Production and in vitro evaluation of xylooligosaccharides generated from corncobs using immobilized Penicillium occitanis xylanase

Extraction, purification, structural characterization and bioactivity of maize oligosaccharides: a review

Maize (Zea mays L.), as a globally significant food and economic crop, has attracted considerable attention from both the academic and industrial sectors due to its rich nutrient components and wide-ranging application value. In recent years, maize oligosaccharides have exhibited remarkable bioactivities in regulating gut microbiota, lowering blood glucose levels, and improving lipid metabolism, thus emerging as a research hotspot. Numerous scholars have conducted relatively in-depth studies on maize oligosaccharides. However, the relevant research findings are fragmented, lacking a systematic summary, which is detrimental to their high-value-added development and utilization. In view of this, this study intends to systematically review the research progress of maize oligosaccharides in aspects such as extraction, separation and purification, structural characterization, bioactivity, and application, analyze the existing problems and deficiencies, and put forward suggestions for future research directions. The aim is to provide theoretical support for the in-depth development and application of maize oligosaccharides and promote their high-value-added development in fields such as food, pharmaceuticals, and health products.

Thermodynamics and Physicochemical Properties of Immobilized Maleic Anhydride-Modified Xylanase and Its Application in the Extraction of Oligosaccharides from Wheat Bran

Xylanases are the preferred enzymes for the extracting of oligosaccharides from wheat bran. However, free xylanases have poor stability and are difficult to reuse, which limit their industrial application. In the present study, we covalently immobilized free maleic anhydride-modified xylanase (FMA-XY) to improve its reusability and stability. The immobilized maleic anhydride-modified xylanase (IMA-XY) exhibited better stability compared with the free enzyme. After six repeated uses, 52.24% of the activity of the immobilized enzyme remained. The wheat bran oligosaccharides extracted using IMA-XY were mainly xylopentoses, xylohexoses, and xyloheptoses, which were the β-configurational units and α-configurational units of xylose. The oligosaccharides also exhibited good antioxidant properties. The results indicated that FMA-XY can easily be recycled and can remain stable after immobilization; therefore, it has good prospects for future industrial applications.

Xylanase covalent binding onto amidated pectin beads: Optimization, thermal, operational and storage stability studies and application

Amidated pectin-polyethylene imine-glutaraldehyde (AP-PEI-GA) immobilizer was prepared. The ideal protocol that should be adopted during the immobilizer preparation was investigated via Box-Behnken design (BBD), and it comprised processing the AP beads with 3.4 % (w/w) PEI solution of pH 9.65 followed by 5.96 % (v/v) GA solution. The obtained AP-PEI-GA immobilizer was efficient, and it acquired 3.03 U.g^-1 of immobilized xylanase (im-xylanase) activity. The computed K_m and V_max values for AP-PEI-GA im-xylanase were 16.67 mg.ml^-1 and 20 g.ml^-1.min^-1, respectively. Through covalent coupling to AP-PEI-GA, Aspergillus niger xylanase thermodynamic properties T_1/2 and D-values were increased by 2.05, 3.08, and 1.35 at 40, 50, and 60 °C, respectively. ΔH_d and ΔG_d for AP-PEI-GA im-xylanase at 40, 50, and 60 °C were higher than those for free form emphasizing more resistance to thermal denaturation. Im-xylanase showed 100 % activity for 20 successive cycles and hydrolyzed different agro-industrial wastes into reducing sugar and xylooligosaccharides (XOS) with more efficiency on pea peel (PP). AP-PEI-GA im-xylanase, PP weight, and hydrolysis time that should be adopted to obtain the highest reducing sugar and XOS yield were optimized through central composite design (CCD). Extracted XOS showed prebiotic and anti-oxidant activities.

A Fungal Versatile GH10 Endoxylanase and Its Glycosynthase Variant: Synthesis of Xylooligosaccharides and Glycosides of Bioactive Phenolic Compounds

The study of endoxylanases as catalysts to valorize hemicellulosic residues and to obtain glycosides with improved properties is a topic of great industrial interest. In this work, a GH10 β-1,4-endoxylanase (XynSOS), from the ascomycetous fungus Talaromyces amestolkiae, has been heterologously produced in Pichia pastoris, purified, and characterized. rXynSOS is a highly glycosylated monomeric enzyme of 53 kDa that contains a functional CBM1 domain and shows its optimal activity on azurine cross-linked (AZCL)-beechwood xylan at 70 °C and pH 5. Substrate specificity and kinetic studies confirmed its versatility and high affinity for beechwood xylan and wheat arabinoxylan. Moreover, rXynSOS was capable of transglycosylating phenolic compounds, although with low efficiencies. For expanding its synthetic capacity, a glycosynthase variant of rXynSOS was developed by directed mutagenesis, replacing its nucleophile catalytic residue E236 by a glycine (rXynSOS-E236G). This novel glycosynthase was able to synthesize β-1,4-xylooligosaccharides (XOS) of different lengths (four, six, eight, and ten xylose units), which are known to be emerging prebiotics. rXynSOS-E236G was also much more active than the native enzyme in the glycosylation of a broad range of phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties. The interesting capabilities of rXynSOS and its glycosynthase variant make them promising tools for biotechnological applications.

Insights on sustainable approaches for production and applications of value added products

The increasing demand for the development of sustainable strategies to utilize and process agro-industrial residues paves new paths for exploring innovative approaches in this area. Biotechnology based microbial transformations provide efficient, low cost and sustainable approaches for the production of value added products. The use of organic rich residues opens new avenues for the production of enzymes, pigments, biofuels, bioactive compounds, biopolymers etc. with vast industrial and therapeutic applications. Innovative technologies like strain improvement, enzyme immobilization, genome editing, morphological engineering, ultrasound/supercritical fluid/pulse electric field extraction, etc. can be employed. These will be helpful in achieving significant improvement in qualitative and quantitative parameters of the finished products. The global trend for the valorisation of biowaste has boosted the commercialization of these products which has transformed the markets by providing new investment opportunities. The upstream processing of raw materials using microbes poses a limitation in terms of product development and recovery which can be overcome by modifying the bioreactor design, physiological parameters or employing alternate technologies which will be discussed in this review. The other problems related to the processes include product stability, industrial applicability and cost competitiveness which needs to be addressed. This review comprehensively discusses the recent progress, avenues and challenges in the approaches aimed at valorisation of agro-industrial wastes along with possible opportunities in the bioeconomy.

Hemicellulases from Penicillium and Talaromyces for lignocellulosic biomass valorization: A review

The term hemicellulose groups different polysaccharides with heterogeneous structures, mannans, xyloglucans, mixed-linkage β-glucans and xylans, which differ in their backbone and branches, and in the type and distribution of glycosidic linkages. The enzymatic degradation of these complex polymers requires the concerted action of multiple hemicellulases and auxiliary enzymes. Most commercial enzymes are produced by Trichoderma and Aspergillus species, but recent studies have disclosed Penicillium and Talaromyces as promising sources of hemicellulases. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the hemicellulolytic system of these genera, and the role of hemicellulases in the disruption and synthesis of glycosidic bonds. In both cases, the enzymes from Penicillium and Talaromyces represent an interesting alternative for valorization of lignocellulosic biomass in the current framework of circular economy.

Heterologous Expression of Lignocellulose-Modifying Enzymes in Microorganisms: Current Status

Heterologous expression of the carbohydrate-active enzymes in microorganisms is a promising approach to produce bio-based compounds, such as fuels, nutraceuticals and other value-added products from sustainable lignocellulosic sources. Several microorganisms, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Escherichia coli, and the filamentous fungi Aspergillus nidulans, have unique characteristics desirable for a biorefinery production approach like well-known genetic tools, thermotolerance, high fermentative capacity and product tolerance, and high amount of recombinant enzyme secretion. These microbial factories are already stablished in the heterologous production of the carbohydrate-active enzymes to produce, among others, ethanol, xylooligosaccharides and the valuable coniferol. A complete biocatalyst able to heterologous express the CAZymes of glycoside hydrolases, carbohydrate esterases and auxiliary activities families could release these compounds faster, with higher yield and specificity. Recent advances in the synthetic biology tools could expand the number and diversity of enzymes integrated in these microorganisms, and also modify those already integrated. This review outlines the heterologous expression of carbohydrate-active enzymes in microorganisms, as well as recent updates in synthetic biology.

Conversion of Wheat Bran to Xylanases and Dye Adsorbent by Streptomyces thermocarboxydus

Agro-byproducts can be utilized as effective and low-cost nutrient sources for microbial fermentation to produce a variety of usable products. In this study, wheat bran powder (WBP) was found to be the most effective carbon source for xylanase production by Streptomyces thermocarboxydus TKU045. The optimal media for xylanase production was 2% (w/v) WBP, 1.50% (w/v) KNO₃, 0.05% (w/v) MgSO₄, and 0.10% (w/v) K₂HPO₄, and the optimal culture conditions were 50 mL (in a 250 mL-volume Erlenmeyer flask), initial pH 9.0, 37 °C, 125 rpm, and 48 h. Accordingly, the highest xylanase activity was 6.393 ± 0.130 U/mL, 6.9-fold higher than that from un-optimized conditions. S. thermocarboxydus TKU045 secreted at least four xylanases with the molecular weights of >180, 36, 29, and 27 kDa when cultured on the WBP-containing medium. The enzyme cocktail produced by S. thermocarboxydus TKU045 was optimally active over a broad range of temperature and pH (40–70 °C and pH 5–8, respectively) and could hydrolyze birchwood xylan to produce xylobiose as the major product. The obtained xylose oligosaccharide (XOS) were investigated for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and the growth effect of lactic acid bacteria. Finally, the solid waste from the WBP fermentation using S. thermocarboxydus TKU045 revealed the high adsorption of Congo red, Red 7, and Methyl blue. Thus, S. thermocarboxydus TKU045 could be a potential strain to utilize wheat bran to produce xylanases for XOS preparation and dye adsorbent.

Enhancement of catalytic performance of a metagenome-derived thermophilic oligosaccharide-specific xylanase by binding module removal and random mutagenesis

Xylo-oligosaccharide (XO) is a promising pre-biotic with applications in food, feed and healthcare products. XO can be produced by enzymatic digestion of xylan with xylanase. In this study, we aimed to improve the biochemical properties relevant to catalysis and kinetics of X11, a thermophilic glycosyl hydrolase (GH) family 11 endo-β-1,4-xylanase derived from a metagenomic library isolated from sugarcane bagasse, under high-temperature conditions preferred for XO synthesis. Removal of a carbohydrate-binding module (X11C) resulted in 6.5 fold greater catalytic efficiency. X11C was further improved by a Pro71Thr mutation in the X11P variant obtained from a random mutagenesis library, which exhibited 15.9 fold greater catalytic efficiency compared with wild-type X11 under the enzyme's optimal conditions of 80°C and pH 6.0. Homology modeling suggested that the improved performance of X11P could be attributed to formation of an extra H-bond between Thr71 and Ser75, which stabilizes the key catalytic residue Glu180 at the active pocket and β-sheet layers and agrees with the respective increase in melting temperature (T_m) where X11P >X11C >X11 as determined by differential scanning fluorimetry. The X11P variant was tested for hydrolysis of beechwood xylan, which showed X6 as the major product followed by X3 and X4 XOs. The highest yield of 5.5 g total XOs product/mg enzyme was observed for X11P, equivalent to 3.7 fold higher than that of wild-type with XO production of >800 mg/g xylan. The X11P enzyme could be developed as a thermophilic biocatalyst for XO synthesis in biorefineries.

Parageobacillus thermantarcticus, an Antarctic Cell Factory: From Crop Residue Valorization by Green Chemistry to Astrobiology Studies

Knowledge of Antarctic habitat biodiversity, both marine and terrestrial, has increased considerably in recent years, causing considerable development in the studies of life science related to Antarctica. In the Austral summer 1986–1987, a new thermophilic bacterium, Parageobacillus thermantarcticus strain M1 was isolated from geothermal soil of the crater of Mount Melbourne (74°22′ S, 164°40′ E) during the Italian Antarctic Expedition. In addition to the biotechnological potential due to the production of exopolysaccharides and thermostable enzymes, successful studies have demonstrated its use in the green chemistry for the transformation and valorization of residual biomass and its employment as a suitable microbial model for astrobiology studies. The recent acquisition of its genome sequence opens up new opportunities for the use of this versatile bacterium in still unexplored biotechnology sectors.

Low degree of polymerization xylooligosaccharides production from almond shell using immobilized nano-biocatalyst

In this work, the effect of particle size on alkali pretreatment of the almond shell was evaluated for recovery of hemicellulose. Further, endoxylanase from Thermomyces lanuginosus was immobilized on Fe-based magnetic nanoparticles to enable reuse of enzyme. Reduction in particle size significantly influences the recovery of hemicellulose as particle size below 120 μm enable recovery of 97% available hemicellulose in 1 h at 121 °C with 2 M alkali. The enzyme could retain 93.3% of enzymatic activity upon immobilization onto magnetic support using glutaraldehyde (25 mM) and was at par with the free enzyme in terms of pH and temperature profile. The measurement of reaction kinetics (Km and Vmax) indicates similar values for free and immobilized enzyme. The structural and morphological analysis indicates presence near spherical magnetic core and successful cross-linking of the enzyme without alteration of the magnetic core. The immobilized enzyme was able to hydrolyze hemicellulose to produce XOS, the yield equivalent to 67.4% of that obtained using free enzyme at 50 °C. The comparison of XOS production ability at 50 and 60 °C, suggests that the immobilized enzyme retains activity as similar yield was obtained at both temperatures, whereas, the yield for free enzyme decreases significantly. The XOS yield on recycling of immobilized enzyme for three successive cycles was found to reduce to 41% of the initial cycle. However, in all cycles of enzymatic hydrolysis, the percentage of xylobiose was found to be above 90%.

Prebiotic compounds from agro-industrial by-products

Prebiotics are nondigestible food components that have an impact on gut microbiota composition and activity, which in turn results in the improvement of health conditions. Nowadays, the production of prebiotics from agro-industrial by-products is under investigation. In this regard, polysaccharides are usually found in these sources and their potential use as prebiotics has been studied recently since these compounds act as substrates for the human gut microbiota, and they have the potential to modulate its composition through many mechanisms. Additionally, the use of agricultural by-products is advantageous because it is a cheap and abundantly available material. This review focuses on the recent scientific literature regarding the prebiotic properties of polysaccharides from agro-industrial by-products. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Currently, the maintenance of gut homeostasis is a target for the improvement of human health. This review can broaden the perspective on the utilization of agro-industrial by-products that can compete in the market with the commercial ones or act as a source for new food ingredients.

Lignocellulose degrading extremozymes produced by Pichia pastoris: current status and future prospects

In this review article, extremophilic lignocellulosic enzymes with special interest on xylanases, β-mannanases, laccases and finally cellulases, namely, endoglucanases, exoglucanases and β-glucosidases produced by Pichia pastoris are reviewed for the first time. Recombinant lignocellulosic extremozymes are discussed from the perspectives of their potential application areas; characteristics of recombinant and native enzymes; the effects of P. pastoris expression system on recombinant extremozymes; and their expression levels and applied strategies to increase the enzyme expression yield. Further, effects of enzyme domains on activity and stability, protein engineering via molecular dynamics simulation and computational prediction, and site-directed mutagenesis and amino acid modifications done are also focused. Superior enzyme characteristics and improved stability due to the proper post-translational modifications and better protein folding performed by P. pastoris make this host favourable for extremozyme production. Especially, glycosylation contributes to the structure, function and stability of enzymes, as generally glycosylated enzymes produced by P. pastoris exhibit better thermostability than non-glycosylated enzymes. However, there has been limited study on enzyme engineering to improve catalytic efficiency and stability of lignocellulosic enzymes. Thus, in the future, studies should focus on protein engineering to improve stability and catalytic efficiency via computational modelling, mutations, domain replacements and fusion enzyme technology. Also metagenomic data need to be used more extensively to produce novel enzymes with extreme characteristics and stability.

Production of xylooligosaccharides from hardwood xylan by using immobilized endoxylanase of Clostridium strain BOH3

Endoxylanase ofClostridiumsp. BOH3 was immobilized in calcium alginate/silica gel matrix with a 100% yield. This immobilized xylanase can be reused 7 times to produce prebiotic xylooligosaccharides from hardwood xylan with 62% of activity recovery.

Effect of xylan oligosaccharides generated from corncobs on food acceptability, growth performance, haematology and immunological parameters of Dicentrarchus labrax fingerlings

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of two levels of inclusion of xylan oligosaccharides (XOS) extracted from corncob on growth, feed utilization, immune status and disease resistance of Mediterranean sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fingerlings. Specimens of 4.75 ± 0.69 g at initial density of 2.7 ± 0.13 kg/m(3) were fed during 12 weeks at 0 g kg(-1) diet, 5 g kg(-1) diet and 10 g kg(-1) diet, dietary XOS level of inclusion in a commercial sea bass diet. Feeding the fish at both XOS dietary inclusion levels significantly increased weight gain, protein efficiency ratio and feed conversion ratio. Feeding of supplemented diets to fish led to reducing mortalities after challenging with A. hydrophila. The haematological and immunological parameters were assayed in both pre-challenged and post-challenged groups. There was an increased trend in red blood corpuscles, white blood corpuscles, pack cell volume, haemoglobin (Hb %) and serum protein content in treated groups over the control as time elapsed with the feeding trials. The serum immunoglobulin level and lysozyme activity showed an increased trend in the fed groups. Histological features of the liver showed lower lipid vacuolization and regular-shaped morphology of hepatocytes around the sinusoidal spaces denoting a better utilization of dietary nutrients supported with the morphometric data. In conclusion, XOS added at a designated dose (5 g kg(-1) diet) in the diet improves growth and stimulates the immunity and makes D. labrax fingerlings more resistant to infection by A. hydrophila.