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Microbiology

Break down the walls

Nanoscale imaging reveals that bacterial and fungal enzymes use different mechanisms to deconstruct plant cell walls. The finding may provide clues about how to enhance the efficiency of liquid-biofuel production from biomass.

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Figure 1: Degradation of plant cell walls by microbial enzymes.

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Correspondence to Richard A. Dixon.

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Dixon, R. Break down the walls. Nature 493, 36–37 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/493036a

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