Abstract
Lignocellulosic biomass is a most promising feedstock in the production of second-generation biofuels. Efficient degradation of lignocellulosic biomass requires a synergistic action of several cellulases and hemicellulases. Cellulases depolymerize cellulose, the main polymer of the lignocellulosic biomass, to its building blocks. The production of cellulase cocktails has been widely explored, however, there are still some main challenges that enzymes need to overcome in order to develop a sustainable production of bioethanol. The main challenges include low activity, product inhibition, and the need to perform fine-tuning of a cellulase cocktail for each type of biomass. Protein engineering and directed evolution are powerful technologies to improve enzyme properties such as increased activity, decreased product inhibition, increased thermal stability, improved performance in non-conventional media, and pH stability, which will lead to a production of more efficient cocktails. In this review, we focus on recent advances in cellulase cocktail production, its current challenges, protein engineering as an efficient strategy to engineer cellulases, and our view on future prospects in the generation of tailored cellulases for biofuel production.
Highlights
Development of environmentally friendly fuels such as bioethanol are highly essential in order to reduce the consumption of fossil-based fuels
We focus on recent advances in cellulase cocktail production, its current challenges, protein engineering as an efficient strategy to engineer cellulases, and our view on future prospects in the generation of tailored cellulases for biofuel production
In second-generation biofuels, the focus has changed and is on using lignocellulosic biomass as a source of fermentable sugars such as agricultural residues or wood, which can be fermented into cellulosic biofuels in order to overcome this problem as it does not compete with food and feed applications and is available on a large scale [1]
Summary
Development of environmentally friendly fuels such as bioethanol are highly essential in order to reduce the consumption of fossil-based fuels. In second-generation biofuels, the focus has changed and is on using lignocellulosic biomass as a source of fermentable sugars such as agricultural residues or wood, which can be fermented into cellulosic biofuels in order to overcome this problem as it does not compete with food and feed applications and is available on a large scale [1]. Woody biomass is mainly composed of lignocellulosic material, which is constituted of cellulose (40–50%), hemicellulose (20–40%), and lignin (20–30%) [2]. Cellulose fibers interact with lignin, an amorphous crosslinked polymer. This interaction makes woody biomass a recalcitrant compound, meaning that high pressure and temperature are necessary to hydrolyze cellulose. We discuss protein engineering as an efficient solution to optimize cellulase properties for an efficient cellulase cocktail production. We present our perspective on the generation of tailored cellulase cocktails for biofuel production
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