Study Group: Industrial Enzymes

Group Leader: Dr. Gerhard Kerns

The application of technical enzymes is gaining in significance. Alongside the classic areas new applications are increasingly being developed, such as in the pulp and paper industry as well as the textile industry. The production of cellulase and hemicellulase is greatly advanced. The different applications (e.g. for cellulase/xylanase) require the enzyme complex to be built up differently - optimised for the application in question. In addition to this the use of the so-called "cheap enzyme" requires a high effectiveness in enzyme production.

The work group concentrates on the production of strains of fungi for producing cellulase and hemicellulases (xylanase), in particular for use in the pulp and paper industry as well as for modifying single and multiple year lignocellulose for the production of biologically biodegradeable materials that are free of glue addition. The cellulase/xylanase complexes fermented using a base of stillage are suitable for the modification of lignocellulose pulp in the production of materials (e.g. medium-density fibre boards) without the addition of bonding agents (e.g. OS DE 100 43 662, EP 1 184 144 A2). In this field SIAB has a strong cooperation with the Institute of Wood and Paper Technologies at the Dresden University of Technology.

The Trichoderma reesei strains changed in regulation produced until now point towards an over all cellulase bonding rate of 15 mg of separated protein per gram of mycelium and per hour, based on using lactose as the C-source and special fed-batch technology.

In addition to developing strains and the work on process management our aim is to test the suitability of the strains changed in regulation as hosts for the heterological expression of glyco-proteins in higher organisms. Along with the material production the scientific aim is to produce results that can be generalised on the suitability of both filamentous fungi T. reesei and P. verruculosum as a host for the heterological expression of proteins and to demonstrate differences between the strains of both of these different species.

Projects:

Utilization of stillage from the bio-ethanol fermentation for the production of hydrolytic enzymes for the modification of lignocellulosic fibre materials (P.no. 22010203)
FNR


SMWK

Production of enzymes and valuable substances from stillage (P.no. 10877/1684)
SAB


SMUL

Elimination of odour emissions and improvement of the mechanical properties by enzymatic modification of lignin containing materials (P.no. 03I4740)
BMF

Development of a process for both to reduce the energy demand and increase the strength of wood and paper materials using hydrolytic enzymes (P.no. 14649 BR)
AiF