title: Cellulases for biomass degradation: comparing recombinant cellulase expression platforms.
abstract: Improvement of cellulase expression has the potential to change the nature of the biofuel industry. Increasing the economic feasibility of cellulase systems would significantly broaden the range of practicable biomass conversion, lowering the environmental impact of our civilisations' fuel needs. Cellulases are derived from certain fungi and bacteria, which are often difficult to culture on an industrial scale. Accordingly, methods to recombinantly express important cellulases and other glycosyl hydrolase (GH) enzymes are under serious investigation. Herein, we examine the latest developments in bacterial, yeast, plant, and fungal expression systems. We discuss current strategies for producing cellulases, and evaluate the benefits and drawbacks in yield, stability, and activity of enzymes from each system, and the overall progress in the field.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, Worringerweg 1, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garvey
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Klose
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lambertz
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Commandeur
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D044602:Cellulases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D044603:Cellulosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D005658:Fungi / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D044602:Cellulases
keywords: biomass; cellulolytic activity; cellulosome; consolidated bioprocessing; glycosyl hydrolase; heterologous expression; industrial processing; synthetic biology