Research Projects: Dr. Wensheng Qin

Current Research Areas:

[1] Bioconversion of Agricultural and Forestry Lignocellulosic Biomass and Characterization of Biomass Derived Value-added Chemicals, Biofuels, and Bioproducts.

[2] Development of Technology for Large Scale Production of Bioconversion and Biorefining Enzymes (Cellulases, Hemicellulases and Ligninases, etc).

[3] Development of Bacterial and Fungal Strains for Animal Feed Fermentation and Manufacturing.

[4] Characterization and Genetic Engineering of Bacterial and Fungal Strains for Production of Industrial Enzymes (Amylase, Laccase, Mannanase, Phytase, Pullulanase, Xylanase, etc).

[5] Production of Biofuels (biodiesel, lipids) and Nutrients from Algae & Algal and Microbial Cleaning of Organic, Municipal, and Mining Wastewater.

[6] Microbial Degradation of Toxic Compounds in Industrial and Municipal Wastes and Bioremediation of Industrial Wastes Polluted Water and Soils.

[7] Extraction of Bioactive Substances from Natural Biomass (Medicinal Plants) and Production of Medical Proteins, Antibodies and Vaccines in Genetically Modified Bioreactors.
[8] Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.

Main Current Projects:

[1] Microbial Engineering for Large-scale Cellulase Production.

Research in biofuel and bioenergy is becoming more and more important, the two bottleneck problems in biofuel production are biomass quality (mainly enzyme accessibility to cellulose) and enzyme production cost (mainly cellulases). Our research is targeting to engineer efficient cellulase-producing strains of Trichoderma reesei and Clostridium thermocellum. Exotic cellulase genes will be introduced into Trichoderma reesei and Clostridium thermocellum and high yielding stable strains will be selected and tested for fermentation conditions. The developed technology will be applied in cellulase industrial production.

[2] Bioconversion of Agricultural and Forest Biomass and Pulp/Paper Mill Sludge to Valuable Bioproducts and/or Biofuels.

The engineered high yielding Trichoderma reesei and Clostridium thermocellum strains will be used to convert the forest biomass and biomass in pulp/paper mill sludge to bioproducts and biofuels such as methane and bioethanol. The project is collaborated with pulp/paper mills.

[3] Construction of "Super" Microorganisms for High Efficient Conversion of Biomass to Produce Value-added Bioproducts and Biofuels.

On the earth, the most abundant source of carbon is plant biomass, mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Several bacteria were tested for their ability to degrade lignin, their biodegradation was poor. Many fungi are able to degrade cellulose and hemicellulose and utilize them as carbon and energy sources. However, much fewer filamentous fungi have the ability to breakdown lignin. White rot fungi possess the unique ability to efficiently degrade lignin to CO2 and gain access to the carbohydrate polymers of plant cell walls for use as carbon and energy sources. These wood-decay fungi are common inhabitants of forest litter and fallen trees. The most widely studied white rot fungus is Phanerochaete chrysosporium, a member of Homobasidiomycetes. The enzymes secreted by white rot fungi can catalyze the initial depolymerization of lignin, which are extracellular and unusually nonspecific. Oxidases, peroxidases, and hydrogen peroxide are responsible for generating highly reactive free radicals, but no one enzyme has been identified for specifically cleavage of methoxyl group from lignin. Laccase is likely another important enzyme involved in lignin degradation, but not all wood-decay fungi have this enzyme. The nonspecific nature and extraordinary oxidation potential of these enzymes have attracted considerable attention for industrial applications such as biopulping, fibre bleaching, and remediation of organopollutants such as pesticides, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, certain textile dyes, and other environmentally detrimental chemicals such as azide, carbon tetrachloride, and pentachlorophenol.

Although P. chrysosporium secretes those lignin-degrading enzymes, their yield, activity and stability can't meet our needs. Our project is to genetically modify this microorganism for producing a combination of "super" enzymes which are necessary for high efficiently degrading lignin. Foreign lignin-degrading enzyme genes will be selected and transformed into P. chrysosporium by electroporation or other chemical methods to construct "super" microorganisms. Meanwhile, some endogenous genes in P. chrysosporium will be knocked out and make P. chrysosporium less sensitive to harsh growth conditions such as pH value fluctuation and end product inhibition. We have another ongoing project Microbial Engineering for Large-scale Production of Cellulases and Hemicellulases to degrade Cellulose and Hemicellulose. Our long-term goal is to develop a powerful microorganism system which can simultaneously secrete Cellulase, Hemicellulase, and Lignase for high efficient conversion of biomass (Cellulose, Hemicellulose, Lignin) to produce value-added bioproducts and biofuels such as bioethanol.

[4] Extraction of Bioactive Substances from Natural Biomass and Production of Medical Proteins, Antibodies and Vaccines in Genetically Modified Bioreactors.

Currently, through international collaborations, we are using mushrooms as bioreactors for medical protein production.

[5] Microbial Degradation of Toxic Compounds in Industrial and Municipal Wastes and Bioremediation of Industrial Wastes Polluted Water and Soils.


For more information about Lakehead University and our research, please visit the Lakehead University Website and the Available Positions in our lab.