SET4Future - Sustainable Enzyme Technologies for Future Bioenergy

The world faces enormous challenges in the coming years to balance the need for feeding an ever-growing population with gradually changing from a petroleum-based economy to one based on sustainable bio-resources. This transition will be founded largely on plant cell walls, which are the largest source of biomass on earth and the feedstock not just for most second generation biofuel production, but also for a vast range of other products such as paper, textiles, food ingredients, fine chemicals and nutraceuticals1. Plant cell walls are extremely intricate fibre-composites that contain diverse and structurally complex polysaccharides, glycoproteins and the phenylpropanoid lignin. It is of paramount importance that lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks are utilised with the utmost efficiency and this requires knowledge, innovation and diverse technologies2. Specifically, far more detailed information is needed about biomass fine structure and about the enzymes required for cell wall biosynthesis in vivo and cell wall deconstruction in vitro. In this proposal we aim to introduce a paradigm shift in the technology for screening and characterising enzymes and their biomass substrates. Our approach is underpinned by high-throughput carbohydrate microarray technology combined with synthetic carbohydrate chemistry and antibody probe sets. The work will be undertaken in partnership with leading international academic collaborators and industrial partners engaged in biofuel production, enzyme development, microarray technology and antibody production. The major outcomes will be a new microarray screening technology that will enable the advancement of new products within biomass degrading enzymes, plant cell wall engineering and functional biopolymers, as well as optimisation of existing Danish biofuel production.