Improving plant cell walls for use as a renewable industrial feedstock

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Cornell University

Professor David B. Wilson

I am studying the properties of two Thermobifida fusca proteins, E7 and E8 that consist of only carbohydrate binding modules. E7 has a family 33 CBM while E8 contains both a family 33 and a family 2 CBM. Both proteins bind to cellulose and stimulate cellulase activity when the enzyme is at a low level (Biotech. Bioeng. 2008: 100, 1066-1077). These proteins are being expressed in plants to see if they change the properties of their cell walls, as part of the RENEWALL project.

Web: http://www.mbg.cornell.edu/cals/mbg/faculty-staff/faculty/wilson.cfm