%A Li,Man %A Liu,Zhi-Hua %A Hao,Naijia %A Olson,Michelle L. %A Li,Qiang %A Bhagia,Samarthya %A Shinde,Somnath %A Kao,Katy C. %A Ragauskas,Arthur J. %A Xie,Shangxian %A Yuan,Joshua S. %D 2021 %J Frontiers in Energy Research %C %F %G English %K lignocellulosic biomass,Lipid,Organosolv,Fenton,Formic acid,pretreatment,Biomimicking Processing %Q %R 10.3389/fenrg.2020.00194 %W %L %M %P %7 %8 2021-February-04 %9 Brief Research Report %# %! Organosolv Biomimicking Biomass Processing %* %< %T Synergistic Improvement of Carbohydrate and Lignin Processability by Biomimicking Biomass Processing %U https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2020.00194 %V 8 %0 JOURNAL ARTICLE %@ 2296-598X %X The sustainability and economic feasibility of modern biorefinery depend on the efficient processing of both carbohydrate and lignin fractions for value-added products. By mimicking the biomass degradation process in white-rote fungi, a tailored two-step fractionation process was developed to maximize the sugar release from switchgrass biomass and to optimize the lignin processability for bioconversion. Biomimicking biomass processing using Formic Acid: Fenton: Organosolv (F2O) and achieved high processability for both carbohydrate and lignin. Specifically, switchgrass pretreated by the F2O process had 99.6% of the theoretical yield for glucose release. The fractionated lignin was also readily processable by fermentation via Rhodococcus opacus PD630 with a lipid yield of 1.16 g/L. Scanning electron microscope analysis confirmed the fragmentation of switchgrass fiber and the cell wall deconstruction by the F2O process. 2D-HSQC NMR further revealed the cleavage of aryl ether linkages (β-O-4) in lignin components. These results revealed the mechanisms for efficient sugar release and lignin bioconversion. The F2O process demonstrated effective mimicking of natural biomass utilization system and paved a new path for improving the lignin and carbohydrate processability in next generation lignocellulosic biorefinery.