Xylanases active during pretreatment of cellulosic biomass
AssigneeSyngenta Biotechnology Inc.
InventorsJohn Steffens, Paul Oeller, Yoshimi Barron
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Abstract
Compositions and methods are provided for treating lignocellulosic material with a xylanase enzyme having xylanase activity. The enzyme is stable and active at increased pHs and temperatures. The present invention therefore provides methods for hydrolyzing lignocellulosic material, especially cellulose and hemicellulose, which are major components of the cell wall of non-woody and woody plants. The methods for hydrolyzing cellulose and hemicellulose can be used on any plant, wood or wood product, wood waste, paper pulp, paper product or paper waste or byproduct.
Claims37
A method of processing lignocellulosic material, the method comprising the step of contacting lignocellulosic material with at least one enzyme having xylanase activity to hydrolyze the lignocellulosic material, wherein the enzyme has an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:
- 6, 8 or 10 or an active variant or fragment thereof, and wherein the contacting is under conditions where the pH is at about pH 6 to about pH 12.
A method of processing lignocellulosic material, the method comprising the step of contacting lignocellulocis material with at least one enzyme having xylanase activity to hydrolyze the lignocellulosic material, wherein the enzyme retains at least 60% optimal activity at a pH of 10 or greater.
A composition comprising an enzyme having xylanase activity, wherein the enzyme has the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:
- 6, 8 or 10 or an active variant or fragment thereof, and wherein the composition has a pH of at least about pH 10.
A host cell stably transformed with a nucleic acid construct comprising a promoter operably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:
- 6, 8 or 10, or a variant or fragment thereof, wherein the cell is a bacterial cell, fungal cell, insect cell, mammalian cell or plant cell, and wherein the promoter is heterologous with respect to the nucleotide sequence.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.