S196: Do Halophilic Microorganisms Possess the Enzymatic Capabilities to Pre-Treat Biomass for Subsequent Fermentative Biofuel Production?

The possibility of biofuel production and use is gaining more interest and credibility as demand for fossil fuels rise and supply diminishes. Biofuels, that can elevate some of this demand, include fermentation products such as hydrogen and ethanol. Unfortunately, there are many economic and negative environmental impacts that need to be solved before biofuels become a viable replacement for some of the fossil fuel demand. One environmental problem is that raw biomass has to undergo harsh pre-treatments to convert it into fermentable sugars. These pretreatments typically require high temperatures and extreme pH conditions. The use of halophiles for degrading cellulosic biomass, especially in the use of their enzymes, might help reduce the need for high temperatures and pH neutralization of the pretreated biomass before fermentation. Significant amounts of information have been discovered about extremophilic lignocellulolytic systems. In comparison, investigations of halophilic lignocellulolytic degradation are at their initial stages. In addition to traditional culture and protein purification studies, current work with modern recombinant screening techniques and data mining of genomes has the potential to yield many halophilic lignocellulytic enzymes. As such, this is an exciting period as there is much to learn about in the biodegradation of biomass and the enzymatic activity of halophilic microorganisms especially in regards to developing biotechnologies with halophilic lignocellulytic enzymes for treating biomass. It can be anticipated that further research with halophilic organisms and their enzymatic systems will lead to innovations in the field of biofuel production.