The mechanisms of enzymatic reactions on wood and cellulose

The structure of enzymes is usually described in terms of molecular mass, isoelectric point, amount of amino acid residues, and structural organisation. 

Parameter Unit/kg Polyester Cotton Organic co. (Greenco) 

Enzyme Family Amino acid residues Molecular mass kDa Isoelectric point (pi) 

70 Schematic representation of some of the domain arrangements found in cellulolytic enzymes. 

Hemicelluloses present in a wood fibre are exposed to the cellulolytic complex of enzymes by the action of different xylanases, which catalyse the hydrolysis of the xylose backbone of heteroxylan chains layered on the heteroxylan microfibrills. The xylanases act at random locations on the heteroxylan chains that have themselves become exposed by the action of the action of the various debranching enzymes, as presented in Fig. 4.12. 

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