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Oral Presentation 6-05
Performance of Cellulase Components in the Hydrolysis of Pretreated Cellulosic Substrates
Jeffrey Tolan, Jennifer Donaldson, Daphne
Wahnon, and Theresa White Iogen Corporation 400 Hunt Club Rd. Ottawa, Canada K1V 1C1 Telephone: (613) 733-9830 x3407; Fax: (613) 733-5127; E-mail: jefft@Iogen.ca
A
key step in the production of ethanol from cellulosic biomass is the enzymatic
hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose. The
relatively high enzyme dosages and/or treatment times represent a major cost in
the overall process. Cellulose
hydrolysis is carried out by cellulase from the fungus Trichoderma, which makes a wide variety of cellobiohydrolase,
endoglucanase, and beta-glucosidase cellulase components that act
synergistically to hydrolyze cellulose.
Several other fungi and bacteria make cellulases that are also useful
for hydrolysis.
We
have found that the effectiveness of native and modified cellulase components
varies with the cellulosic substrate, depending on the feedstock and the
pretreatment process. By
“effectiveness” we mean potency of the enzyme, tendency to inactivate over
time, and peak conversion of the cellulose.
These findings have important implications for the mixture of cellulase
enzymes that one chooses for the enzymatic conversion process. There are also important implications for
the targets for enzyme modification that one desires.
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