Substrate reactivity as a function of the extent of reaction in the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose.

In an effort to better understand the role of the substrate in the rapid fall off in the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose with conversion, substrate reactivity was measured as a function of conversion. These measurements were made by interrupting the hydrolysis of pretreated wood at various degrees of conversion; and, after boiling and washing, restarting the hydrolysis in fresh buffer with fresh enzyme. The comparison of the restart rate per enzyme adsorbed with the initial rate per enzyme adsorbed, both extrapolated back to zero conversion, provides a measurement of the substrate reactivity without the complications of product inhibition or cellulase inactivation. The results indicate that the substrate reactivity falls only modestly as conversion increases. However, the restart rate is still higher than the rate of the uninterrupted hydrolysis, particularly at high conversion. Hence we conclude that the loss of substrate reactivity is not the principal cause for the long residence time required for complete conversion. (c) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 56: 650-655, 1997.