The oil crisis during the 1970s turned interest towards the utilization of renewable resources and towards lignocellulosics in particular. The 1970s were also the cradle period of biotechnology, and the years when biotechnical utilization of lignocellulosic waste from agriculture and forestry gained priori ty. This was a logical conclusion since one of nature's most important biologi cal reactions is the conversion of wood and other lignocellulosic materials to carbon dioxide, water and humic substances. However, while biotechnology in other areas like medicine and pharmacology concerned production of expen sive products on a small scale, biotechnical utilization and conversion of ligno cellulosics meant production of inexpensive products on a large scale. Biotechnical utilization of lignocellulosic materials is therefore a very difficult task, and the commercial utilization of this technology has not progressed as rapidly as one would have desired. One reason for this was the lack of basic knowledge of enzyme mechanisms involved in the degradation and conversion of wood, other lignocellulosics and their individual components. There are also risks associated with initiating a technical development before a stable platform of knowledge is available. Several of the projects started with en thusiasm have therefore suffered some loss of interest. Also contributing to this failing interest is the fact that the oil crisis at the time was not a real one. At present, nobody predicts a rapid exhaustion of the oil resources and fuel production from lignocellulosics is no longer a high priority.

This volume reviews basic research into the biochemistry and genetics of lignocellulose biodegradation; the breakdown of cellulose containing products utilizing microorganisms. This topic has received much attention of late because of possibilities for the biotechnology industry and because it is hoped that advances in the field will make a contribution to the energy crisis by utilizing biomass. However, there remains a good deal of basic research still to be done before full exploitation can be achieved.

The breadth and depth of understanding of many areas concerning basidiomycetes has increased dramatically since the premier publication of Frankland et al., Decomposer Basidiomycetes: their Biology and Ecology. New vistas have opened up with the advent of powerful computing, modeling and molecular approaches helping to greatly increase the general understanding of the ecology of basidiomycetes. This is tantamount to understanding the role of fungi in natural ecosystems because they are major agents of decomposition and nutrient cycling. These remarkable advances have been incorporated into this volume that discusses all aspects of saprotrophic basidiomycete ecology.

Collating otherwise hard-to-get and recently acquired knowledge in one work, this is a comprehensive reference on the synthesis, properties, characterization, and applications of this eco-friendly class of plastics. A group of internationally renowned researchers offer their first-hand experience and knowledge, dealing exclusively with those biodegradable polyesters that have become increasingly important over the past two decades due to environmental concerns on the one hand and newly-devised applications in the biomedical field on the other. The result is an unparalleled overview for the industrial chemist and materials scientist, as well as for developers and researchers in industry and academia alike.

This book provides important aspects of sustainable degradation of lignocellulosic biomass which has a pivotal role for the economic production of several value-added products and biofuels with safe environment. Different pretreatment techniques and enzymatic hydrolysis process along with the characterization of cell wall components have been discussed broadly. The following features of this book attribute its distinctiveness: This book comprehensively covers the improvement in methodologies for the biomass pretreatment, hemicellulose and cellulose breakdown into fermentable sugars, the analytical methods for biomass characterization, and bioconversion of cellulosics into biofuels. In addition, mechanistic analysis of biomass pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis have been discussed in details, highlighting key factors influencing these processes at industrial scale.

Lignocellulose Biodegradation will be useful for chemists, biochemists, microbiologists, molecular biologists, and biochemical engineers. This book describes advances in lignocellulose biodegradation and application in biotechnology. It contains a combination of original research and review chapters. An overview chapter on lignocellulose biodegradation and applications in biotechnology focuses on recent research progress in the field. Lignocellulose Biodegradation includes sections on pretreatment, biodegradation, enzyme characterization and application.