Described are compositions and methods relating to cellulase/hemicellulase enzyme blends for improving the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic and hemicellulosic materials, as commonly found in biomass.

Isolated and/or purified polypeptides and nucleic acid sequences encoding polypeptides from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius are provided. Further provided are methods of at least partially degrading, cleaving, or removing polysaccharides, lignocellulose, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, starch, chitin, polyhydroxybutyrate, heteroxylans, glycosides, xylan-, glucan-, galactan-, or mannan-decorating groups using isolated and/or purified polypeptides and nucleic acid sequences encoding polypeptides from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius.

Isolated and/or purified polypeptides and nucleic acid sequences encoding polypeptides from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius are provided. Further provided are methods of at least partially degrading, cleaving, or removing polysaccharides, lignocellulose, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, starch, chitin, polyhydroxybutyrate, heteroxylans, glycosides, xylan-, glucan-, galactan-, or mannan-decorating groups using isolated and/or purified polypeptides and nucleic acid sequences encoding polypeptides from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius.

The disclosure discloses a feruloyl esterase and application thereof, and belongs to the technical field of microorganisms. The disclosure provides a feruloyl esterase with an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 and specific enzyme activity as high as 519 U/g. The disclosure provides a recombinant Bacillus subtilis which uses Bacillus subtilis as a host, expresses a gene encoding the feruloyl esterase with an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2, and can be used for producing the feruloyl esterase with a high yield. The process specifically includes inoculating a fermentation culture medium with the recombinant Bacillus subtilis for fermentation for 14 hours, and the enzyme activity of the feruloyl esterase in a cell disruption supernatant can be as high as 82.53 U/mL.

A semi-integrated method for production of p-hydroxycinnamic acids comprises a first step of enzymatic hydrolysis and a second step of purification of the p-hydroxycinnamic acids, thus released, by liquid/liquid extraction using a membrane contactor. This method enables the purification of p-hydroxycinnamic acids from a plant biomass and the recovery thereof in the organic phase. It is conceivable to recover the p-hydroxycinnamic acids in the aqueous phase after a back-extraction step.