<i>Caldicellulosiruptor bescii</i> – That lignin-loving, pretreatment-be-darned mighty biofuels microbe

In Georgia, a group of researchers led by the University of Georgia’s Mike Adams have found another thermophilic bacterium with amazing properties – this time, finding a bacterium that can, without pretreatment, break down biomass, including lignin, and release sugars for biofuels and chemicals production.

The group writes in Energy & Environmental Science, “the majority (85%) of insoluble switchgrass biomass that had not been previously chemically treated was degraded at 78°C by the anaerobic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor bescii. Remarkably, the glucose/xylose/lignin ratio and physical and spectroscopic properties of the remaining insoluble switchgrass were not significantly different than those of the untreated plant material. C. bescii is therefore able to solubilize lignin as well as the carbohydrates and, accordingly, lignin-derived aromatics were detected in the culture supernatants.”

… Full text: www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2013/06/18/caldicellulosiruptor-bescii-that-lignin-loving-pretreatment-be-darned-mighty-biofuels-microbe/

Tags: hemicellulose, cellulose, thermophilic, anaerobic, Russia, Anaerocellum thermophilum, biofuel

Source

BiofuelsDigest, 2013-06-18.

Supplier

North Carolina State University
University of Georgia

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