earticle

영어

Degradation and conversion of lignocellulosic biomass is attracting attention because of its potential for the development of a sustainable environmentally friendly bioenergy, biorefining and biomaterials industry (1). It can be converted into useful products such as soluble sugars, ethanol, and industrially useful chemicals. As a linear polymer of D-glucose residues linked by β-1,4- glycosidic bonds, cellulose is hydrolyzed by enzyme systems such as endo-β-1,4- glucanases (EG) (E.C.3.2.1.4), cellobiohydrolases (CBH) (E.C.3.2.1.91) and β-glucosidases (BGL) (E.C.3.2.1.21). These enzyme components, when acting synergistically, affect the maximum hydrolysis of native cellulose (2). In this study, fungal strains with cellulase (BGL and EG) activity were isolated from rotten citrus peel, identified as Penicillium italicum based on ITS region analysis. P. italicum BGL and EG were purified and its biochemical properties, including optimum pH and temperature, thermostability, determination of molecular mass, substrate specificity and kinetic parameters, were investigated. To elucidate the functions of EG and BGL, we have conducted gene cloning studies of cellulases and expression of recombinant proteins from these strains.