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Title: Lignin conversion: Opportunities and challenges for the integrated biorefinery

Journal Article · · Industrial Biotechnology
 [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

The utilization of lignin for fungible fuels and products represents one of the most imminent challenges in the modern biorefinery because most of the bioprocesses for lignocellulosic biofuels results in a lignin-containing waste stream. Considering lignin's abundance and relatively high energy content, this waste stream can be used as a feedstock for value-added products to improve the sustainability and economic feasibility of the biorefinery. Bioconversion of lignin with microbes recently emerged as an alternative lignin-valorization approach with significant potential. Typically, the microbial bioconversion of lignin requires three major steps: lignin depolymerization, aromatic compounds catabolism, and target product biosynthesis. In this review, we summarize the most recent advances in lignin bioconversion to address the challenges in each of the three steps. In conclusion, we further discuss strategies and perspectives for future research to address the challenges in bioconversion of lignin.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Joint Institute for Biological Sciences (JIBS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1327723
Journal Information:
Industrial Biotechnology, Vol. 12, Issue 3; ISSN 1550-9087
Publisher:
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (6)

Synergistic maximization of the carbohydrate output and lignin processability by combinatorial pretreatment journal January 2017
Alternatives for Chemical and Biochemical Lignin Valorization: Hot Topics from a Bibliometric Analysis of the Research Published During the 2000–2016 Period journal July 2018
Mechanism‐Guided Design of Highly Efficient Protein Secretion and Lipid Conversion for Biomanufacturing and Biorefining journal May 2019
Utilization of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation residues as feedstock for lipid accumulation in Rhodococcus opacus journal September 2017
Combinatorial pretreatment and fermentation optimization enabled a record yield on lignin bioconversion journal January 2018
Systems and Synthetic Biology Approaches to Engineer Fungi for Fine Chemical Production journal October 2018

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