By contrast, lignin is an aromatic polymer that can be modified into beneficial industrial chemicals. Enzymes extracted from fungi can disintegrate lignin, which is considered the hardest among the three polymers to collapse. However, researchers are looking for bacterial enzymes that are simpler to synthesize.
As part of an earlier study, Guillermina Hernandez-Raquet and collaborators demonstrated that gut microbes from four termite species could disintegrate lignin in anaerobic bioreactors. At present, together with Yuki Tobimatsu and Mirjam Kabel, they wished to have a closer examination of the process through which microbes from the wood-eating insects degrade lignin in wheat straw, and determine the changes they make to this material.
Termite Gut Microbes Could Aid Biofuel Production – Advanced BioFuels USA advancedbiofuelsusa.info - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from advancedbiofuelsusa.info Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Termite gut microbes could aid biofuel production - American Chemical Society acs.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from acs.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Wheat straw, the dried stalks left over from grain production, is a potential source of biofuels and commodity chemicals. But before straw can be converted to useful products by biorefineries, the polymers that make it up must be broken down into their building blocks. Now, researchers reporting in
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Spotlight on Research: Back to future – a case of Japanese rural migration
Susanne Klien is an associate professor at Hokkaido University’s Modern Japanese Studies Program (MJSP). Having explored intangible cultural heritage across Japan, Klien has been expanding her research in area studies and anthropology on rural Japan. During her previous work for a research institute in Tokyo, she observed a unique migration pattern that has been taking place in Japan: more young people are relocating from big cities to rural areas, for example to the Tohoku area, the northeastern portion of Japan’s main island of Honshu.