title: Enzymatic cell disruption of microalgae biomass in biorefinery processes.
abstract: When employing biotechnological processes for the procurement of biofuels and bio-products from microalgae, one of the most critical steps affecting economy and yields is the "cell disruption" stage. Currently, enzymatic cell disruption has delivered effective and cost competitive results when compared to mechanical and chemical cell disruption methods. However, the introduction of enzymes implies additional associated cost within the overall process. In order to reduce this cost, autolysis of microalgae is proposed as alternative enzymatic cell disruption method. This review aims to provide the state of the art of enzymatic cell disruption treatments employed in biorefinery processes and highlights the use of endopeptidases. During the enzymatic processes of microalgae life cycle, some lytic enzymes involved in cell division and programmed cell death have been proven useful in performing cell lysis. In this context, the role of endopeptidases is emphasized. Mirroring these natural events, an alternative cell disruption approach is proposed and described with the potential to induce the autolysis process using intrinsic cell enzymes. Integrating induced autolysis within biofuel production processes offers a promising approach to reduce overall global costs and energetic input associated with those of current cell disruption methods. A number of options for further inquiry are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: IMDEA Energy Institute, Biotechnological Processes for Energy Production Unit, Av. Ramón de la Sagra 3, 28935, Móstoles, Spain. marie.demuez@imdea.org.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Demuez
authors.affiliation: IMDEA Energy Institute, Biotechnological Processes for Energy Production Unit, Av. Ramón de la Sagra 3, 28935, Móstoles, Spain.|Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, 44511, Zagazig, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahdy
authors.affiliation: IMDEA Energy Institute, Biotechnological Processes for Energy Production Unit, Av. Ramón de la Sagra 3, 28935, Móstoles, Spain.
authors.forename: Elia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tomás-Pejó
authors.affiliation: IMDEA Energy Institute, Biotechnological Processes for Energy Production Unit, Av. Ramón de la Sagra 3, 28935, Móstoles, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: González-Fernández
authors.affiliation: IMDEA Energy Institute, Biotechnological Processes for Energy Production Unit, Av. Ramón de la Sagra 3, 28935, Móstoles, Spain.|CIEMAT, Renewable Energy Division, Biofuels Unit, Av. Complutense 40, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ballesteros
mesh_terms: D001688:Biological Products / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D004798:Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006868:Hydrolysis; D058086:Microalgae / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D004798:Enzymes
keywords: autolysis; biofuels; enzymatic hydrolysis; microalgae; proteases