Anaerobic Biodegradation oftheLignin andPolysaccharide Components ofLignocellulose andSynthetic Lignin bySediment Microflorat (original) (raw)
Related papers
1984
Specifically radiolabeled [14C-lignin]lignocelluloses and [14C-polysaccharide]lignocelluloses were prepared from a variety of marine and freshwater wetland plants including a grass, a sedge, a rush, and a hardwood. These [14C]lignocellulose preparations and synthetic [14C]lignin were incubated anaerobically with anoxic sediments collected from a salt marsh, a freshwater marsh, and a mangrove swamp. During long-term incubations lasting up to 300 days, the lignin and polysaccharide components of the lignocelluloses were slowly degraded anaerobically to 14CO2 and 14CH4. Lignocelluloses derived from herbaceous plants were degraded more rapidly than lignocellulose derived from the hardwood. After 294 days, 16.9% of the lignin component and 30.0% of the polysaccharide component of lignocellulose derived from the grass used (Spartina alterniflora) were degraded to gaseous end products. In contrast, after 246 days, only 1.5% of the lignin component and 4.1% of the polysaccharide component of lignocellulose derived from the hardwood used (Rhizophora mangle) were degraded to gaseous end products. Synthetic [14C]lignin was
Thermophilic (55°C) anaerobic enrichment cultures were incubated with [14C-lignin]lignocellulose, ['4Cpolysaccharidellignocellulose, and kraft [14C]lignin prepared from slash pine, Pinus elliottii, and 14C-labeled preparations of synthetic lignin and purffied cellulose. Significant but low percentages (2 to 4%) of synthetic and natural pine lignin were recovered as labeled methane and carbon dioxide during 60-day incubations, whereas much greater percentages (13 to 23%) of kraft lignin were recovered as gaseous end products. Percentages of label recovered from lignin-labeled substrates as dissolved degradation products were approximately equal to percentages recovered as gaseous end products. High-pressure liquid chromatographic analyses of CuO oxidation products of sound and degraded pine lignin indicated that no substantial chemical modifications of the remaining lignin polymer, such as demethoxylation and dearomatization, occurred during biodegradation. The polysaccharide components of pine lignocellulose and purified cellulose were relatively rapidly mineralized to methane and carbon dioxide; 31 to 37% of the pine polysaccharides and 56 to 63% of the purified cellulose were recovered as labeled gaseous end products. An additional 10 to 20% of the polysaccharide substrates was recovered as dissolved degradation products. Overall, these results indicate that elevated temperatures can greatly enhance rates of anaerobic degradation of lignin and lignified substrates to methane and low-molecular-weight aromatic compounds.
Bacterial degradation of lignin
Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 1988
During the year 1983, there was a breakthrough in the field of lignin biodegradation when fungal ligninases and their hydrogen peroxide requirement were described. A comparable progression has not yet occurred with ligninolytic bacteria, although it is expected to take place in the near future once depolymerizing enzymes are isolated. Several bacterial strains have been found to mineralize aerobically [14C-lignin]lignocellulose as well as 14C-labelled synthetic lignins, even though the most efficient are still far from reaching the rates exhibited by ligninolytic fungi. Actinomycetes follow a characteristic pattern of lignocellulose decomposition, with the release of lignin-rich, water-soluble fragments that are slowly metabolized thereafter. Research is being carried out to find the key enzymes involved in both lignin solubilization and mineralization by bacteria and uncover their mechanism of action. The ability of bacteria to grow on low-molecular-weight lignin oligomers as the sole source of carbon and energy indicates that bacteria produce enzymes catalysing cleavage of intermonomeric linkages. Various strains metabolize cyclic lignans, biphenyl structures, and other "dimeric" compounds, including those that possess the arylglycerol-fl-aryl ether (fl-O-4) linkage. Cleavage of the latter apparently is reductive, fl-O-4 dimers being metabolized by some bacteria through Cc~-Cfl cleavage. In contrast, no one has isolated a bacterium capable of decomposing a dimeric structure of the 1,2-diarylpropane-1,3-diol (fl-1) type, although strains metabolizing 1,2-diarylethane compounds have been found. In the absence of oxygen, only low-molecular-weight oligomers or chemically modified lignins are significantly degraded. The contribution of bacteria to the complete biodegradation of lignin in natural environments where fungi are also present is not known. However, bacteria seem to play a leading role in decomposing lignin in aquatic ecosystems.
Lignin biodegradation and industrial implications
AIMS Environmental Science, 2014
Lignocellulose, which comprises the cell walls of plants, is the Earth's most abundant renewable source of convertible biomass. However, in order to access the fermentable sugars of the cellulose and hemicellulose fraction, the extremely recalcitrant lignin heteropolymer must be hydrolyzed and removed-usually by harsh, costly thermochemical pretreatments. Biological processes for depolymerizing and metabolizing lignin present an opportunity to improve the overall economics of the lignocellulosic biorefinery by facilitating pretreatment, improving downstream cellulosic fermentations or even producing a valuable effluent stream of aromatic compounds for creating value-added products. In the following review we discuss background on lignin, the enzymology of lignin degradation, and characterized catabolic pathways for metabolizing the by-products of lignin degradation. To conclude we survey advances in approaches to identify novel lignin degrading phenotypes and applications of these phenotypes in the lignocellulosic bioprocess.
International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology, 2005
Wood is the main renewable material on Earth and is largely used as building material and in paper-pulp manufacturing. This review describes the composition of lignocellulosic materials, the different processes by which fungi are able to alter wood, including decay patterns caused by white, brown, and soft-rot fungi, and fungal staining of wood. The chemical, enzymatic, and molecular aspects of the fungal attack of lignin, which represents the key step in wood decay, are also discussed. Modern analytical techniques to investigate fungal degradation and modification of the lignin polymer are reviewed, as are the different oxidative enzymes (oxidoreductases) involved in lignin degradation. These include laccases, high redox potential ligninolytic peroxidases (lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, and versatile peroxidase), and oxidases. Special emphasis is given to the reactions catalyzed, their synergistic action on lignin, and the structural bases for their unique catalytic prope...
Biodegradation of lignin by fungi, bacteria and laccases
Bioresource Technology, 2016
Indulin AT biodegradation by basidiomycetous fungi, actinobacteria and commercial laccases was evaluated using a suite of chemical analysis methods. The extent of microbial degradation was confirmed by novel thermal carbon analysis (TCA), as the treatments altered the carbon desorption and pyrolysis temperature profiles in supernatants. Laccase treatments caused only minor changes, though with increases occurring in the 850 °C and char precursor fractions. After fungal treatments, lignin showed a similar change in the TCA profile, along with a gradual decrease of the total carbon, signifying lignin mineralization (combined with polymerization). By contrast, bacteria produced phenolic monomers without their further catabolism. After 54 days of cultivation, a 20 wt.% weight loss was observed only for fungi, Coriolus versicolor, corroborating the near-80% carbon mass balance closure obtained by TCA. Compositional changes in lignin as a result of biodegradation were confirmed by Thermal Desorption (TD)-Pyrolysis-GC-MS validating the carbon fractionation obtained by TCA.
Biodegradation of lignin in a compost environment: a review
Composting is nowadays a general treatment method for municipal solid waste. Compostable household waste contains, together with vegetable material, varying amounts of papers and boards. In the European Union composting is regarded as one recycling method for packages and this will probably favour compostable packages, like papers and boards, in the future. Paper is made up of lignocellulose and it may contain up to 20% of lignin. Ecient degradation of papers in composting plants means that biodegradation of lignin is also needed. However, very little is known about lignin degradation by mixed microbial compost populations, although lignin degradation by white-rot fungi has been extensively studied in recent years. Organic material is converted to carbon dioxide, humus, and heat by compost microorganisms. It is assumed that humus is formed mainly from lignin. Thus, lignin is not totally mineralized during composting. The elevated temperatures found during the thermophilic phase are essential for rapid degradation of lignocellulose. Complex organic compounds like lignin are mainly degraded by thermophilic microfungi and actinomycetes. The optimum temperature for thermophilic fungi is 40±50°C which is also the optimum temperature for lignin degradation in compost. Ó