Lene Lange
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Title: Developing the bio-economy: Fast track discovery of new enzymes for efficient and value added biomass conversion
Biography
Biography: Lene Lange
Abstract
A new fast track enzyme discovery technology platform has been developed. It differentiates from existing approaches as it is non-alignment based and facilitates prediction of function of the enzyme directly from the (genome) sequence. New enzymes and enzyme-based processes are being developed for producing biomass-based food ingredients, feed additives, health-promoting products, components for skincare and wound healing as well as fertilizer, fibers, and building blocks for chemicals. Enzyme discoveries of relevance for the following types of biomass feed stock have recently been made: the green biorefinery, making value added products from green grass, clover, etc. Seaweed biomass, from species of brown algae, growing meters high in temperate/colder waters, have already now been documented to hold several components with potentials for being developed into new value chains. Feather is composed of the proteinaceous, highly recalcitrant Keratin. It has been shown that a blend composed of three specific types of fungal enzymes can be used for decomposing the keratin into peptides and amino acids. Interestingly, the keratin-degrading fungi have in these studies been shown to have four different LPMO genes, (Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenases) which may be directly involved in breaking down the keratin. Enzymes of relevance for improved processing of fish skin collagen are being studied in the project Collagen Hydrolysate funded as a Nordic Innovation program.
References:
- Lange L, Huang Y, Busk P K (2016) Microbial decomposition of keratin in nature- new hypotheses with industrial relevance. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 100:2083-2096.
- Busk P K, Lange L (2015) Classification of fungal and bacterial lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs). BMC Genomics 16:368.
- Lange L, Grell M N (2014) The prominent role of fungi and fungal enzymes in the ant-fungus biomass conversion symbiosis. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 98:4839-4851.
- Busk P K, Lange M, Pilgaard B, Lange L (2014) several genes encoding enzymes with the same activity are necessary for aerobic fungal degradation of cellulose in nature. PLoS ONE 9(12):
- Busk P K and Lange L (2013) Function-based classification of carbohydrate-active enzymes by recognition of short, conserved peptide motifs. Appl. Env. Microbiology 79(11):3380-91.