Ligninolytic Activity at 0 °C of Fungi on Oak Leaves Under Snow Cover in a Mixed Forest in Japan.

Despite the importance of litter decomposition under snow cover in boreal forests and tundra, very little is known regarding the characteristics and functions of litter-decomposing fungi adapted to the cold climate. We investigated the decomposition of oak leaves in a heavy snowfall forest region of Japan. The rate of litter weight loss reached 26.

Optimization of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation conditions with amphipathic lignin derivatives for concentrated bioethanol production.

Amphipathic lignin derivatives (A-LDs) prepared from the black liquor of soda pulping of Japanese cedar are strong accelerators for bioethanol production under a fed-batch simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process. To improve the bioethanol production concentration, conditions such as reaction temperature, stirring program, and A-LDs loadings were optimized in both small scale and large scale fed-batch SSF. The fed-batch SSF in the presence of 3.

Dehydrogenative polymerization of coniferyl alcohol in artificial polysaccharides matrices: effects of xylan on the polymerization.

To elucidate the influence of wood polysaccharide components on lignin formation in vitro, models for polysaccharide matrix in wood secondary cell wall were fabricated from two types of bacterial cellulosic films, flat film (FBC) and honeycomb-patterned film (HPBC), as basic frameworks by depositing xylan onto the films. An endwise type of dehydrogenative polymerization, "Zutropfverfahren", of coniferyl alcohol was attempted in the films with/without xylan. The resultant dehydrogenation polymer (DHP) was generated inside and outside xylan-deposited films, whereas DHP was deposited only outside the films without xylan.

Amphipathic lignin derivatives to accelerate simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of unbleached softwood pulp for bioethanol production.

Amphipathic lignin derivatives (A-LDs) were already demonstrated to improve enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulose. Based on this knowledge, two kinds of A-LDs prepared from black liquor of soda pulping of Japanese cedar were applied to a fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process for unbleached soda pulp of Japanese cedar to produce bioethanol. Both lignin derivatives slightly accelerated yeast fermentation of glucose but not inhibited it.

Thermal mobility of β-O-4-type artificial lignin.

Several lignin model polymers and their derivatives comprised exclusively of β-O-4 or 8-O-4' interunitary linkages were synthesized to better understand the relation between the thermal mobility of lignin, in particular, thermal fusibility and its chemical structure; an area of critical importance with respect to the biorefining of woody biomass and the future forest products industry. The phenylethane (C6-C2)-type lignin model (polymer 1) exhibited thermal fusibility, transforming into the rubbery/liquid phase upon exposure to increasing temperature, whereas the phenylpropane (C6-C3)-type model (polymer 2) did not, forming a char at higher temperature. However, modifying the Cγ or 9-carbon in polymer 2 to the corresponding ethyl ester or acetate derivative imparted thermal fusibility into this previously infusible polymer.