BIORENEW - White Biotechnology for added value products from renewable plant polymers: Design of tailor-made biocatalysts and new industrial bioprocesses (FP6-NMP) (2006-10-01 - 2010-09-30) (»add to infobox)

Angel T. MARTÍNEZ, Noel CARTIER, Dietmar PLATTNER, Gudbrand RØDSRUD, Raj GILL, Gerardo ARTAL CORREAS, Michel PETIT-CONIL, Bengt JOENSSON, Gerhard FAßBENDER, Katrin SCHEIBNER, Alfred ABÄCHERLI, Javier ROMERO, Annele I. HATAKKA, Marcel ASTHER, Martin HOFRICHTER, Andreas KANDELBAUER, Steffen DANIELSEN, João ALMEIDA, Gellerstedt GÖRAN, Georg GUEBITZ, Moreira Vilar MARIA TERESA, Artur CAVACO PAULO, Lígia O. MARTINS, Jose F. COLOM, Cees A. M. J. J. VAN DEN HONDEL, Andrew Trevor SMITH

CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS (ES300 - Madrid) (Spain), AHLSTROM RESEARCH AND SERVICES S.A. (FR714 - Isère) (France), ALBERT-LUDWIGS-UNIVERSITAET FREIBURG (DE131 - Freiburg im Breisgau, Stadtkreis) (Germany), BORREGAARD INDUSTRIES LTD (NO031 - Østfold) (Norway), BUCKMAN LABORATORIES SA (BE234 - Arr. Gent) (Belgium), CELULOSA DE LEVANTE S.A. (ES514 - Tarragona) (Spain), CENTRE TECHNIQUE DE L'INDUSTRIE DES PAPIERS CARTONS ET CELLULOSES (FR714 - Isère) (France), DOMSJOE FABRIKER AB (SE071 - Västernorrlands län) (Sweden), GEORG BÖRNER CHEMISCHES WERK FÜR DACH- UND BAUTENSCHUTZ GMBH & CO KG (DE712 - Frankfurt am Main, Kreisfreie Stadt) (Germany), GERCID GMBH (DE300 - Berlin) (Germany), GRANIT RECHERCHE DÉVELOPPEMENT SA (CH011 - Vaud) (Switzerland), GRUPO EMPRESARIAL ENCE (ES300 - Madrid) (Spain), HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO (FI181 - Uusimaa) (Finland), INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE AGRONOMIQUE (INRA) (FR101 - Paris) (France), INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ZITTAU (DED0Q - Loebau-Zittau) (Germany), KOMPETENZZENTRUM HOLZ GMBH (AT312 - Linz-Wels) (Austria), NOVOZYMES A/S (DK001 - København og Frederiksberg kommuner) (Denmark), PUBLICAMPAIGN - CONSULTORES, LDA. (PT133 - Peninsula de Setubal) (Portugal), ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (SE010 - Stockholms län) (Sweden), TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET GRAZ (AT221 - Graz) (Austria), UNIVERSIDADE DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (ES111 - A Coruña) (Spain), UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO (PT112 - Cávado) (Portugal), UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA (PT133 - Peninsula de Setubal) (Portugal), UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA (ES511 - Barcelona) (Spain), UNIVERSITEIT LEIDEN (NL331 - Agglomeratie Leiden en Bollenstreek) (Netherlands), UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX (UK531 - East Sussex) (Great Britain)

Plant polymers are the main source of renewable materials in Earth. The use of biotechnology will permit to develop new routes for cellulose and lignin-based added value products, including speciality paper products and surfactants. The industrial utilization of cellulose includes pulps for the paper industry. However, its characteristics permits to use cellulose for speciality products whose potential is still to be fully investigated. Lignin is a heterogeneous aromatic polymer, highly recalcitrant towards degradation. Most industrial uses of cellulose require the previous removal of lignin, which is generally burnt at the mill. However, the chemical nature of lignin makes this polymer an interesting source of aromatic chemicals. Oxidoreductases are involved in both lignin biosynthesis and biodegradation. Therefore, they have the highest potential for modification of lignocellulosic materials and isolated lignins. However, the natural enzymes are far to optimally operate under industrial conditions. Some oxidoreductases have been extensively investigated in terms of structure-function relationships. This will allow a new approach based on tuning their catalytic and operational properties using protein-engineering tools, such as forced evolution, and site-directed mutagenesis. The applications of tailor-made enzymes will include among others: i) increase of strength and other properties of cellulose fibres, and improve refining; ii) production of lignin-free cellulose for high-quality products; iii) production of lignin-based surfactants (as dispersants and nano-emulsifiers) and adhesives. In this way, the IP will contribute to maintain the EU leading position in the market of industrial biotechnology. The potential impact is illustrated by the turnover of the EU Paper-Forest cluster that attains 400 000 million/year. In this way, the IP will contribute to transform a part of the EU chemical sector to more sustainable and eco-friendly manufacturing processes.

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