Integrated Functional-Omics Analysis of Thermomyces lanuginosus Reveals its Potential for Simultaneous Production of Xylanase and Substituted Xylooligosaccharides

Generation of a synthetic autochthonous microbiota responsible for the essential flavors and brewing properties of Daqu

Based on the 26 strains of medium-high-temperature Daqu, seed microbial inocula and mature microbial inoculants were prepared and inoculated into crushed wheat to prepare cleaner medium-high-temperature Daqu (XQ). The physicochemical properties, flavor, and microbial profile of XQ were studied using traditional medium-high-temperature Daqu (CQ) or industry standards as controls. The results showed that the liquefaction ability, saccharification activity, esterification activity, and moisture content of XQ were better than those of Daqu industry standards. The results of GC-MS and E-nose analyses showed that the main flavor compounds in the two types of Daqu were esters, alcohols, acids, and aldehydes, which had similar flavor profiles. Microbial sequencing revealed that the most abundant fungi in XQ were Aspergillus subflavus, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Rhizopus oryzae, and Candida tropicalis, whereas the most abundant bacteria were Lactobacillus curvatus, Weissella cibaria, and Bacillus subtilis. Both types of Daqu contained a high abundance of W. anomalus. In addition, the COG (Clusters of Orthologous Groups of Proteins) analyses displayed that the two types of Daqu had their dominant functions and generally had the pathways and functional characteristics of organism growth and metabolism. This study laid some experimental research bases for the preparation of cleaner Daqu and could provide insights for producing safer microbial fermented foods.

Effective Degradation of Brewer Spent Grains by a Novel Thermostable GH10 Xylanase

Brewer spent grains (BSGs) are one of the most abundant by-products in brewing industry. Due to microbiological instability and high perishability, the efficient degradation of BSGs is of environmental and economic importance. Streptomyces sp. F-3 could grow in the medium with BSGs as the only carbon and nitrogen source. Proteome mass spectrometry revealed that a GH10 xylanase SsXyn10A could be secreted in large quantities. SsXyn10A showed optimum activity at pH 7.0 and 60 °C. SsXyn10A exhibited excellent thermostability which retained approximately 100% and 58% after incubation for 5 h at 50 and 60 °C. SsXyn10A displayed high activity to beechwood xylan (BX) and wheat arabinoxylan (WAX). SsXyn10A is active against xylotetracose (X4), xylopentose (X5), and xylohexose (X6) to produce main products xylobiose (X2) and xylotriose (X3). Ssxyn10A showed synergistic effects with commercial cellulase on BSGs hydrolyzing into soluble sugar. In addition, the steam explosion pretreatment of BSGs as the substrate produced twice as much reducing sugar as the degradation of the original substrate. This study will contribute to efficient utilization of BSGs and provide a thermostable GH10 xylanase which has potential application in biomass hydrolysis.

Co-production of Xylooligosaccharides and Xylose From Poplar Sawdust by Recombinant Endo-1,4-β-Xylanase and β-Xylosidase Mixture Hydrolysis

As is well-known, endo-1,4-β-xylanase and β-xylosidase are the rate-limiting enzymes in the degradation of xylan (the major hemicellulosic component), main functions of which are cleavaging xylan to release xylooligosaccharides (XOS) and xylose that these two compounds have important application value in fuel, food, and other industries. This study focuses on enzymatic hydrolysis of poplar sawdust xylan for production of XOS and xylose by a GH11 endo-1,4-β-xylanase MxynB-8 and a GH39 β-xylosidase Xln-DT. MxynB-8 showed excellent ability to hydrolyze hemicellulose of broadleaf plants, such as poplar. Under optimized conditions (50°C, pH 6.0, dosage of 500 U/g, substrate concentration of 2 mg/mL), the final XOS yield was 85.5%, and the content of XOS2-3 reached 93.9% after 18 h. The enzymatic efficiency by MxynB-8 based on the poplar sawdust xylan in the raw material was 30.5%. Xln-DT showed excellent xylose/glucose/arabinose tolerance, which is applied as a candidate to apply in degradation of hemicellulose. In addition, the process and enzymatic mode of poplar sawdust xylan with MxynB-8 and Xln-DT were investigated. The results showed that the enzymatic hydrolysis yield of poplar sawdust xylan was improved by adding Xln-DT, and a xylose-rich hydrolysate could be obtained at high purity, with the xylose yield of 89.9%. The enzymatic hydrolysis yield was higher (32.2%) by using MxynB-8 and Xln-DT together. This study provides a deep understanding of double-enzyme synergetic enzymolysis of wood polysaccharides to valuable products.

Novel Synergistic Mechanism for Lignocellulose Degradation by a Thermophilic Filamentous Fungus and a Thermophilic Actinobacterium Based on Functional Proteomics

Effective artificial microbial consortia containing microorganisms with desired biological functions have the potential to optimize the lignocellulose-based bioindustry. Thermobifida fusca was a dominant actinobacterium in high-temperature corn stalk composts, but it was unable to grow alone in corn stalk solid medium. Interestingly, T. fusca showed good growth and secreted enzymes when cocultured with Thermomyces lanuginosus. T. lanuginosus grew firstly during the initial stage, whereas T. fusca dominated the system subsequently during cocultivation. The secretome indicated that T. lanuginosus mainly degraded xylan by expressing a GH11 xylanase (g4601.t1, GenBank AAB94633.1; with relative secretion of 4.95 ± 0.65%). T. fusca was induced by xylan mainly to secrete a xylanase from GH11 family (W8GGR4, GenBank AHK22788.1; with relative secretion of 8.71 ± 3.83%) which could rapidly degrade xylan to xylo-oligosaccharide (XOS) and xylose within 2 min, while high concentrations (>0.5%, w/v) of XOS or xylose suppressed the growth of T. fusca; which may be the reason why T. fusca unable to grow alone in corn stalk solid medium. However, T. lanuginosus could utilize the XOS and xylose produced by xylanases secreted by T. fusca. During the synergistic degradation of lignocellulose by T. lanuginosus and T. fusca, xylan was rapidly consumed by T. lanuginosus, the residual cellulose could specifically induced T. fusca to express a GH10 xylanase with a CBM2 domain (Q47KR6, GenBank AAZ56956.1; with relative secretion of 5.03 ± 1.33%) and 6 cellulases (2 exocellulases and 4 endocellulases). Moreover, T. lanuginosus increased the secretion of cellulases from T. fusca by 19-25%. The order of T. lanuginosus and T. fusca was consistent with the multilayered structures of lignocellulose and could be regulated by different concentrations of XOS and xylose. The novel synergism of T. lanuginosus and T. fusca gave a new sight for revealing more synergetic relationships in natural environments and exploring efficient microbial inoculants and enzyme cocktails for lignocellulose degradation.

Insights into the cellulose degradation mechanism of the thermophilic fungus Chaetomium thermophilum based on integrated functional omics

BACKGROUND

Lignocellulose is the most abundant and renewable biomass resource on the planet. Lignocellulose can be converted into biofuels and high-value compounds; however, its recalcitrance makes its breakdown a challenge. Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) offer tremendous promise for the degradation of recalcitrant polysaccharides. Chaetomium thermophilum, having many LPMO-coding genes, is a dominant thermophilic fungus in cellulose-rich and self-heating habitats. This study explores the genome, secretomes and transcript levels of specific genes of C. thermophilum.

RESULTS

The genome of C. thermophilum encoded a comprehensive set of cellulose- and xylan-degrading enzymes, especially 18 AA9 LPMOs that belonged to different subfamilies. Extracellular secretomes showed that arabinose and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) could specifically induce the secretion of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), especially AA9 LPMOs, by C. thermophilum under different carbon sources. Temporal analyses of secretomes and transcripts revealed that arabinose induced the secretion of xylanases by C. thermophilum, which was obviously different from other common filamentous fungi. MCC could efficiently induce the specific secretion of LPMO2s, possibly because the insert in loop3 on the substrate-binding surface of LPMO2s strengthened its binding capacity to cellulose. LPMO2s, cellobio hydrolases (CBHs) and cellobiose dehydrogenases (CDHs) were cosecreted, forming an efficient cellulose degradation system of oxidases and hydrolases under thermophilic conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

The specific expression of LPMO2s and cosecretion of hydrolases and oxidases by the thermophilic fungus C. thermophilum play an important role in cellulose degradation. This insight increases our understanding of the cellulose degradation under thermophilic conditions and may inspire the design of the optimal enzyme cocktails for more efficient exploration of biomass resources in industrial applications.

Insights Into the Role of Exposed Surface Charged Residues in the Alkali-Tolerance of GH11 Xylanase

Thermostable and alkaline- or acid-stable xylanases are more advantageous in agricultural and industrial fields. In this study, a rational structure-based design was conducted based on a thermostable GH11 xylanase TlXynA from Thermomyces lanuginosus to improved pH-tolerance. Four mutant enzymes (P1, P2, P3, and P4) and five variants (N1, N2, N3, N4, and N5) were constructed by substituting surface charged residue combinations using site-directed mutagenesis. Compared to the native enzyme, two mutants P1 and P2 showed higher acid tolerance, especially at pH 3.0, presented 50 and 40% of their maximum activity, respectively. In addition, four mutants N1, N2, N3 and N4 had higher tolerance than the native enzyme to alkaline environments (pH 7.0-9.0). At pH 9.0, the residual activities of N1, N2, N3, and N4 were 86, 78, 77, and 66%, respectively. In summary, an improved pH-tolerance design principle is being reported.