The current state of the US fuel economy calls for a paradigm shift in fuel production. Production of ethanol and other “next generation” biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass represents a sustainable route to biofuels production. Currently, research in the area of cellulosic biofuels is focused on development of ethanol production processes from lignocellulose feedstocks such as corn stover, dried distillers' grains (DDG), switchgrass, poplar and pine. Cellulose is the main structural polymer shared among these sources with hemicellulose and lignin content varying considerably. It has become imperative not only to understand but also control the biochemical processes around hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass.

Understanding the role of microbial enzymes in deconstruction of biomass is one of the primary interim goals in the overall biomass-to-fuel process development. Focusing specifically on how fungi degrade biomass through secretion of enzymes know as glycosyl hydrolases (GHs) will allow for fermentation technology to be better developed when considering ethanol production. The genomes of a variety of fungi contain up to 200+ GHs encoding genes thought to play roles in the hydrolysis of some or all of the components of lignocellulosic biomass. Our goal is to discover and utilize enzymes and organisms that best degrade complex biomass. In addition, we are performing research on non-traditional fungal ethanologens that are able to utilize both pentose and hexose sugars derived from hemicellulose and cellulose deconstruction.