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Title: Mechanism of lignin inhibition of enzymatic biomass deconstruction

Journal Article · · Biotechnology for Biofuels

Here, the conversion of plant biomass to ethanol via enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis offers a potentially sustainable route to biofuel production. However, the inhibition of enzymatic activity in pretreated biomass by lignin severely limits the efficiency of this process. As a result, by performing atomic-detail molecular dynamics simulation of a biomass model containing cellulose, lignin, and cellulases (TrCel7A), we elucidate detailed lignin inhibition mechanisms. We find that lignin binds preferentially both to the elements of cellulose to which the cellulases also preferentially bind (the hydrophobic faces) and also to the specific residues on the cellulose-binding module of the cellulase that are critical for cellulose binding of TrCel7A (Y466, Y492, and Y493). In conclusion, lignin thus binds exactly where for industrial purposes it is least desired, providing a simple explanation of why hydrolysis yields increase with lignin removal.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
FWP ERKP752; AC05-00OR22725; FG02-97ER25308
OSTI ID:
1618632
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1260590; OSTI ID: 1327644
Journal Information:
Biotechnology for Biofuels, Journal Name: Biotechnology for Biofuels Vol. 8 Journal Issue: 1; ISSN 1754-6834
Publisher:
Springer Science + Business MediaCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Netherlands
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 153 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Engineering tolerance to industrially relevant stress factors in yeast cell factories journal June 2017
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Elementary budget of stag beetle larvae associated with selective utilization of nitrogen in decaying wood journal May 2018
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Molecular-level driving forces in lignocellulosic biomass deconstruction for bioenergy journal October 2018
Impact of hydration and temperature history on the structure and dynamics of lignin journal January 2018
Recent progress in theoretical and computational studies on the utilization of lignocellulosic materials journal January 2019
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