Cellulase has been widely used to convert cellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars for biofuel production. Currently, there is an urgent need to develop a highly efficient cellulase to greatly improve the efficiency of cellulosic biomass conversion. This will require a comprehensive understanding of cellulase actions on cellulose. Cellulase catalyzes the hydrolytic degradation of cellulose at a liquid/solid interface. Prior to the hydrolytic cleavage, cellulase utilizes an activity known as enzymatic decrystallization to break up the solid aggregate of cellulose molecules to release them from their solid aggregate into the active site of the enzyme. We utilized nanomechanical and biophysical tools to characterize the interaction between cellulase and both insoluble and soluble forms of cellulose to obtain a further understanding of enzymatic decrystallization. The mechanistic insight derived from this study may provide new leads for designing a high-efficiency cellulase for biofuel production.

Mechanistic insight into cellulase-cellulose interaction

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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