New protein probes find enzymes for biofuel production
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - 09:31
in Physics & Chemistry
New protein probes are now helping scientists find the best biomass-to-biofuel production enzymes that nature has to offer. Turning biomass into biofuel hinges on the breakdown of the energy-rich primary component of plant matter, cellulose. Cellulose is a polysaccharide, or 'many sugars' bonded together. For biofuel production, the bonds between the many sugars must be broken so that those sugars can then be further processed, for example, fermented to make ethanol. But breaking these bonds is no small feat because they are strong. The best known candidate for this job? A group of microbe-made enzymes called glycoside hydrolases, or GHs.