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Grant recipient

Aniko Varnai

FunAccess: Leveraging the Mechanisms by which Fungi Increase Plant Cell Wall Accessibility to Unlock the Industrial Valorization Potential of Plant Biomass
Grant amount: DKK 9,997,521
Aniko Varnai says: “In nature, penetration of the plant cell wall (PCW) is the important first step of plant colonization by fungi, irrespective of lifestyle. For that, fungi need to secrete small PCW-active proteins that can penetrate the pores of the PCW and reach key crosslinks that limit access to the PCW and its cellulose microfibrils in particular. These junction points also hinder biomass processability during enzymatic saccharification and cellulose fibrillation. In FunAccess, we will identify 1) small fungal proteins with predicted or unknown function that increase PCW accessibility and 2) crosslinks in PCWs that limit access to common PCW polysaccharides in native biomass and pulp samples. The ultimate goals are to describe the universal mechanisms fungi use to increase PCW accessibility, with focus on novel PCW-active protein systems, and to demonstrate the potential of these proteins for complete saccharification of biomass and production of nanocellulose beyond the state of the art.”
Aniko Varnai
Aniko Varnai
PhD, researcher Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås