E.R. Master
B.Sc. (McGill), Ph.D. (UBC), Post-doc., KTH, Stockholm Sweden Room: WB420C
Tel.: 416-946-7861
Email: emma.master@utoronto.ca
Websites: http://chem-eng.utoronto.ca/~bioproducts and www.biozone.utoronto.ca
Memberships
Canadian Society of MicrobiologistsAmerican Society for Microbiology
Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry
Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada
Research Interests
Enzymes for Fibre Processing and Engineering
Plant biomass has been identified as an important resource for the production of second-generation biofuels. However, just as plastics are vital to the economics of petroleum refineries, it is anticipated that high-value bioproducts will be critical to the economic viability of future biorefineries primarily producing renewable energy.
Now, with the development of high-throughput technologies for life science research, increased computational power, and improved fundamental understanding of cell and molecular biology, it is possible to engineer novel bio-based polymers, composites and chemicals that can reduce our reliance on fossil resources.
Our approach to developing new, technically valuable polymers and chemicals from plant biomass is to harness 1) the regio- and stereo-specificity of enzyme catalyzed reactions and structural proteins that have evolved to transform lignocellulosic substrates derived from plant fibre, 2) our ability to manipulate protein function using genetic tools, to enhance or tailor protein performance, and 3) molecular tools that alter enzyme activities during plant fibre biosynthesis, to generate plants that produce novel polymers and composite materials in vivo. These approaches benefit from three key advantages of enzyme catalyzed reactions, 1) catalytic specificity that allows predictable modification of complex substrates, 2) mild reaction requirements that can reduce energy costs and 3) biodegradability of proteins, which helps to ensure that the end product, and its synthesis, is sustainable. Our approach also benefits from recent advances in plant genomics and genetics that have furthered our understanding and ability manipulate lignocellulose biosynthesis.
In addition to genomic and proteomic methods, techniques employed by our lab include protein engineering and recombinant protein production, high-throughput enzyme characterization and reaction optimization, plant transgenics and analytical characterization of plant fibre structure and composition.
Selected Publications
Goacher R E., Jeremic. D, Master, E.R. 2010. Expanding the Library of Secondary Ions that Distinguish Lignin and Polysaccharides in ToF-SIMS Analysis of Wood. Analytical Chemistry
Anal Chem. 2010 Dec 29.
Wang, L., Mavisakalyan, V., Tillier, E.R.M., Clark, G.W., Savchenko, A.V., Yakunin, A.F., Master, E.R. 2010. Mining Bacterial Genomes for Novel Arylesterase Activity. Microbial Biotechnology. 3(6): 677-690.
Mahajan, S., and Master, E.R. 2010. Lignocellulose-degrading Enzymes Secreted by Phanerochaeate carnosa Grown on Spruce and Microcrystalline Cellulose. Appl. Microbial. Biotechnol. 86: 1903-1914.
Powlowski, J. Mahajan, S., Schapira, M., Master, E.R. 2009. Substrate Recognition and Hydrolysis by a Xyloglucan Specific Family 12 Hydrolase. Carbohydrate Res. 344:1175-1179.
Wood, N., Tran, H., Master, E.R. 2009. Impact of Physical and Chemical Pretreatments on the Anaerobic Bioconversion of Pulp Mill Waste Activated Sludge to Methane. Biores. Technol.
100: 5729-5735.
Master, E.R., Zheng, Y., Storms, R., Tsang, A., J. Powlowski. 2008. A xyloglucan-specific family 12 glycosyl hydrolase from Aspergillus niger: recombinant expression, purification and characterization.Biochem. J. 411(1):161-70.
Aspeborg H, Schrader J, Coutinho PM, Stam M, Kallas A, Djerbi S, Nilsson P, Denman S, Amini B, Sterky F, Master E, Sandberg G, Mellerowicz E, Sundberg B, Henrissat B, Teeri TT. 2005. Carbohydrate-active enzymes involved in the secondary cell wall biogenesis in hybrid aspen.Plant Physiol.137:983-997.
Master ER, Rudsander UJ, Zhou W, Henriksson H, Divne C, Denman S, Wilson DB, Teeri TT. 2004. Recombinant expression and enzymatic characterization of PttCel9A, a KOR homologue from Populus tremula x tremuloides. Biochemistry. 43:10080-10089.