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Published on: October 24, 2011
Biocatalysts for biomass deconstruction from environmental genomics
Zachary Armstrong1, Keith Mewis1, Cameron Strachan2
1Genome Science and Technology Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Abstract:
Plant biomass offers a sustainable alternative to the energy and materials produced from fossil fuels. The industrial scale production or biorefining of fermentable sugars and aromatics from plant biomass is currently limited by the lack of cost effective and efficient biocatalysts. One potential solution to this problem is the discovery of biomass deconstructing biocatalysts from uncultivated microbial communities. Here we review recent progress in recovering such biological devices from environmental genomes and consider how this information can be used to build better biorefining ecosystems.
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