Institute:
Saxon Institute for Applied Biotechnology
at the Leipzig University (SIAB)
Address:
Permoserstrasse 15
D-04318 Leipzig, Germany
Phone: +49-(0) 341-2352078
Fax: +49-(0) 341-2352083
e-mail: siab(at)rz.uni-leipzig.de
Project leader:
Prof. Dr. Christian Wilhelm (cwilhelm(at)rz.uni-leipzig.de)
Responsible co-worker:
Dipl.-Ing. Holger Unbehaun
Dr. Swetlana König
Dipl.-Ing. Daniel Spindler
Dr. Gerhard Kerns
Objectives:
SIAB is an innovative company which carries out applied research in biotechnology and has long-time experience in industrial enzymes and bioprocess engineering, e.g. application of cellulase-/ hemicellulase-complexes for the enzymatic modification of lignocellulosic fibre materials for the production of glue-free wood materials (esp. medium density fibre boards), testing up to industrial scale.
The subproject comprises three main activities:
(1) Development and characterization of hydrolytic enzymes for the modification of lignocellulosic materials
- Hemicellulase-/ endoglucanase complexes, esp. xylanase, that are suitable for the degradation of those carbohydrates in lignocellulosic fibres which are responsible for VOC formation during high temperature extrusion
- development and characterisation of hydrolytic enzymes/ enzyme complexes obtained from two fungal production strains
- optimisation of the fermentation process for the production of the relevant enzymes up to pilot scale
- production of the required quantities of concentrated crude enzyme for its use in the work packages of the ERA-IB-project
(2) Development of effective incubation processes for the modification of lignin and fibre substrates using the developed enzymes or enzyme complexes
- incubation-screening of substrates with the enzyme complexes of the project
- optimisation of the incubation conditions up to large scale
- development of separation and drying processes of the substrate
(3) Fermentation of white rot fungi for the production of lignin-modifying enzymes
- experiments concerning the comparison between solid state and submerged fermentation for the laccase production with selected strains
- Production of lignin modifying enzymes with pre-selected strains from USC and ULB up to pilot scale with the aim to supply enzyme samples for the investigations and screening tests concerning the application
