The mechanisms of plant cell wall deconstruction during enzymatic hydrolysis

PLoS One. 2014 Sep 18;9(9):e108313. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108313. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Mechanical agitation during enzymatic hydrolysis of insoluble plant biomass at high dry matter contents is indispensable for the initial liquefaction step in biorefining. It is known that particle size reduction is an important part of liquefaction, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Here we put forward a simple model based on mechanical principles capable of capturing the result of the interaction between mechanical forces and cell wall weakening via hydrolysis of glucosidic bonds. This study illustrates that basic material science insights are relevant also within biochemistry, particularly when it comes to up-scaling of processes based on insoluble feed stocks.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biocatalysis
  • Biopolymers / chemistry
  • Cell Wall / chemistry*
  • Flax / chemistry
  • Flax / cytology
  • Hydrolysis
  • Particle Size
  • beta-Glucosidase / chemistry*

Substances

  • Biopolymers
  • Novozym 188
  • beta-Glucosidase

Grants and funding

The study was financed by the company Novozymes A/S and by the University of Copenhagen. Novozymes A/S provided support in the form of salaries for author KSJ, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of the authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.