• Essentially at the core of the plant material is cellulose, which can be broken down into simple carbohydrate sugars. (wikipedia.org)
  • Then enzymes are added to break the cellulose into simple sugars. (usda.gov)
  • Suggest a method for turning old newspapers into sugars using an enzyme. (quizlet.com)
  • The ability to economically and easily break cellulose into sugars is desirable because the sugars can be used to create fuel alternatives. (scienceblog.com)
  • Most important, Shen and Gnanakaran's model identifies hydrogen bonds that can be manipulated via temperature differences to potentially make the material more susceptible to attack by enzymes that can crack the fibers into sugars for biofuel production. (scienceblog.com)
  • The carbohydrate group includes sugars, starches, cellulose , and a number of other chemically related substances. (jrank.org)
  • The first category, the monosaccharides, are simple sugars that consist of a single carbohydrate unit that cannot be broken down into any simpler substances. (jrank.org)
  • In the digestive tract, specific enzymes split all of these sugars into the more easily absorbed monosaccharides. (jrank.org)
  • Cellulose and hemicellulose are made up of linear and branched chains of sugars. (msu.edu)
  • Plant cell walls can be broken down to expose the cellulose and hemicellulose, which can then be converted into basic sugars. (msu.edu)
  • Production of ethanol from cellulose rather than a sugar- or starch-based feedstock is more challenging because the cellulose must first be broken down into sugars that can then be fermented and distilled as a fuel. (mongabay.com)
  • Iogen's patented enzyme - an active protein made from a fungus - breaks the cellulose down into sugars, which are then fermented and purified into ethanol. (grist.org)
  • It is possible to add enzymes, cellulases, to the wood which will break down the cellulose into sugars, which can then be fermented into ethanol, concentrated and burnt in a car. (thenakedscientists.com)
  • All plants have basically evolved for millions and millions of years to be difficult to turn into sugars," said Roman Brunecky, a senior scientist in NREL's Biosciences Center with expertise in enzymes produced by microorganisms. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • The remaining biomass is deconstructed by enzymes and the resulting sugars are fed to a microorganism that converts them to ethanol (or another fuel or chemical). (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • The microorganism produces an enzyme called CelA, which deconstructs biomass to sugars. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • Considering that the main potential feedstock (biomass) for producing bioethanol is composed of carbohydrates, which include starch, cellulose and hemicelluloses, among others, the use of enzymes to break down these oligosaccharides into easily fermentable sugars is a requirement, previous to conducting the fermentation ( Kim and Dale, 2004 ). (scialert.net)
  • Starches are strings of sugars linked together in such a way that most starches can be broken down into glucose by the action of enzymes, primarily amylase. (horsefeedblog.com)
  • Fibers (lignin, cellulose, hemicelluloses etc.) are also chains of sugars that cannot be broken down easily by enzymes and must be fermented by the animal to release the energy. (horsefeedblog.com)
  • The chemical method utilizes an alkaline or otherwise acidic medium to make the cellulose within wood fibers more accessible. (wikipedia.org)
  • During plant growth, specific enzymes let cellulose fibers get longer and wider. (energyfrontier.us)
  • Not only are the fibers incredibly strong, but they are incredibly resistant to the action of enzymes called cellulases that can crack the fibers back into their simple-sugar components. (scienceblog.com)
  • However, due to the tenacity of cellulose fibers, the United States currently lacks an energy-efficient and cost-effective method for turning inedible biomass such as switch grass or corn husks into a sweet source of biofuels. (scienceblog.com)
  • Toilet paper is made of cellulose fibers, which are non-soluble in water. (liquidimageco.com)
  • However, certain chemicals and enzymes can be used to break down the cellulose fibers, allowing for toilet paper to dissolve. (liquidimageco.com)
  • It turns out that CelA is the only enzyme found so far that can break down cellulose fibers regardless of how crystalline they are. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • Papain breaks down tough meat fibers and hard to digest protein. (getklora.com)
  • Another enzyme breaks down starch and cellulose trapped between teeth that could otherwise harbour bacteria and create a stink. (newscientist.com)
  • Starch is converted into ethanol in starch plants where the raw material, is milled and then treated with a combination of heat and enzymes without prior separation of its constituents ( Bothast and Schlicher, 2005 ). (scialert.net)
  • We will assess, specifically, at the community level, how well your soil microbes interact co-operatively to use a variety of carbon sources, and to process or digest phosphates, cellulose, and starch. (openwetware.org)
  • Specifically, we will quantify this soil microbial community's ability to use a variety of carbon sources for its anabolic needs and find out what proportion of the microbes in the community can process phosphates into a soluble form and/or degrade cellulose and starch into simpler raw materials? (openwetware.org)
  • Because horses produce less amylase, the enzyme used to break down starch, than some other animals, say perhaps pigs, they are more limited in their ability to digest large quantities of starch. (horsefeedblog.com)
  • Enzymes that act on starch in food. (getklora.com)
  • In this process, biomass is treated with dilute acid at high temperature to partially break it down. (usda.gov)
  • In separate papers published today in Biophysical Journal and recently in an issue of Biomacromolecules , Los Alamos researchers identify potential weaknesses among sheets of cellulose molecules comprising lignocellulosic biomass, the inedible fibrous material derived from plant cell walls. (scienceblog.com)
  • Cellulosic ethanol is produced from biomass, which is first broken down into a pulp. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • Enzymes are then added, turning cellulose in the biomass into sugar, which can be fermented into ethanol. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • The processes and enzymes that are currently em-ployed to convert biomass into ethanol do not differ-entiate between feedstocks. (msu.edu)
  • Plants are protected by a complex cell wall and, inside that, polymers of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin-each of which poses its own challenges that must be overcome for the biomass to be "deconstructed. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • This is, in essence, a one-pot process," said Bomble, who studies bacteria and how they break down biomass. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • This enzyme, which comes from the hot-spring bacterium Acidothermus cellulolyticus, weakens biomass by inserting a gene into the plant's genome and then burrowing into its developing cell wall, creating nicks and voids that make biomass deconstruction easier. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • Lytic Polysaccharide MonoOxygenases (LPMOs) are accessory enzymes able to break recalcitrant polysaccharides, boosting biomass conversion and subsequently reducing costs. (bvsalud.org)
  • The biological platform utilizes biochemi-cal processes to break down cell walls and expose the cellulose and hemicellulose for degradation by enzymes into individual glucose molecules. (msu.edu)
  • For the degradation of cellulose, 13 cellulose depolymerases are used accompanied by seven accessory enzymes which include two cellodextrinases, three cellobiases, a cellodextrin phosphorlyase, and a cellobiose phosphorylase (3). (kenyon.edu)
  • The second studied enzyme is LPMO, which is a copper dependent enzyme used for the degradation of polysaccharides, such as cellulose and chitin. (lu.se)
  • Understanding this growth process could lead to new ways to gather and break cellulose into the precursors of biofuels. (energyfrontier.us)
  • We have been able to identify a chink in the armor of a very tough and worthy adversary-the cellulose fiber," said Gnanakaran, who leads the theoretical portion of a large, multidisciplinary biofuels project at Los Alamos. (scienceblog.com)
  • Enzymes that he and his colleagues identified and engineered have the potential to simplify the production of biofuels and other bioproducts. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • Termites don't produce cellulase, but they have microorganisms, including bacteria and protozoa, living in their digestive systems that help them break down cellulose into digestible substances that give them the nutrients they need to live. (wonderopolis.org)
  • Syner-G Digestive Enzymes Tablets for Dogs & Cats are a dietary supplement designed to support healthy digestion in pets. (healthypets.com)
  • These tablets contain a blend of essential enzymes that aid in the breakdown of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, ensuring optimal nutrient absorption and digestive health for your furry companions. (healthypets.com)
  • Syner-G Digestive Enzymes Tablets provide vital enzymes that support the digestion of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in your pets' diet. (healthypets.com)
  • Pets experiencing digestive issues such as gas, bloating, indigestion, or loose stools can benefit from Syner-G Digestive Enzymes Tablets. (healthypets.com)
  • The enzymes help to break down food more efficiently, reducing the occurrence of digestive discomfort and promoting regular bowel movements. (healthypets.com)
  • Syner-G Digestive Enzymes Tablets can be particularly beneficial for pets with pancreatic insufficiency, a condition where the pancreas does not produce enough digestive enzymes. (healthypets.com)
  • When a fruit is eaten, for instance, the complex carbohydrates are broken down in the digestive tract to simpler glucose units. (jrank.org)
  • On the other hand, most of them need to be broken down by the digestive tract's enzymes before they can be absorbed. (jrank.org)
  • These digestive enzymes can also break down a surprisingly wide range of toxins that have similar chemical bonds with wood. (iaac.net)
  • The digestive processes will work better and result shown in improved feed efficiency by providing an extra dose of enzymes. (thefishsite.com)
  • Further, aquatic animals are lack certain digestive enzymes during early development or throughout their life. (thefishsite.com)
  • Feed ingredients from plants sources contain some compounds that either the shrimp/fish cannot digest or which hinder its digestive system because they cannot produce the require enzymes to degrade .Though the palatability of many plant materials has demerits, anti-nutritional factors are the most serious concern in replacing the fishmeal completely in feed formulations. (thefishsite.com)
  • Most alternative health professionals understand the importance of taking digestive enzymes. (drsircus.com)
  • Most people think of enzymes (if they think of them at all) as necessary only for those who deal with digestive problems such as GERD, hiatal hernias, ulcers, etc. (drsircus.com)
  • Biological treatments involve the use of microorganisms to break down the wood. (wikipedia.org)
  • This probiotic supplies nutritional support and live microorganisms for intestinal well-being as well as enzymes for proper digestion. (naturesfarmacy.com)
  • The adding of live microorganisms to diets to produce enzymes is possible in specialty feed applications. (thefishsite.com)
  • DEVELOPING GREEN INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY requires an understanding of how enzymes and microorganisms function and can be controlled. (lu.se)
  • Suen's current work at UW centers on how to convert cellulose found in plants into a fermentable sugar that can be used to make ethanol for fuel. (livescience.com)
  • The interest in this system is in finding novel microbes and enzymes that are efficient at degrading plant cell walls (cellulose), which is the first key step in the production of cellulosic ethanol. (livescience.com)
  • At its cellulose demonstration plant in Ottawa, Canada, Iogen converts wheat, oat, and barley straw into 3 million liters of ethanol per year (about 793,000 gallons). (grist.org)
  • Enzymes are proteins employed as catalysts in the chemical reactions of living organisms. (quizlet.com)
  • Enzymes are natural proteins that stimulate and accelerate biological reactions in the body . (drsircus.com)
  • Found in pineapples which help break down proteins and help digest food. (getklora.com)
  • Enzymes whose function is to break down proteins. (getklora.com)
  • Proteins that you eat are not absorbable until they are first broken down by proteases into their basic building blocks which are called amino acids. (getklora.com)
  • Then enzymes are used to break down cellulose into glucose. (wikipedia.org)
  • Cellulose is biosynthesized in plant cells when molecules of glucose-a simple sugar-join into long chains through a process called polymerization. (scienceblog.com)
  • This substance, he later showed, was not only built out of glucose taken from the blood , but could be broken down again into sugar whenever it was needed. (jrank.org)
  • Dietary carbohydrates are broken down into glucose and other monosaccharides. (msdmanuals.com)
  • When we compared enzyme activity in tortoise beetles with and without symbiotic bacteria, we found that beetles without symbionts were not able to digest pectin in order to gain access to the nutrients in the cell and as a consequence their chances of survival decreased," says co-author Roy Kirsch from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. (cosmosmagazine.com)
  • Until now, it was believed that only worms, bacteria, and fungi could digest vegetable cellulose and use it as a source of carbon for their growth and survival. (innovationtoronto.com)
  • The bacteria present in the gastrointestinal tract of fish/shrimp are potent producers of proteolytic enzymes. (thefishsite.com)
  • Much of the scent comes from bacteria and fungi in the soil which are breaking down the plant debris. (lu.se)
  • Using nature's own tools - enzymes, bacteria, yeasts - the plant fibres can be broken down into smaller components and then used as raw materials for the production of everything from cleaning products to functional foods and new materials. (lu.se)
  • The primary purpose of enzyme application in feeds is to improve digestion. (thefishsite.com)
  • Complex carbohydrates are composed of three or more monosaccharides bonded together, which are then broken down into monosaccharides during digestion. (msdmanuals.com)
  • Enzymes are one of the many types of protein in biological systems. (thefishsite.com)
  • Enzymes provide additional powerful tools that can inactivate anti-nutritional factors and enhance the nutritional value of plant-based protein in feeds. (thefishsite.com)
  • If the body is unable to penetrate and break down the protein coating of the cancer cell then the cells will multiply and spread (metastasize) around the body and various tumors will form as body attempts to isolate the cells from spreading. (drsircus.com)
  • The typical enzymes is a large molecular protein structure that functions in both providing building block molecules for the cell or taking cellular building materials and assembling them into vital cellular components. (biologicalwasteexpert.com)
  • Allergen avoidance strategies including personal protective equipment, engineering controls, protein encapsulation, and reduction of airborne enzyme concentrations are required to mitigate occupational exposure to fungal enzymes. (cdc.gov)
  • In drug discovery, it is of utmost importance to accurately calculate the free energies of binding ligands to various protein targets, such as enzymes and receptors. (lu.se)
  • The initial velocity decreased at enzyme concentrations higher than 0.13 mg protein per 2.0 ml of incubation mixture. (who.int)
  • Gregg Beckham tries to figure out how bacterial and fungal chemicals break down compounds such as cellulose, the main ingredient in plant-cell walls and many veggies. (popsci.com)
  • It is fascinating that insects have solved the problem of how to break up plant cell walls so differently," says another co-author, Martin Kaltenpoth from the University of Mainz. (cosmosmagazine.com)
  • Enzymes are produced in every living organisms from the higher animals and plants to the simplest unicellular forms of life as they are essential for metabolic process. (thefishsite.com)
  • A dose-response relationship was observed between ambient levels of DCM (8-hour TWA) and carboxyhemoglobin concentrations among cellulose triacetate production workers who were non-smokers (Amsel et al. (who.int)
  • The enzyme was found to be inactivated by the metal chelating agent, ethylene diamine tetracetate (EDTA) at 5 X 10-3 and 5 X 10-4 M concentrations. (who.int)
  • The addition of enzymes in feed can improve nutrient utilization , reducing feed cost and the excretion of nutrients into the environment. (thefishsite.com)
  • Enzymes, many of which are made in the pancreas, break down food and help with the absorption of nutrients into the blood. (drsircus.com)
  • Although many nutrients are found in the skins of fruits and vegetables, dogs don't have the enzymes to break down the cellulose walls -- the outer layers of some produce that is indigestible to canines. (howstuffworks.com)
  • the enzymes a microbe makes often controls which nutrients a soil community member can use or process. (openwetware.org)
  • One Lipase Unit (FCC III LU) is that amount of enzyme activity that will liberate the equivalent of one (1) micromole of acid (H+) perm minute under the conditions of the Food Chemicals Codex, Third Edition (1981), Lipase Activity Procedure (Vri 547.001). (healthypets.com)
  • One Cellulase Unit (CU) is that amount of enzyme activity that will change the relative fluidity of a defined sodium carboxymethylcellullose substrate by one (1), in five (5) minutes, under the conditions of the Cellulase Assay (Vri 400.13). (healthypets.com)
  • One Maltose Unit(MU/g or MU/mg) is the amount of enzyme which will liberate 1 milligram of reducing sugar as maltose in 30 minutes under the condition of the assay. (naturesfarmacy.com)
  • One xylanase unit(XU) is the amount of enzyme which liberates 1 μmole of xylose per minute under the conditions pH 5.3 and 50°C. 7. (naturesfarmacy.com)
  • One unit of enzyme activity is defined as that quantity of a standard Lipase preparation(Fungi Lipase International F.I.P.) that liberates the equivalent of 1 μmole of fatty acid from olive oil per minute under assay conditions 37°C pH 7.0. (naturesfarmacy.com)
  • To the misfortune of homeowners around the world, a termite's diet primarily consists of cellulose, a tough fiber found in plants, such as shrubs and trees. (wonderopolis.org)
  • The team sequenced the genome of the microbe, which they named Candidatus Stammera capleta , and found that it contained genes that produced a type of enzyme called pectinase - which functions to break down the tough cell walls of the thistle plant's leaves. (cosmosmagazine.com)
  • The discovery of such enzymes should help to develop platforms for the cheap and sustainable production of high quality steroid compounds for medical use. (sciencedaily.com)
  • Enzymes tend to be very specific catalysts that act on one or ,at most a limited group of compounds known as substrates. (thefishsite.com)
  • If the conditions such as pH or temperature are not in the correct range or an inhibitory compounds bind with the enzyme active site, the enzyme's effectiveness is compromised and it is rendered useless. (biologicalwasteexpert.com)
  • The premise is that these ants and their microbes have been breaking down leaves into energy for millions of years, and so they likely have optimized this process much better than humans. (livescience.com)
  • If you can get better and better microbes and enzymes to bypass pretreatment, that's a game changer. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • Working with researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales in France, Los Alamos researcher Paul Langan used neutrons to probe the crystalline structure of highly crystalline cellulose, much like an X-ray is used to probe the hidden structures of the body. (scienceblog.com)
  • Moreover, in this month's Biophysical Journal , Los Alamos researchers Tongye Shen and Gnana Gnanakaran describe a new lattice-based model of crystalline cellulose. (scienceblog.com)
  • Cellulose, chitin, and agar are the major waste products. (kenyon.edu)
  • The material is designed so that either the yeast or just the enzymes they produce are incorporated into the structure. (asknature.org)
  • The engineered yeast can serve a variety of functions, such as producing enzymes that glow in the dark, or sensing pollutants in the environment. (asknature.org)
  • The yeast can also be programmed so that they can break down pollutants after detecting them. (asknature.org)
  • In some occupational environments, workers are at an increased risk of exposure to fungal enzymes used in industrial production. (cdc.gov)
  • Fungal enzymes have been associated with adverse health effects in the work place, in particular in baking occupations. (cdc.gov)
  • Exposure-response relationships have been demonstrated, and atopic workers directly handling fungal enzymes are at an increased risk for IgE-mediated disease and occupational asthma. (cdc.gov)
  • The utilization of new and emerging fungal enzymes in industrial production will present new occupational exposures. (cdc.gov)
  • 6]. Some of the best examples of high-molecular-weight sectors, workers are at increased risk of becoming sensitized occupational allergens are the fungal enzymes. (cdc.gov)
  • Table 1: Fungal enzymes utilized in different industries and associations with occupational sensitization. (cdc.gov)
  • Metabolic enzymes build new cells and repair damaged ones in the blood, tissues, and organs. (drsircus.com)
  • By supplementing with these tablets, you can help compensate for the lack of enzymes and support your pet's pancreatic function. (healthypets.com)
  • In the early 1900s Dr. John Beard from England discovered that pancreatic enzymes destroyed cancer cells. (drsircus.com)
  • In 1911 he tested pancreatic enzymes for stopping cancer in mice and it worked. (drsircus.com)
  • Decades later Dr. William Donald Kelley, a Texas dentist, read about his work, and cured himself of cancer using pancreatic enzymes and started treating and curing cancer patients using pancreatic enzymes. (drsircus.com)
  • Dr. Nicholas Gonzales, sent to investigate Dr. Kelley, liked what he saw so much that he, still to this day, treats cancer patients using pancreatic enzymes. (drsircus.com)
  • Dr. Gonzalez practices in New York City and is one of the authors of the study, "Pancreatic Enzyme Extract Improves Survival in Murine Pancreatic Cancer" (Pancreas. (drsircus.com)
  • One HUT unit proteolytic activity is defined as the amount of enzymes that will produce, in 1 minute under specified conditions, pH 4.7 and 40°C. 2. (naturesfarmacy.com)
  • Therefore, comparing information about the plants' genomes, in particular which genes are expressed in these two plants in relation to the formation of metabolites, was very helpful in identifying the enzymes involved in the formation of pregnenolone," says study leader Prashant Sonawane, who heads the project group "Steroidal Specialised Metabolism in Plants" in the Department of Natural Product Biosynthesis. (sciencedaily.com)
  • Although there are other pathways that S. degradans uses to break down cellulose, it is not very well understood how all of the pathways work together in cellulose metabolism (3). (kenyon.edu)
  • For example, sulphite oxidase breaks down chemicals containing sulphur, such as dihydrogen sulphide, which can produce a bad odour. (newscientist.com)
  • Johnson is a research scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and this past year, he and his colleagues created a biological enzyme that can chew efficiently through throwaway plastics like those that make water bottles and soap containers. (popsci.com)
  • Though the American Cancer Society says that there have been no well-designed studies showing that enzyme supplements are effective in treating cancer we need look no further than the benefit that comes from stimulating and accelerating so many biological reactions. (drsircus.com)
  • With most people's diets as far away from the raw state as they can get, many biological processes are drastically impeded because of severe shortages of enzymes. (drsircus.com)
  • The enzyme shows its maximum breakdown activity above 100° Celsius (shown on graph), making it a good candidate for use in biofuel production. (sciencenews.org)
  • They also build enzymes to breakdown carcinogens. (howstuffworks.com)
  • There, the stems are ground into pieces and placed in a pretreatment tank along with a secret blend of enzymes for 24 hours. (mongabay.com)
  • The process, called consolidated bioprocessing, bypasses the need for pretreatment or added enzymes. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • The resulting enzyme, HJPlus, outperformed the parents in cleaving cellulose chains to produce cellobiose, but further changes (yellow) made for an even better enzyme, 3C61P. (sciencenews.org)
  • It's run by Iogen Corporation , a Canadian biotech firm that has been around since the 1970s, manufacturing enzyme products for the pulp and paper, textile, and animal-feed industries. (grist.org)
  • Enzymes that break down cellulose, an indigestible component of the cell walls of fruits and vegetables. (getklora.com)
  • Although it can use all ten of these, the agar and cellulose pathways have been most studied. (kenyon.edu)
  • Plant cells contain cellulose and hemicellulose, which are made up of sugar molecules. (msu.edu)
  • Nitrogenase is the only enzyme that can break the triple bond in nitrogen molecules, making nitrogen. (lu.se)
  • Langan and his colleagues found that although cellulose generally has a well-ordered network of hydrogen bonds holding it together, the material also displays significant amounts of disorder, creating a different type of hydrogen bond network at certain surfaces. (scienceblog.com)
  • The model predicts how hydrogen bonds in cellulose can shift to remain stable under a wide range of temperatures. (scienceblog.com)
  • In addition to chemical or enzymatic treatments, the mechanical action of a garbage disposer combined with a low-pH, low-sulphate detergent can also be used to break down toilet paper. (liquidimageco.com)
  • FUELED BY HEAT From a hot pool in Nevada (top image), researchers pulled a cellulose-busting enzyme called EBI-244. (sciencenews.org)
  • LAB-GROWN To design an ideal plant-munching enzyme, or cellulase, researchers combined features from three parents (HI, HJ and CT, shown above with sugar in orange). (sciencenews.org)
  • NREL researchers are looking into other ways to overcome plant defenses, including using an enzyme called AcCel5A. (canadianbiomassmagazine.ca)
  • In a study published in the journal Nature Plants, they present two enzymes from the CYP87A family as key enzymes that catalyze the formation of pregnenolone, the precursor for the biosynthesis of plant steroids, in two different plant families. (sciencedaily.com)
  • In a series of experiments, Professor Dr. Olaf Kruse and his team cultivated the microscopically small green alga species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in a low carbon dioxide environment and observed that when faced with such a shortage, these single-cell plants can draw energy from neighbouring vegetable cellulose instead. (innovationtoronto.com)
  • The mechanism of this enzyme is quite well known but it has an unusual methyl modi cation of one of the ligands. (lu.se)
  • As new discoveries are made, it is possible to envi-sion a set of processes and enzymes that are designed specifically for a particular feedstock. (msu.edu)
  • But these enzymes will only work after the structure of the wood is broken up by heat and chemical treatment. (thenakedscientists.com)
  • The process of modification requires enzymes which function as a catalyst to make the necessary chemical reactions occur in the given environment. (biologicalwasteexpert.com)