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Abstract
The use of plant materials to generate renewable biofuels and other high-value chemicals is the sustainable and preferable option, but will require considerable improvements to increase the rate and efficiency of lignocellulose depolymerization. This review highlights novel and emerging technologies that are being developed and deployed to characterize the process of lignocellulose degradation. The review will also illustrate how microbial communities deconstruct and metabolize lignocellulose by identifying the necessary genes and enzyme activities along with the reaction products. These technologies include multi-omic measurements, cell sorting and isolation, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), activity-based protein profiling, and direct measurement of enzyme activity. The recalcitrant nature of lignocellulose necessitates the need to characterize the methods microbes employ to deconstruct lignocellulose to inform new strategies on how to greatly improve biofuel conversion processes. New technologies are yielding important insights into microbial functions and strategies employed to degrade lignocellulose, providing a mechanistic blueprint in order to advance biofuel production.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Funding
The authors are grateful for support from the Genomic Science Program (GSP) of the U.S. DOE-OBER, the GSP supported Pan-omics Program, the GSP supported Foundational Scientific Focus Area, and the Microbiomes in Transition Initiative LDRD program at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a multi-program national laboratory operated by Battelle for the DOE under Contract DE-AC06–76RL01830.