Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

As traditional energy supplies become diminished, there is an increasing need for a sustainable production of useful renewable energy. Biological conversion of a plentiful source of energy, plant biomass, to organic fuels, hydrogen, electricity and other useful products, is a viable alternative to fossil fuels. Cellulose, a major component of plant biomass and of cellulosic wastes, can be decomposed by a wide variety of cellulolytic aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and mixed cultures. Microbial cellulose-degrading consortia are complex communities and the contributions of individual consortium members to the functioning of the consortium as a whole are not well understood. Specifically, the carbon flow from the cellulose substrate to various end products is not well elucidated. Previous studies have shown that especially anaerobic microorganisms degrade cellulose most efficiently, when they grow attached to cellulose fibers. We propose to investigate the link between structure and function of complex cellulose degrading communities. Our working hypothesis is that attached microbial growth in the form of a biofilm will facilitate niche formation which can be exploited by microorganisms with different physiological requirements, ultimately leading to a greater metabolic diversity and thus effective cellulose degradation. The long-term objective of the proposed research is to obtain well characterized mixed cultures with the ability to rapidly hydrolyse cellulose and to synthesize value-added products. Strains isolated from such communities will be used to produce "designer consortia" which will efficiently degrade cellulose. The results will be relevant both for fundamental research on microbe-substrate interactions as well as for potential application for the bioconversion of plant biomass to biofuels and other value-added products.