Lignocellulose degradation patterns driven by plant-derived carbohydrate-active enzymes

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Enzymology
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Lignocellulose's recalcitrant structure hinders efficient bioconversion.
• Plant-derived carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) offer a potential solution for lignocellulose pretreatment.
• Epiphytic microbiota interference was eliminated using electron-beam irradiation on Pisum sativum.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the functional characteristics of plant-derived CAZymes for lignocellulose degradation.
• Assess the application potential of these enzymes in biomass pretreatment.
• Characterize a specific enzyme (FpGH17) and its interaction with oligosaccharides.

Main Methods:

• Enzymatic property analysis of plant-derived cellulases.
• Purification and characterization of FpGH17.
• Molecular docking to predict enzyme-substrate interactions.
• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to analyze structural changes.
• Enzymatic hydrolysis for saccharification yield determination.

Main Results:

• Plant-derived cellulases demonstrated significant acid tolerance and temperature adaptability.
• FpGH17, related to glucan endo-1,3-beta-D-glucosidase, showed strong binding affinity to cellobiose (-7.634 kcal/mol).
• CAZymes induced physical and chemical structural damage to lignocellulose, preferentially releasing hemicellulose side-chain residues.
• Enzymatic hydrolysis yielded high amounts of water-soluble carbohydrate (159 g/kg DM) and glucose (50.6 g/kg DM).

Conclusions:

• Plant-derived CAZymes are effective in degrading lignocellulose, damaging its structure and releasing valuable components.
• The characterized enzyme FpGH17 shows promise for targeted biomass modification.
• These findings highlight the potential of plant-derived CAZymes as a sustainable and cost-effective pretreatment for lignocellulose valorization.