Background:
The description of new hydrolytic enzymes is an important step in the development of techniques to use lignocellulosic materials as a starting point for fuel production. Sugarcane bagasse, which is subjected to pre-treatment, hydrolysis and fermentation for the production of ethanol in several test refineries, is the most promising source of raw material for the production of 2nd generation renewable fuels in Brazil. One problem when screening hydrolytic activities is that the activity against commercial substrates such as carboxymethylcellulose does not always correspond to the activity against the natural lignocellulosic material. Besides that, the macroscopic characteristics of the raw material such as insolubility and heterogeneity hinder its use for high throughput screenings.
Results:
In this paper, we present the preparation of a colloidal suspension of particles obtained from sugarcane bagasse, with minimal chemical change in the lignocellulosic material, and demonstrate its use for high throughput assays of hydrolases using Brazilian termites as screened organisms.
Conclusions:
Important differences between the use of the natural substrate and commercial cellulase substrates such as CMC or crystalline cellulose were observed, suggesting that wood feeding termites, in contrast to litter feeding ones, might not be the best source for enzymes that degrade sugarcane biomass.Source:
http://www.biotechnologyforbiofuels.com/rss/