Wood chemistry and biomass valorization technologies

Research classification (Frascati)
Head of the research group
Keyword
X-ray crystallography
structural biology
biomass valorization
enzymology
rational design of biocatalysts
biocatalysis
Overview
The group is involved in a variety of research anddevelopment activities related to the valorizationof plant biomass. The direction of research activities that focus on the biological routes to valorization of biomass deal with soil bacteria andtheir enzymes as well as the study of lignolyticenzymes secreted by fungi (i.e. Cerrena unicolor)when grown on mandarin pomace waste as thegrowth substrate. In addition to that, some of theresearch focuses on enzymes from extremophilicorganisms that are involved in the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass. In addition to theenzymological characterization of those enzymes,the laboratory uses X-ray crystallography andsmall angle X-ray scattering methods to studytheir structure-function relationships.The research group is also involved in researchand development activities that are focused onthe development of fractionation and analyticalchemistry technologies of lignocellulosic biomass and on developing novel functional materialsfrom plant-based biopolymers. In the past year,in collaboration with the Agricultural Universityof Georgia, another project started with fundingfrom the Estonian Environmental InvestmentCentre that focuses on the valorization of mandarin pomace wastes.
Important results
Pupart, H.; Jõul, P.; Bramanis, M. I.; Lukk, T. (2023). Characterization of the Ensemble of LigninRemodeling DyP-Type Peroxidases from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). Energies, 16 (3), 1557. DOI: 10.3390/en16031557.
Publications related to the research group