Dekker, "Kinetic, inhibition, and stability properties of a commercial beta -d-glucosidase (cellobiase) preparation from Aspergillus niger and its suitability in the hydrolysis of
lignocellulose," Biotechnology and Bioengineering, vol.
Hu, "Functional ionic liquids for hydrolysis of
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These plants and many others are full of energy, stored in carbon bonds, which can be converted into fuel, if scientists can find ways to free the compounds that store the energy from the tough structural material, known as
lignocellulose, which bolds the plants together.
This book is a detailed exploration of plant biomass as a viable sustainable carbon-based energy source, with a focus on fungal enzymes required for
lignocellulose hydrolysis.
Bioproduced
lignocellulose resins from plants are produced by steam treatment, drying, and grinding.
However, it has a drawback - it cannot use xylose, a secondary component of the
lignocellulose that makes up plant stems and leaves.
Pretreatment of native
lignocellulose causes reductions in crystallinity, decomposition of lignocellulosic biomass and removes secondary interactions between glucose chains (Fan et al., 1980).
DSM is developing enzyme and yeast technologies for producing biochemicals as well as biofuels from cellulose and
lignocellulose from the stems, leaves and other residual bio-mass rather than from crop grains and seeds so that biomaterials are no longer directly influenced by food prices.
Today, studying the giant microbial libraries' is in vogue for microbial conversion of
lignocellulose carbohydrates into ethanol.
Research at JBEI and other labs seeks to develop improved enzymes for the more effective breakdown of
lignocellulose and move them into yeasts and other organisms for industrial-scale processing (see pages 178).
Second generation technologies, including pyrolysis, rely on
lignocellulose inputs, that is, the woody or fibrous parts of plants that wouldn't be eaten anyway, or on algae.