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Towards Redesigning Cellulose Biosynthesis for Improved Bioenergy Feedstocks

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Book cover Plants and BioEnergy

Part of the book series: Advances in Plant Biology ((AIPB,volume 4))

Abstract

With an estimated 200 billion tons produced annually, cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on earth. Cellulose is expected to be the principal feedstock for liquid biofuels and bio-based products, but its para-crystalline nature results in recalcitrance to deconstruction required for biological and chemical conversion to useful products. Recent work solving the 3D structure of a bacterial cellulose synthase, modeling of plant cellulose synthases, and the 3D contour structure of the catalytic domain of a plant cellulose synthase have contributed new perspectives on the organization of catalytic units in the rosette complex. These discoveries stimulate new approaches to engineer the complex to make altered forms of cellulose for enhancing efficiency of biomass deconstruction for biofuel production or for synthesis of new materials and nanoproducts.

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Acknowledgments

This review was completed through support of the Center for Direct Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (award no. DE–SC0000997).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EA 3900-BIOPI, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, 80039, France

    Catherine Rayon

  2. Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2054, USA

    Anna T. Olek & Nicholas C. Carpita

Authors
  1. Catherine Rayon
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  2. Anna T. Olek
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  3. Nicholas C. Carpita
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas C. Carpita .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Maureen C. McCann

  2. Botany, Institute of Biosciences, University of Campinas, Sao Paolo, Brazil

    Marcos S. Buckeridge

  3. Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Nicholas C. Carpita

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Rayon, C., Olek, A.T., Carpita, N.C. (2014). Towards Redesigning Cellulose Biosynthesis for Improved Bioenergy Feedstocks. In: McCann, M., Buckeridge, M., Carpita, N. (eds) Plants and BioEnergy. Advances in Plant Biology, vol 4. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9329-7_11

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