Researchers in JBEI's Deconstruction Division are developing new and improved ways to convert biomass into fermentable sugars. The team is developing a fundamental understanding of how the components of biomass are altered in complex environments during deconstruction, under new pretreatment regimes, and using optimized enzyme cocktails. In terms of biomass pretreatment, we are developing novel solvents that efficiently fractionate biomass into separate polysaccharide and lignin output streams. The use of ionic liquids - salts that are liquids rather than crystals at room temperature - to pretreat biomass and to generate a product that is readily converted into monomeric sugars shows great promise as a new technology for biofuels production. We are also searching within known ecosystems, such as rain forest floors and composts, for new enzymes isolated from microbial communities that are capable of effectively breaking down biomass. Once these enzymes have been identified and isolated, we employ genetic engineering and bioinformatics-driven approaches to improve enzymes in order to produce optimized enzyme cocktails that can rapidly hydrolyze the polysaccharides present after pretreatment into monomeric sugars.
