The Penn State Research Foundation

The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of

Utah State University

Repligen Corporation

Ming Tien

John D Carlson

Haiying Liang

Roberta L Farrell

Steven D Aust

Thomas K Kirk

John A Bumpus

Transgenic lignocellulosic plants are provided according to embodiments of the present invention, the transgenic plants transformed with an expression cassette encoding a protein operably linked to a signal peptide which targets the protein to a cell wall of the transgenic plant, where at least 5% of the total amino acid residues of the protein are tyrosine, lysine, serine, threonine or cysteine. Methods of increasing lignin-protein bonds in a lignocellulosic plant are provided according to embodiments of the present invention which include expressing a recombinant nucleic acid in a lignocellulosic plant, the recombinant nucleic acid encoding a protein operably linked to a signal peptide which targets the protein to the cell wall of a plant, where at least 5% of the total amino acid residues of the protein are tyrosine, lysine, serine, threonine or cysteine.

Compositions and methods relating to transgenic plants and cellulosic ethanol production

A process for degrading environmentally persistent organic pollutant compounds by reacting those pollutant compounds with fungal enzymes containing a lignin-degrading enzyme and hydrogen peroxide. This reaction preferably takes place under aerobic conditions such that the organic pollutant compounds are degraded. Using the present invention, degradation to carbon dioxide and water is possible. Alternatively, the reaction may be halted to leave desirable reaction intermediates. The enzyme and hydrogen peroxide system of the present invention is found to be ideal for degrading various types of orgaic pollutants. Moreover, the reaction system is nonspecific. As a result, only a single type of fungus or fungus-generated enzyme system is required in order to degrade a wide spectrum of pollutants. One embodiment of the present invention relates to a preferred process where the enzyme (peroxidase) and hydrogen peroxide are provided by a lignin-degrading fungi or fungi mixed with the pollutant organic compound. Adding the living fungus avoids the need for introducing the hydrogen peroxide and enzyme periodically into the reaction mix, since the fungus produces both the extracellular enzyme and hydrogen peroxide.

Methods for the degradation of environmentally persistent organic

Novel lignin-degrading enzymes designated rLDM.TM.1, rLDM.TM.2, rLDM.TM.3, rLDM.TM.4, rLDM.TM.5, and rLDM.TM.6 are isolated and purified to the essentially pure form, wherein each rLDM.TM. is substantially free of other rLDM.TM. and native proteins, from the extracellular medium of a novel mutant microbe. The novel mutant, designated SC26, produces large amounts of the rLDM.TM., thus facilitating the isolation and purification of them. These rLDM.TM. are useful in pulping processes to degrade and/or modify lignin.

Novel enzymes which catalyze the degradation and modification of lignin

Growing community of inventors

State College, PA, United States of America

Ming Tien