Clostridium thermocellum

Patent Granted Clostridium thermocellum is an anaerobic, thermophilic bacterium. C. thermocellum has garnered research interest due to its cellulolytic and ethanologenic abilities, being capable of directly converting a cellulosic substrate into ethanol. This makes it useful in converting biomass into a usable energy source. The degradation of the cellulose is carried out in the bacterium by a large extracellular cellulase system called a cellulosome, which contains nearly 20 catalytic subunits.