BIODEGRADATION BY WHITE ROT PHANEROCHATE CHRYSOSPORIUM

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Lignocellulosic biomass, the inedible fibrous part of plant cell walls, has great potential as a source of sugars that could be used as platform chemicals to make fuels, materials and other chemicals. However, the complex structure and composition of biomass impedes its efficient conversion into sugars. Although many fungi degrade parts of biomass, white rot are unique in their ability to degrade it completely. We plan to capture the degradation strategies of Phanerochaete chrysosporium and then to optimize key components for industrial application. Metabolites and enzymes secreted by P.chrysosporium during degradation are being identified using mass spectrometry, and their associated degradation effects are being investigated by a combination of techniques including optical, SEM and scanning microprobe Raman microscopy (mapping variations in lignan/holocellulose composition) and scanning microprobe X-ray diffraction (SMX) (mapping the distribution, orientation, size and crystallinity of cellulose fibers). The APS is the only facility in North America suitable for the SMX measurements.