Biorefining of novel cellulosics from forest fibre resources

森林产品行业是加拿大国内生产总值（GDP）的主要贡献者。 过去十年来，由于全球出口经济面临挑战，消费者对新闻纸和木浆纤维制成的其他纸制品的需求不断变化，这一贡献一直在下降。 为了阻止市场份额的进一步损失并刺激未来的增长，纸浆和造纸行业需要技术创新，通过更有效的加工和生产新型生物材料来最大限度地提高我国森林纤维资源的价值。 人们普遍认为，新的纤维生物复合材料、智能/响应纤维和纳米材料的开发和商业化是森林生物经济转型的核心。 该战略研究项目的愿景是将通过发现和表征新型纤维素氧化酶获得的基本见解转化为木材纤维改性新技术的开发。 最先进的基因组和生物化学方法将用于解锁辅助活性家族10的裂解多糖单加氧酶的催化多样性，其原型成员已显示通过引入反应性羧酸酯基团选择性地修饰结晶纤维素链。 这种活性提供了一种目前尚未开发的方法，将新的化学物质专门和直接引入木浆纤维表面。 利用这一机会，传统的北方漂白软木硫酸盐浆和新兴的生物纤维衍生物如微纤化纤维素将引入新的功能，提高性能，并拓宽应用空间。 通过对高素质人员的多学科培训，包括与加拿大一家主要森林产品公司的密切互动，该项目将产生低投入、环境上可持续的生物技术应用，为加拿大巨大的森林资源增值。

The forest products industry is a key contributor to Canada's gross domestic product (GDP). This contribution has been in decline for the past decade owing to a challenging global export economy and changing consumer needs for newsprint and other paper products made from wood pulp fibre. To stem further loss in market-share and spur growth into the future, the pulp and paper sector is in need of technical innovation to maximize the value of our national forest fibre resource though more efficient processing and the production of novel biomaterials. The development and commercialization of new fibre biocomposites, smart/responsive fibres, and nanomaterials are widely envisioned as central to the transformation of the forest bioeconomy. The vision of this Strategic Research Project is to translate fundamental insight gained through the discovery and characterization of novel cellulose-oxidizing enzymes into the development of new technology for wood fibre modification. State-of-the-art genomic and biochemical methods will be used to unlock the catalytic diversity of the Lytic Polysaccharide Mono-Oxygenase enzymes of Auxiliary Activity Family 10, archetypal members of which have been shown to selectively modify crystalline cellulose chains through the introduction of a reactive carboxylate group. This activity provides a currently unexploited handle to introduce new chemistry specifically and directly onto the surface of wood pulp fibres. This opportunity will be harnessed to introduce new functionality, improve performance, and broaden the application space of both traditional Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft Pulp and emerging biofibre derivatives such as microfibrillated cellulose. Through multi-disciplinary training of highly qualified personnel, including intimate interaction with a leading Canadian forest products company, this project will generate low-input, environmentally sustainable biotechnology applications to add value to Canada's vast forest resource.