Biology Department Seminar

Microbial cellulose degradation has been vastly explored in single cultures in regards to its application in the biofuels industry. However, in nature, microbial communities of various complexities are responsible for performing the degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose. We are therefore interested in the ability of different
species to interact in the degradation of cellulosic substrates and the potential derivation of fuels from this process. We are particularly interested in identifying under which conditions microbial cellulose utilization occurs the fastest, including the improvement brought upon
by a microbial community as compared to a single organism. This talk will address the following key aspects of our ongoing research in the microbial ecology of cellulose degradation: a) known differences in rates of cellulose degradation between single and mixed cultures, b) current and future cellulolytic environments where microbial communities have been identified and described, c) current methodologies applied to the enrichment and identification of cellulolytic organisms from the environment, and d) the challenges that lay ahead in the exploration of diversity and synergistic interactions involved in cellulose degradation.