Introduction Lignin is the second most abundant polymer on earth and is found in almost all biomass resources. This inexpensive feedstock is an ideal carbon source that can be used to makes fuels and chemicals. However, there are substantial challenges to convert it into a liquid fuel [1]. Lignin is an amorphous polymer consisting of randomly branched phenylpropenyl (C9) groups. The linkages be...

Isolation of lignin degrading microorganisms from cow dung, soil compost, and paper pulp effluent was carried out in the present investigation. Totally 9 isolates of lignin degrading microbes were isolated using minimal salt media containing lignin (MSM-L) and lignolytic activities were preliminary screened by testing against methylene blue indicator dye containing LB medium. Eight microbes sho...

In natural world, lignin is unique and the most abundant renewable carbon source after cellulose, therefore, more applications of adding commercial value of lignin are needed. Polylactic acid (PLA), which has the second highest consumption of bioplastic in the world, is a biodegradable composite with widely application in industry. A filler adding into PLA can decrease the cost of the composite...

Due to the high cost and environment issues in the production of carbon fiber from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and pitch, the use of low cost bio-renewable materials are of great interest as an alternative precursor. Lignin is a highly aromatic biopolymer, extracted as a byproduct of wood pulping and has been investigated as a suitable precursor for carbon fibers. In the present work, we have demon...

Lignin is a major component of plant cell walls that is essential to their function. However, the strong bonds that bind the various subunits of lignin, and its cross-linking with other plant cell wall polymers, make it one of the most important factors in the recalcitrance of plant cell walls against polysaccharide utilization. Plants make lignin from a variety of monolignols including p-couma...

BACKGROUND To expand on the range of products which can be obtained from lignocellulosic biomass, the lignin component should be utilized as feedstock for value-added chemicals such as substituted aromatics, instead of being incinerated for heat and energy. Enzymes could provide an effective means for lignin depolymerization into products of interest. In this study, soil bacteria were isolated ...

Bedouin goats were fed on wheat straw as a single-component diet under two watering regimens, drinking once daily or once every 4 d, in order to clarify whether lignin-degradation products were absorbed, metabolized and excreted in urine. Acid-soluble lignin accounted for 220 g/kg total lignin, its digestibility was the highest (0.87) and was unaffected by water deprivation. Acid-insoluble lign...

BACKGROUND Delignification pretreatments of biomass and methods to assess their efficacy are crucial for biomass-to-biofuels research and technology. Here, we applied confocal and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) using one- and two-photon excitation to map the lignin distribution within bagasse fibers pretreated with acid and alkali. The evaluated spectra and decay times are corr...

BACKGROUND Flowthrough pretreatment is capable of removing much higher quantities of hemicellulose and lignin from lignocellulosic biomass than batch pretreatment performed at otherwise similar conditions. Comparison of these two pretreatment configurations for sugar yields and lignin removal can provide insights into lignocellulosic biomass deconstruction. Therefore, we applied liquid hot wate...

BACKGROUND Second-generation biofuels are generally produced from the polysaccharides in the lignocellulosic plant biomass, mainly cellulose. However, because cellulose is embedded in a matrix of other polysaccharides and lignin, its hydrolysis into the fermentable glucose is hampered. The senesced inflorescence stems of a set of 20 Arabidopsis thaliana mutants in 10 different genes of the lign...