Application of cellulases from a thermophilic filamentous fungus in the saccharification of in natura and subjected to pretreatment with ferric nitrate sugarcane bagasse

• Grant number: 12/21002-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2013
• End date: August 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Daniela Alonso Bocchini
• Grantee: Franco Zavarizi
• Supervisor: Silvia Bolado Rodríguez
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidad de Valladolid (UVa), Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/15699-7 - Cellulases from a thermophilic filamentous fungus: studies of production, characterization and saccharification of sugarcane bagasse, BP.IC

Abstract

Microbial cellulases are enzymes that have potential for application in various biotechnological processes, especially in recent years the enzymatic saccharification of sugarcane bagasse for second generation ethanol production. Filamentous fungi are the most prominent producers of these enzymes, especially by solid state fermentation (SSF), an advantageous process from the standpoint of availability and low cost of substrates, as well as high yields obtained. The thermophilic fungi attract the interest in this context because they better adapt to the possible temperature increases during the SSF and because they usually produce enzymes most active and stable at high temperatures, desirable characteristics for several biotechnological/industrial applications, including the saccharification of lignocellulosic materials as sugarcane bagasse. Due to the recalcitrance of sugarcane bagasse pretreatments are required to obtain an efficient saccharification, and these can be chemical, physical and/or biological in order to facilitate the access of the cellulases to their substrates. This proposal aims at the application of cellulases produced by the thermophilic fungal isolate JCP 1-9 in the saccharification of in natura and subjected to pretreatment with ferric nitrate sugarcane bagasse. This is a new methodology for pretreatment, suggested by Prof. Silvia Bolado, of the Grupo de Tecnología en Procesos Químicos y Bioquímicos da Universidad de Valladolid - Spain, based on promising results obtained by the research group, using other lignocellulosic residues of composition close to that of bagasse. The raw and pretreated bagasse will be characterized regarding to the amount of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, in order to assess the percentage of conversion, and the sugars released will be evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively. (AU)