Discovery, characterization and applications testing of fungal enzymes for white biotechnology

植物来源的木质纤维素是全球最丰富的可再生生物质来源，是生产生物燃料和化学品的极具吸引力的原料。目前，将木质纤维素生物质中存在的大聚合物转化为用于化学品和生物燃料生产的小分子是最有效的方法。这项提议的一个目标是确定酶和辅助蛋白，以促进经过处理的木质纤维素原料的酶转化为生产化学品和生物燃料所需的单糖。我们还对木质纤维素酶和辅助蛋白感兴趣，这些酶和辅助蛋白在纸浆和造纸、纺织、粮食和饲料工业中有应用。我们发现酶在这些领域应用的方法将是对我们的工业合作伙伴Iogen Inc.感兴趣的领域具有潜在商业应用的蛋白质进行克隆、生化表征和执行与工业相关的应用测试。Iogen的商业兴趣领域包括：生物燃料、纸浆和纸张、纺织品、谷物和饲料。新的酶和辅助蛋白将通过黑曲霉或巴斯德毕赤酵母以分泌蛋白的形式表达。

Being the most abundant global source of renewable biomass, plant derived lignocellulose is an attractive feedstock for the production of biofuels and chemicals. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated feedstocks is presently the most effective method for converting the large polymers present in lignocellulose biomass into the small molecules used for chemicals and biofuels production. A goal of this proposal is to identify enzymes and accessory proteins that enhance the enzymatic conversion of pretreated lignocellulose feedstocks into the simple sugars needed for the production of chemicals and biofuels. We are also interested in lignocellulose active enzymes and accessory proteins that have applications in the pulp and paper, textiles, grain and feed industries. Our approach for discovering enzymes with applications in these areas will be to clone, biochemically characterize and perform industrially relevant applications testing on proteins that have potential commercial application in areas of interest to our industrial partner, Iogen Inc. Iogen's areas of commercial interest are; biofuels, pulp and paper, textiles, grain and feed. New enzymes and accessory proteins will be expressed as secreted proteins using either Aspergillus niger or Pichia pastoris.