Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

DNA Res 2020 Apr;27(2)

INRAE, UMR1163, Biodiversity and Biotechnology of Fungi, Aix Marseille University, 13009 Marseille, France.

White-rot (WR) fungi are pivotal decomposers of dead organic matter in forest ecosystems and typically use a large array of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes to deconstruct lignocellulose. However, the extent of lignin and cellulose degradation may vary between species and wood type. Here, we combined comparative genomics, transcriptomics and secretome proteomics to identify conserved enzymatic signatures at the onset of wood-decaying activity within the Basidiomycota genus Pycnoporus. Read More

Energies (Basel) 2018 Jul 9;11(7):1797. Epub 2018 Jul 9.

Department of Microbiology, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25d, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.

With regard to social and environmental sustainability, second-generation biofuel and biogas production from lignocellulosic material provides considerable potential, since lignocellulose represents an inexhaustible, ubiquitous natural resource, and is therefore one important step towards independence from fossil fuel combustion. However, the highly heterogeneous structure and recalcitrant nature of lignocellulose restricts its commercial utilization in biogas plants. Improvements therefore rely on effective pretreatment methods to overcome structural impediments, thus facilitating the accessibility and digestibility of (ligno)cellulosic substrates during anaerobic digestion. Read More

Waste Manag 2015 Sep 23;43:98-107. Epub 2015 May 23.

Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25d, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.

With regard to renewable sources of energy, bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass has long been recognized as a desirable endeavor. However, the highly heterogeneous structure of lignocellulose restricts the exploitation of its promising potential in biogas plants. Hence, effective pre-treatment methods are decisive prerequisites to overcome these challenges in order to improve the utilization ratio of (ligno) cellulosic substrates during fermentation. Read More

Bioresour Technol 2014 Jun 13;161:20-8. Epub 2014 Mar 13.

Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street London, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address:

This paper evaluates a novel biorefinery approach for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass from pinewood. A combination of thermochemical and biochemical conversion was chosen with the main product being ethanol. Fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomasss with fractional condensation of the products was used as the thermochemical process to obtain a pyrolysis-oil rich in anhydro-sugars (levoglucosan) and low in inhibitors. Read More

Bioresour Technol 2014 Sep 17;168:2-6. Epub 2014 Feb 17.

Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gemeinnützige GmbH, Torgauer Straße 116, D-04347 Leipzig, Germany.

Pretreatment of organic material prior to anaerobic digestion is seen as an option to increase the overall efficiency of the process. An overview of physical, chemical, and biological disintegration (DT) of substrates in the biogas sector is given. The energy demands DT were surveyed. Read More

PLoS One 2013 27;8(11):e82801. Epub 2013 Nov 27.

Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, United Kingdom.

The rumen microbiota enable ruminants to degrade complex ligno-cellulosic compounds to produce high quality protein for human consumption. However, enteric fermentation by domestic ruminants generates negative by-products: greenhouse gases (methane) and environmental nitrogen pollution. The current lack of cultured isolates representative of the totality of rumen microbial species creates an information gap about the in vivo function of the rumen microbiota and limits our ability to apply predictive biology for improvement of feed for ruminants. Read More

Microb Cell Fact 2012 Apr 5;11:43. Epub 2012 Apr 5.

AVT - Biochemical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, D-52074 Aachen, Germany.

Background: In the last years, the biotechnological production of platform chemicals for fuel components has become a major focus of interest. Although ligno-cellulosic material is considered as suitable feedstock, the almost inevitable pretreatment of this recalcitrant material may interfere with the subsequent fermentation steps. In this study, the fungus Ustilago maydis was used to produce itaconic acid as platform chemical for the synthesis of potential biofuels such as 3-methyltetrahydrofuran. Read More

Biotechnol Lett 2012 Jul 16;34(7):1263-7. Epub 2012 Mar 16.

Scion (Formerly Forest Research Institute), 49 Sala Street, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand.

Pre-treatment is important step prior to enzymatic hydrolysis of ligno-cellulosic biomass in order to obtain renewable carbon source ca. glucose. Pinus radiata biomass including wood blocks, wood chips and steam exploded wood (SEW) were used to investigate the effect of fungal pre-treatment on glucose yield. Read More

Anal Bioanal Chem 2002 Apr 25;373(8):830-8. Epub 2002 Jun 25.

Groupe de Recherche en Chimie Inorganique, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, BP 1039, 51687 Reims Cedex 2, France.

Ligno-cellulosic substrates (LCSs) isolated from wheat straw and bran exhibit high complexing capacities and may have important applications for metal removal from industrial effluents. These two LCSs were examined in the present work by spectroscopic and pyrolytic methods (solid state cross polarization magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) (13)C NMR, XPS, conventional Curie pyrolysis (Cupy)/GC/MS, and TMAH thermochemolysis/GC/MS). This combined study highlighted the limitation of some of the above methods when applied to ligno-cellulosic materials and the resulting biases and the usefulness of TMAH thermochemolysis. Read More

Biotechnol Adv 1983 ;1(1):31-46

Institute of Food Science, Cornell University, Geneva, New York 14456, USA.

There has been a proliferation of books and papers dealing with the indigenous fermented foods/beverages of the world. It is anticipated that these foods/beverages will play an ever-increasingly important role in feeding both the developing and the developed world as population increases from approximately 4.5 billion to 6 billion by the year 2000 and to 8 to 12 billion people in the 21st century. Read More