Claims
- 1. A method for degrading lignocellulose to sugars, said method comprising contacting said lignocellulose with at least one auxiliary enzyme and at least one cellulase for a time sufficient to liberate said sugars, wherein at least 20% of said sugars are liberated in the absence of high temperature and pressure.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said auxiliary enzyme is added as a crude or a semi-purified enzyme mixture.
- 3. The method claim 1, wherein said auxiliary enzyme is produced by culturing at least one organism on a substrate to produce said enzyme.
- 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said organism is selected from the group consisting of a bacterium, a fungus, and a yeast.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said auxiliary enzyme is produced in a plant cell.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said lignocellulose is contacted with more than one auxiliary enzyme.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said auxiliary enzyme is a xylanase.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein said lignocellulose is selected from the group consisting of corn stover, corn fiber, Distiller's dried grains from corn, rice straw, hay, sugarcane bagasse, barley, malt and other agricultural biomass, switchgrass, forestry wastes, poplar wood chips, pine wood chips, sawdust, and yard waste.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said lignocellulose comprises corn stover.
- 10. The method of claim 8, wherein said lignocellulose comprises corn fiber.
- 11. The method of claim 8, wherein said lignocellulose comprises Distiller's dried grains.
- 12. The method of claim 1, wherein said auxiliary enzyme is incubated with said lignocellulose prior to the addition of said cellulase.
- 13. A method for degrading a stover to sugars, said method comprising contacting said stover with a xylanase and a cellulase for a time sufficient to liberate said sugars, wherein at least 20% of said sugars are liberated in the absence of high temperature and pressure.
- 14. The method of 13, wherein said xylanase is an endoxylanase.
- 15. The method of 14, wherein said cellulase is an endocellulase.
- 16. The method of 14, wherein said cellulase is an exocellulase.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/376,527, filed Apr. 30, 2002, and U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/432,750, filed Dec. 12, 2002, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60376527 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
|
60432750 |
Dec 2002 |
US |