Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
15881 | Current Opinion in Biotechnology | 2011 | 7 Pages |
Abstract
The microbial degradation of lignin has been well studied in white-rot and brown-rot fungi, but is much less well studied in bacteria. Recent published work suggests that a range of soil bacteria, often aromatic-degrading bacteria, are able to break down lignin. The enzymology of bacterial lignin breakdown is currently not well understood, but extracellular peroxidase and laccase enzymes appear to be involved. There are also reports of aromatic-degrading bacteria isolated from termite guts, though there are conflicting reports on the ability of termite gut micro-organisms to break down lignin. If biocatalytic routes for lignin breakdown could be developed, then lignin represents a potentially rich source of renewable aromatic chemicals.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Bioengineering
Authors
Timothy DH Bugg, Mark Ahmad, Elizabeth M Hardiman, Rahul Singh,