Cellulase Discovery Via Chemical Complementation

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award in the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) program supports work by Professor Virginia Cornish at Columbia University to carry out fundamental studies on technology to discover cellulase enzymes for biofuel production. One of the major bottlenecks to cost-competitive conversion of biomass to fermentable sugars for biofuel production is the high cost of the cellulase enzymes needed for biomass degradation. The Cornish laboratory has engineered a general system for coupling the growth of yeast to enzyme activity, a system that has now been adapted to detect cellulase activity and facilitate the identification of new cellulases. This strain is now being optimized so that it can be used to identify active enzymes from very large pools of candidate cellulases and is being used to search the DNA of microorganisms for novel cellulase enzymes. The optimization of the laboratory's strains around the cellulase application will also further the technology more generally, which will ultimately allow it to be applied to the detection of other hydrolase enzymes needed for biofuel production and to other classes of enzymes. This research has the potential to identify improved cellulase enzymes that could make the conversion of biomass to biofuels and other commercial products more cost-efficient, helping to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels for energy.