in the production of ethanol. The appropriate fermentation conditions include anaerobic conditions and the presence of an electron acceptor, where the electron acceptor is a nitrate. The bacterium further exhibits reduced, relative to wild type Escherichia coli, or undetectable amounts of functional malate dehydrogenase (MDH) polypeptides. It also comprises additional disruption that results in a bacterium that exhibits tolerance to higher concentrations of ethanol and/or acetate than is exhibited by the bacterium above. It also comprises additional disruption that results in a bacterium that exhibits a faster rate of growth than is exhibited by the bacterium above. Alternatively, the bacterium utilizes 5-carbon sugars exclusively or essentially exclusively in the production of ethanol. The bacterium exhibits reduced or undetectable amounts of one or more of the functional polypeptides due to a mutation in a gene encoding the one or more polypeptides; or exhibits reduced or undetectable amounts of one or more of the functional polypeptides due to a deletion of a gene encoding the one or more polypeptides. Additionally, the bacterium comprises a mutation in each of the zwf, ndh, sfcA/maeB, ldhA, frdA, poxB, pta, ptsG, glk and manX genes, where the mutation results in reduced or undetectable amounts of functional PPP1, OPM4r, ANA2, FEM3, TCA10, FEM2, FEM7, GG1, GLK and MAN1 polypeptides. The bacterium converts 5-carbon sugars to ethanol at a yield of at least 90%. The conversion of 5-carbon sugars to ethanol is in the presence of 6-carbon sugars. The bacterium further comprises additional disruption that results in a bacterium that exhibits tolerance to higher concentrations of ethanol and/or acetate than the bacterium above or a bacterium that exhibits a faster rate of growth than the bacterium above. Preferred Method: Making ethanol further comprises collecting the ethanol. The sugars are contacted with the bacterium or the yeast, sequentially. Converting glycerol to ethanol further comprises collecting the ethanol. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.