Isolation and Characterisation of Lignolytic Bacteria for Bioethanol Production

In the present century, usage of non-renewable hydrocarbon fuels for sufficing energy demands are not considered environmentally and ecologically sustainable. Second generation biofuel production as lignocellulosic bioethanol is considered a sustainable way for generating fuel. Bioethanol production is considered as an option among other thermo-chemical processes for providing energy in form of ethanol, preserving the ecosystem by reducing the pollutants emitted during fossil fuel combustion. The release of fermentable sugars had been a challenging issue due to the presence of lignin in plant cell walls. This paper focused its study on isolation of novel lignin degrading enzymes from bacteria present in the soil of Western Ghats of India as the region is unhabituated followed by its application for biodegradation of lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production. Much has been done for lignin degrading fungi but still there is not a single method of choice which can be applicable on industrial scale successfully. Hence, the present study focuses on the isolation of novel bacteria and their enzymes with lignolytic potential and their application in bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass into ethanol.