Publications by authors named "Antonio DeChellis"
Thermobifida fusca Cel6B moves bidirectionally while processively degrading cellulose.
Biotechnol Biofuels Bioprod
December 2024
Background: Cellulose, an abundant biopolymer, has great potential to be utilized as a renewable fuel feedstock through its enzymatic degradation into soluble sugars followed by sugar fermentation into liquid biofuels. However, crystalline cellulose is highly resistant to hydrolysis, thus industrial-scale production of cellulosic biofuels has been cost-prohibitive to date. Mechanistic studies of enzymes that break down cellulose, called cellulases, are necessary to improve and adapt such biocatalysts for implementation in biofuel production processes.
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- Lignocellulosic biomass is tough to break down enzymatically, leading to high costs in biofuel production due to the need for large amounts of enzymes.
- Researchers are exploring "supercharging" enzymes by altering their surface charge to improve their efficiency against plant cell wall components, though past efforts have had limited success.
- A study designed a library of mutant endoglucanases with varying charges and found that certain mutations significantly enhanced enzyme activity—up to a 5-fold increase—especially those altering the carbohydrate-binding module, also showing increased optimal temperatures for hydrolysis.