Biocatalysts for biomass deconstruction from environmental genomics.

Biocatalysts for biomass deconstruction from environmental genomics. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2015 Jul 28;29:18-25 Authors: Armstrong Z, Mewis K, Strachan C, Hallam SJ Abstract Plant biomass offers a sustainable alternative to the energy and materials produced from fossil fuels. The industrial scale production or biorefining of fermentable sugars and aromatics from plant biomass is currently limited by the lack of cost effective and efficient biocatalysts. One potential solution to this problem is the discovery of biomass deconstructing biocatalysts from uncultivated microbial communities. Here we review recent progress in recovering such biological devices from environmental genomes and consider how this information can be used to build better biorefining ecosystems. PMID: 26231123 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Biology - Category: Biochemistry Authors: Tags: Curr Opin Chem Biol Source Type: research