title: Research advances in expansins and expansion-like proteins involved in lignocellulose degradation.
abstract: Biofuel derived from lignocellulosic biomass has attracted considerable attention as a renewable energy source. Nevertheless, the conversion of lignocellulose into fermentable sugars is inherently difficult because of the complex structures of lignocelluloses. Accessory proteins, like expansins, have a non-hydrolytic disruptive effect on crystalline cellulose and can synergistically cooperate with cellulase to improve hydrolysis efficiency. This review summarizes recent studies on expansins and expansin-like proteins, in terms of their expression and purification, synergism in lignocellulose hydrolysis, structure-function studies and binding characteristics. Future research prospects are also presented. This review provides a discussion of expansins in the context of lignocellulose hydrolysis.
authors.affiliation: R&D Center for Petrochemical Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xuewei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Minhua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000639:trends; D001711:Biotransformation; D002480:Cellulase / Q000378:metabolism*; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; C036909:lignocellulose; D008031:Lignin; D002480:Cellulase