Our scientific objectives are related to the use of microorganisms (mainly filamentous fungi) and their enzymes in industrial processes to obtain fuels, materials and chemicals (White Biotechnology) from renewable plant resources. The final aim is to contribute to the sustainable development of our society and reduce the biosphere warming by a reduced consumption of fossil resources. These objectives are well in agreement with those of the line of "Microbiology for Sustainable Development" of the new CIB Department of "Environmental Biology".

The work of the group has provided important contributions to the knowledge of the enzymatic system involved in the degradation of lignin (and other recalcitrant compounds) by fungi, which represents a key step for C recycling in land ecosystems and a central issue in the industrial use of plant biomass (e.g. in cellulose, animal feed, and bioethanol production). According to these results, the most recent studies combine basic and more applied aspects (this dual approach in the field of the enzymatic degradation of lignin has been discussed in a review of the group published in Curr Opini Biotechnol, see Martínez et al. 2008):

i) Basic projects on structure-function of key enzymes involved in lignocellulose biodegradation (to improve their catalytic properties) including:

- Ligninolytic hemeperoxidases, like versatile peroxidase (VP)

- Flavooxidases providing peroxide, like aryl-alcohol oxidase (AAO)

- Other enzymes of biotechnological interest, like laccases and esterases

Lignin oxidation (by LiP or VP) is produced by electron transfer from a surface Trp (see Pérez-Boada et al. JMB, 2005)

ii) More applied projects related to the use of fungi and their enzymes, including those improved by rational design or directed evolution, in industrial or environmental applications such as the future lignocellulose biorefineries for:

- Production of second generation bioethanol

- Sustainable production of materials and chemicals

Enzymes can be used as industrial biocatalysts (as an alternative to harsh chemicals) for the development of clean technologies (see Gutiérrez et al. TIBTECH, 2001)

The different studies performed are illustrated in the sections Publications and Financing of this web site that include the most recent papers (and patents) and the projects in course (together with the information of the last 10 years). A summary of the objectives of these projects (grouped in several lines) is included in the Research projects section.

The group projects have been mainly funded by the following Agencies:

- Spanish Biotechnology Programme (MEC/MICINN)

- EU Programmes of Agro-Industry of FP2-FP4; Quality of Life (Sustainable Agriculture and Cell Factory areas) of FP5; NMP ("Mastering Industrial Biotechnology" topic) of FP6; and KBBE of FP7

- CENIT Programme of the Spanish Centre for Technological Development (CDTI) of the MICINN

- Comunidad de Madrid

The main group publications are produced in Journals of the following areas:

- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: such as J Biol Chem, Biochemistry, Biochim Biophys Acta, etc (eight in 2009)

- Agriculture and Agroindustry: such as J Agric Food Chem, Bioresource Technol, J Exp Bot., etc (seven in 2009)

- Microbiology: such as Microbial Biotechnol, Appl Environ Microbiol and Appl Microbiol Biotechnol (four in 2009)

- Other: such as PNAS, Curr Opin Biotechnol, etc

- Patents (one in 2009)