ARS | Publication request: MICROBIAL CELLULOSE UTILIZATION: FUNDAMENTALS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

Submitted to: Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: March 3, 2002
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Cellulose, the major component of plant biomass, is a key component of the global carbon cycle. Cellulose is degraded by a wide variety of bacteria and fungi, but our understanding of the process at a physiological level lags far behind that at the enzymological level. Study of the physiology of cellulose degradation is complicated by the diverse and heterogeneous nature of cellulosic substrates, and by the difficulty in handling these insoluble substrates. Biochemical and modeling studies indicate that the manner in which cellodextrins (soluble products of enzymatic hydrolysis) are metabolized by the organisms has a large impact on energy availability and the allocation of cellular carbon and energy into microbial cell mass, cellulase enzymes, and metabolic end products.