Biotechnological assessment of the ferulic acid esterase for sustainable and renewable processing of lignocellulosic biomass

Plant wastes from the farming and forestry industries can be used to produce new types of fuels, chemicals, and to make energy. However, these wastes need special processing to break them down and separate out the useful parts. This research looked at using a protein called ferulic acid esterase to help separate the parts out more efficiently. Two new proteins were investigated and found to be useful in this separation, and in the production of speciality chemicals. A new system for sorting this class of proteins was also developed, which gives a better indication of which proteins do which things.