Method for glucose production using endoglucanase core protein for improved recovery and reuse of enzyme

A method of converting the cellulose within a lingocellulosic substrate to glucose, comprising the steps of:

• pretreating a lignocellulosic substrate comprising at least about 10% lignin by chemical action so as to hydrolyze hemicellulose contained therein, thereby producing a chemically pretreated lignocellulosic substrate;
• treating said chemically pretreated lignocellulosic substrate with an enzyme mixture comprising cellobiohydrolase (CBH) enzymes, β-glucosidase enzymes, and endoglucanase (EG) enzymes for a sufficient time and under conditions suitable for converting at least about 65% of the cellulose within said lingocellulosic substrate to glucose, wherein said EG enzymes are present at an amount from about 2 to about 50 wt % relative to total amount of CBH enzymes and EG enzymes present in the enzyme mixture, and wherein from about 35 to about 100 wt % of said EG enzymes is a fungal EGII enzyme catalytic core domain;
• and
• recovering said fungal EGII catalytic core domain following said step of treating,
• wherein the lignocellulosic substrate is selected from the group consisting of corn stover, wheat straw, barley straw, soybean stover, oat hulls, rice hulls, sugar cane bagasse, corn fibre, switch grass, miscanthus, cord grass, rye grass, hardwood, softwood, Eucalyptus and sawdust, or combination thereof.