Enzymes cellulose degradation

The titers of cellulase activities found in anaerobic digesters, when compared to the few other "hydrolytic environments" for which analytical data are available, are strikingly low. Table III shows such values for filter paper and carboxymethyl cellulose degrading activities. This evidence seems to indicate that the cellulose degrading enzymes in ... 

Figure 2. Comparisons of cellulose degradation of the MSW feedstock with specific cellulase enzyme activities in sludge from 7 CSTR digesters operated under different retention times and various conditions of nutrient limitation.

Microorganisms use several types of extracellular enzymes to degrade cellulose to glucose exoglucanases (l,4-/ -D-glucan cellobiohydrolases,... 

Cellulose Cellulose is a straight-chain polymer of glucose units linked by (31-4 bonds. The polysaccharide chains are aligned to form fibrils that have great tensile strength. Cellulases, enzymes that degrade cellulose, are absent in mammals but are produced by some bacteria, fungi and protozoa. 

Major biotechnological uses of the biomass carbohydrate moiety have attracted worldwide attention. Controlled cellulose degradation by cellulases may produce materials for important multifarious applications carbohydrates that can be used in the food and beverage industries, cellulose microfibril fragments for non-caloric food additives, hyperabsorbent cellulose fibers from fragmented cellulose microfibrils which can be used in biomedical, commercial and house-hold absorbent materials. Biomass-derived glucose syrups can also be used as carbon source in industrial fermentations for the production of antibiotics, industrial enzymes, amino-acids, and bulk chemicals. 

Coutinho, P., and Henrissat, B. 1999. The modular structure of cellulases and other carbohydrate-active enzymes an integrated database approach. In Ohmiya, K., Hayashi, K., Sakka, K., Kobayashi, Y., Karita, S., and Kimura, T. (Eds.), Genetics, Biochemistry and Ecology of Cellulose Degradation. Tokyo Uni Publishers Co., Ltd. 

Wood hydrolysis has been limited to cellulose degradation by cellulase enzymes. These en mes are typically low activity and highly inhibited by the glucose product. As mentioned above, mild acid pretreatment has been found to be an important first step in the biomass utilization process. The pretreatment is used both to break down the hemicellulose to sugars and to disrupt the lignocellulosic structure and tlie crystallinity of the cellulose. 

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