Bacteria attack lignin with enzymatic tag team
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 - 18:24
in Biology & Nature
The molecules that impart strength to paper, bamboo and wood-frame buildings—lignin and cellulose—have long stymied biofuels researchers by locking away more than half of a plant's energy-yielding sugar. In a study that could point the way to biofuels processes of the future, scientists from Rice University, the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Joint BioEnergy Institute at Emeryville, Calif., have discovered how two bacterial enzymes work as a team to break apart lignin.