Lars Gerhard Ljungdahl (1926-2023) was a Swedish biochemist, famous for his part in the discovery of the major carbon fixation in the form of the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway[1][2][3] as well as lignocellulose degradation by bacteria and fungi.
[1][2][4] In continuation of research that Ljungdahl began at the Stockholm Brewing Company looking at the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose for the production of fermented sugars.
[2] This led to the discovery of cellusome complexes that can digest plant lignocellulose[1] in anaerobic fungi[5] and bacteria within the rumen of herbivorous mammals.
[1] After graduating secondary school, he began as a technician at Karolinska Institute until 1946, when he served in the Swedish army for a year.
[9] During his tenure at UGA, he was named the Georgia Power Distinguished Professor in Biotechnology and held the title until he retired.