Publications by authors named "F M Girio"

In recent years, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have gained notoriety because of their desirable properties that include proven biodegradability, biocompatibility, and thermal stability, which make them suitable alternatives to fossil-based polymers. However, the widespread use of PHAs is still challenging because of their production costs, which are greatly associated with the cultivation medium used for bacterial cultivation. In Portugal, one-quarter of the forest area is covered by wood, making its residues a cheap, abundant, and sustainable potential carbon source for biotechnological uses.

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Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) catalyze oxidative cleavage of crystalline polysaccharides such as cellulose and are crucial for the conversion of plant biomass in Nature and in industrial applications. Sunlight promotes microbial conversion of plant litter; this effect has been attributed to photochemical degradation of lignin, a major redox-active component of secondary plant cell walls that limits enzyme access to the cell wall carbohydrates. Here, we show that exposing lignin to visible light facilitates cellulose solubilization by promoting formation of HO that fuels LPMO catalysis.

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Biomass pre-treatment is a key step in achieving the economic competitiveness of biomass conversion. In the present work, an imidazole pre-treatment process was performed and evaluated using wheat straw and eucalyptus residues as model feedstocks for agriculture and forest-origin biomasses, respectively. Results showed that imidazole is an efficient pre-treatment agent; however, better results were obtained for wheat straw due to the recalcitrant behavior of eucalyptus residues.

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The yeast NCYC 921 was used for lipid production, using biomass hydrolysate as carbon source. The hydrolysate was obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass (at high solids loading) previously subjected to a hydrothermal pre-treatment. Afterwards was grown on sp.

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Ionic liquids have been recognised as interesting solvents applicable in efficient lignocellulosic biomass valorisation, especially in biomass fractionation into individual polymeric components or direct hydrolysis of some biomass fractions. Considering the chemical character of ionic liquids, two different approaches paved the way for the fractionation of biomass. The first strategy integrated a pre-treatment, hydrolysis and conversion of biomass through the employment of hydrogen-bond acidic 1-ethyl-3-methyimidazolim hydrogen sulphate ionic liquid.

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