Engineering biocatalysts for the development of Novel materials from lignocellulosic biomass

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Technologies that promote the utilization of biomass and reduce the demand for petroleum feedstocks will improve environmental and political security. With roughly 68 M ha of arable land, and 10% of the World's forest, Canada has a natural advantage to become a world leader in technologies that produce sustainable energy and materials from underutilized biomass. If realized, corresponding investment would invigorate forest and agricultural industries, and create new jobs for Canadians, both knowledge-based and traditional. While considerable attention has been placed on converting biomass to fuels and chemicals, there is a critical need to develop technologies for the production of high-value co-products, which can off-set the cost of biofuel production in the short term, and secure long-term investment in future biorefineries. The vision of this research program is the development and application of sustainable bioprocesses for the creation of renewable and high-value biomaterials from non-consumable sources of biomass (i.e. lignocellulose). Our mission for the next five years is to harness the potential of recent genome sequencing projects for microorganisms that transform lignocellulose, and high-throughput genomic and protein engineering platforms, to create enzymes that can be used to alter the chemical reactivity and physical properties of lignocellulose-derived polysaccharides. In the long-term, this program will exploit the ability of enzymatically modified polysaccharides and cellulose to self-assemble, to create novel biocomposites ranging from plastic-displacing packaging to bio-active materials for high-value medical applications.