Bacterial Degradation of Kraft Lignin

Abstract

Two Streptomyces strains, S. badius and S. viridosporus, were found to be able to grow on kraft lignin (Indulin ATR) as sole carbon source. The resulting APPL (Acid Precipitable Polymeric Lignin) was characterized by FTIR and elemental analysis for C, H and N, and was found to contain proteins in addition to a relatively demethoxylated lignin component. The proteins were further characterized by amino acid analysis, while the lignin component was separated by solvent extraction and its molecular weight distribution determined by HPSEC.