Effect of purified trichoderma reesei cellulases on formation of cotton powder from cotton fabric

The mode of action of monocomponent purified Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolases (CBHI and CBHII) and endoglucanases (EGI and EGII) on cotton fabrics was studied by analyzing the weight loss of the fabric, the reducing sugars, the soluble oligosaccharides and the molecular weight of the cotton powder formed. The impact of mechanical action on these factors was also evaluated. EGI and EGII released the highest amounts of reducing sugars and soluble oligosaccharides in both treatments with or without additional mechanical action. After cellulase treatment without additional mechanical action, all of the cellulases were found to have reduced the molecular weight of cotton poplin powder. When mechanical action was combined with enzyme treatments, only EGII reduced the molecular weight. The weight loss of EG-treated fabrics was clearly higher than the weight loss of CBH-treated fabrics with both low and high mechanical action levels

Mitigation techniques for in-service structures with premature concrete deterioration

This thesis describes part of the work associated with Texas Department of Transportation Study 4069 (“Mitigation Techniques for In-Service Structures with Premature Concrete Deterioration”). The Texas Department of Transportation is interested in developing techniques for mitigating or remediating premature concrete deterioration due to alkali silica reaction (ASR), delayed ettringite formation (DEF), or both, in order to extend the life of potentially affected structures. The parts of Study 4069 reported here consist of: a review of existing test methods for possible application to evaluate mitigation treatments; development of a new test method, if necessary; verification of the test method; application of the selected test method to evaluate mitigation treatments; and recommendations of specific treatments to mitigate premature concrete deterioration from ASR/DEFCivil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineerin

Influence of cellulases on indigo backstaining

We have found that increasing concentrations of fungal cellulases on a fabric decrease indigo staining levels. Deletion of the cellulose binding domains (CBD) from either bacterial or fungal cellulases decreases indigo staining levels and generally causes less backstaining than the entire enzyme. Increasing the concentration of cellulases with a CBD of family I on fabric decreases indigo staining, whereas increasing the concentration of cellulase with a CBD of family II has no effect on staining. After-washing experiments of indigo-stained cotton fabrics show that it is easier to remove indigo adsorbed on cellulase adsorbed onto cotton than indigo directly adsorbed onto cotton