|
Oral Presentation 6-06 Enzyme Induction During Growth on Varying Carbon
Sources
Paul Harris, Michael Rey, Kee-Hong Kim,
Kim Brown, and Joel Cherry Novozymes Biotech, Inc. 1445 Drew Ave Davis, CA 95616 Telephone: (530) 757-8100; Fax: (530) 758-0317; E-mail:
pvharris@novozymesbiotech.com
Filamentous fungi play a major role in the degradation of biomass rich in cellulose, and as such may serve as a source of inspiration for making a commercial cellulase mix that can be used to produce fermentable sugars as feedstocks for fuels and chemicals. We are using bioinformatic, microarray and proteomic tools to look at the array of proteins made by a wide variety of fungi in response to different growth mediums, including cellulose and cellulosic biomass. While many of the proteins are recognizable as common players in cellulose degradation, others may be more surprising. In addition, some clues as to how these organisms sense changes in their environment may be drawn from this data. Although a commercial cellulase mix may have to perform under quite different conditions than those cellulases produced in the natural environment by wild-type fungi, detailed characterization of these interesting organisms should offer some important insights into how the problem of biomass degradation has been solved through natural evolution.
|