IIT Guwahati report multifunctional enzyme that can breakdown woody biomass for conversion to bioethanol

Guwahati (Assam) [India], December 28 (ANI): Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have studied the efficacy of a specific bacterial endoglucanase enzyme, RfGH5_4 from Ruminococcus flavefaciens in breaking down woody biomatter into a simple sugar that can be fermented efficiently to produce bioethanol.

Bioethanol is a renewable fuel source that can replace current petroleum-based fuel systems. A team led by Professor Arun Goyal of the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, in collaboration with researchers from the Portugal’s University of Lisbon have recently published the discovery and observations of the research in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, a statement said on Wednesday.

The production of fuel from renewable biological sources has elicited significant scientific interest in recent years because of the problems of dwindling fossil fuel reserves and the environmental pollution associated with their generation and use.
Of the many biofuels known, ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) is widely studied because of its positive impact on the environment. This intoxicating component of spirits and drinks that can also be used to fuel vehicles, is commonly produced by the fermentation of sugar and starch-containing raw materials – grapes, barley, and potato among others.

However, there is interest in developing methods to extract bioethanol for fuel from agricultural and forestry residues and crops that are rich in carbohydrate polymers (lignocellulose) – a plant dry matter that constitutes the woody part of plants.

For industrial production of bioethanol as fuel, the lignocellulose extracted from plants is deconstructed using the biological catalysts (enzymes) called cellulases, and subsequently fermented.