Cellulase engineering for biomass saccharification

Abstract

The production of biofuel ethanol from sugarcane biomass could be significantly improved by depolymerization of cell wall cellulose to glucose for subsequent fermentation. Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose using a mixture of glucanases has been proposed as a possible technology to achieve this goal. It is likely that different biomass feedstocks will require specific enzymes, and this chapter examines the range of strategies which may be used for engineering cellulases to modulate their specificities and catalytic activities. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.