Differential expression of cellulases and xylanases by Cellulomonas flavigena grown on different carbon sources

Chitin-Active Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenases Are Rare in Cellulomonas Species

Cellulomonas flavigena is a saprotrophic bacterium that encodes, within its genome, four predicted lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) from Auxiliary Activity family 10 (AA10). We showed previously that three of these cleave the plant polysaccharide cellulose by oxidation at carbon-1 (J. Li, L. Solhi, E.D. Goddard-Borger, Y. Mattieu et al., Biotechnol Biofuels 14:29, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-020-01860-3). Here, we present the biochemical characterization of the fourth C. flavigena AA10 member (CflaLPMO10D) as a chitin-active LPMO. Both the full-length CflaLPMO10D-Carbohydrate-Binding Module family 2 (CBM2) and catalytic module-only proteins were produced in Escherichia coli using the native general secretory (Sec) signal peptide. To quantify chitinolytic activity, we developed a high-performance anion-exchange chromatography-pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) method as an alternative to the established hydrophilic interaction liquid ion chromatography coupled with UV detection (HILIC-UV) method for separation and detection of released oxidized chito-oligosaccharides. Using this method, we demonstrated that CflaLPMO10D is strictly active on the β-allomorph of chitin, with optimal activity at pH 5 to 6 and a preference for ascorbic acid as the reducing agent. We also demonstrated the importance of the CBM2 member for both mediating enzyme localization to substrates and prolonging LPMO activity. Together with previous work, the present study defines the distinct substrate specificities of the suite of C. flavigena AA10 members. Notably, a cross-genome survey of AA10 members indicated that chitinolytic LPMOs are, in fact, rare among Cellulomonas bacteria. IMPORTANCE Species from the genus Cellulomonas have a long history of study due to their roles in biomass recycling in nature and corresponding potential as sources of enzymes for biotechnological applications. Although Cellulomonas species are more commonly associated with the cleavage and utilization of plant cell wall polysaccharides, here, we show that C. flavigena produces a unique lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase with activity on β-chitin, which is found, for example, in arthropods. The limited distribution of orthologous chitinolytic LPMOs suggests adaptation of individual cellulomonads to specific nutrient niches present in soil ecosystems. This research provides new insight into the biochemical specificity of LPMOs in Cellulomonas species and related bacteria, and it raises new questions about the physiological function of these enzymes.

Substrate Shift Reveals Roles for Members of Bacterial Consortia in Degradation of Plant Cell Wall Polymers

Deconstructing the intricate matrix of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin poses a major challenge in biofuel production. In diverse environments in nature, some microbial communities, are able to overcome plant biomass recalcitrance. Identifying key degraders of each component of plant cell wall can help improve biological degradation of plant feedstock. Here, we sequenced the metagenome of lignocellulose-adapted microbial consortia sub-cultured on xylan and alkali lignin media. We observed a drastic shift on community composition after sub-culturing, independently of the original consortia. Proteobacteria relative abundance increased after growth in alkali lignin medium, while Bacteroidetes abundance increased after growth in xylan medium. At the genus level, Pseudomonas was more abundant in the communities growing on alkali lignin, Sphingobacterium in the communities growing on xylan and Cellulomonas abundance was the highest in the original microbial consortia. We also observed functional convergence of microbial communities after incubation in alkali lignin, due to an enrichment of genes involved in benzoate degradation and catechol ortho-cleavage pathways. Our results represent an important step toward the elucidation of key members of microbial communities on lignocellulose degradation and may aide the design of novel lignocellulolytic microbial consortia that are able to efficiently degrade plant cell wall polymers.

Cellulomonas fimi secretomes: In vivo and in silico approaches for the lignocellulose bioconversion

Lignocellulose degradation is a challenging step for value added products and biofuels production. Cellulomonas fimi secretes complex mixtures of carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) which synergistically degrade cellulose and hemicelluloses. Their characterization may provide new insights for enzymatic cocktails implementation. Bioinformatic analysis highlighted 1127 secreted proteins, constituting the in silico secretome, graphically represented in a 2DE map. According to Blast2GO functional annotation, many of these are involved in carbohydrates metabolism. In vivo secretomes were obtained, growing C. fimi on glucose, CMC or wheat straw for 24 h. Zymography revealed degradative activity on carbohydrates and proteomic analysis identified some CAZymes, only in secretomes obtained with CMC and wheat straw. An interaction between cellobiohydrolases is proposed as a strategy adopted by soluble multimodular cellulases. Such approach can be crucial for a better characterization and industrial exploitation of the synergism among C. fimi enzymes.

Xylanases of Cellulomonas flavigena: expression, biochemical characterization, and biotechnological potential

Four xylanases of Cellulomonas flavigena were cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. Three enzymes (CFXyl1, CFXyl2, and CFXyl4) were from the GH10 family, while CFXyl3 was from the GH11 family. The enzymes possessed moderate temperature stability and a neutral pH optimum. The enzymes were more stable at alkaline pH values. CFXyl1 and CFXyl2 hydrolyzed xylan to form xylobiose, xylotriose, xylohexaose, xylopentaose, and xylose, which is typical for GH10. CFXyl3 (GH11) and CFXyl4 (GH10) formed the same xylooligosaccharides, but xylose was formed in small amounts. The xylanases made efficient saccharification of rye, wheat and oat, common components of animal feed, which indicates their high biotechnological potential.

Impact of Module-X2 and Carbohydrate Binding Module-3 on the catalytic activity of associated glycoside hydrolases towards plant biomass

Cellulolytic enzymes capable of hydrolyzing plant biomass are secreted by microbial cells specifically in response to the carbon substrate present in the environment. These enzymes consist of a catalytic domain, generally appended to one or more non-catalytic Carbohydrate Binding Module (CBM), which enhances their activity towards recalcitrant biomass. In the present study, the genome of a cellulolytic microbe Paenibacillus polymyxa A18 was annotated for the presence of CBMs and analyzed their expression in response to the plant biomass and model polysaccharides Avicel, CMC and xylan using quantitative PCR. A gene that encodes X2-CBM3 was found to be maximally induced in response to the biomass and crystalline substrate Avicel. Association of X2-CBM3 with xyloglucanase and endoglucanase led to up to 4.6-fold increase in activity towards insoluble substrates. In the substrate binding study, module X2 showed a higher affinity towards biomass and phosphoric acid swollen cellulose, whereas CBM3 showed a higher affinity towards Avicel. Further structural modeling of X2 also indicated its potential role in substrate binding. Our findings highlighted the role of module X2 along with CBM3 in assisting the enzyme catalysis of agricultural residue and paved the way to engineer glycoside hydrolases for superior activity.

Effect of Different Lignocellulosic Diets on Bacterial Microbiota and Hydrolytic Enzyme Activities in the Gut of the Cotton Boll Weevil (Anthonomus grandis)

Cotton boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis, are omnivorous coleopteran that can feed on diets with different compositions, including recalcitrant lignocellulosic materials. We characterized the changes in the prokaryotic community structure and the hydrolytic activities of A. grandis larvae fed on different lignocellulosic diets. A. grandis larvae were fed on three different artificial diets: cottonseed meal (CM), Napier grass (NG) and corn stover (CS). Total DNA was extracted from the gut samples for amplification and sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes dominated the gut microbiota followed by Actinobacteria, Spirochaetes and a small number of unclassified phyla in CM and NG microbiomes. In the CS feeding group, members of Spirochaetes were the most prevalent, followed by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Bray-Curtis distances showed that the samples from the CS community were clearly separated from those samples of the CM and NG diets. Gut extracts from all three diets exhibited endoglucanase, xylanase, β-glucosidase and pectinase activities. These activities were significantly affected by pH and temperature across different diets. We observed that the larvae reared on a CM showed significantly higher activities than larvae reared on NG and CS. We demonstrated that the intestinal bacterial community structure varies depending on diet composition. Diets with more variable and complex compositions, such as CS, showed higher bacterial diversity and richness than the two other diets. In spite of the detected changes in composition and diversity, we identified a core microbiome shared between the three different lignocellulosic diets. These results suggest that feeding with diets of different lignocellulosic composition could be a viable strategy to discover variants of hemicellulose and cellulose breakdown systems.

Proteomic Analysis of the Secretome of Cellulomonas fimi ATCC 484 and Cellulomonas flavigena ATCC 482

The bacteria in the genus Cellulomonas are known for their ability to degrade plant cell wall biomass. Cellulomonas fimi ATCC 484 and C. flavigena ATCC 482 have been the subject of much research into secreted cellulases and hemicellulases. Recently the genome sequences of both C. fimi ATCC 484 and C. flavigena ATCC 482 were published, and a genome comparison has revealed their full spectrum of possible carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes). Using mass spectrometry, we have compared the proteins secreted by C. fimi and C. flavigena during growth on the soluble cellulose substrate, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), as well as a soluble xylan fraction. Many known C. fimi CAZymes were detected, which validated our analysis, as were a number of new CAZymes and other proteins that, though identified in the genome, have not previously been observed in the secretome of either organism. Our data also shows that many of these are co-expressed on growth of either CMC or xylan. This analysis provides a new perspective on Cellulomonas enzymes and provides many new CAZyme targets for characterization.

A two-step process for efficient enzymatic saccharification of rice straw

Response surface methodology was used to optimise a two-step process of cellulase mediated saccharification of rice straw by an isolated bacterium Lysinibacillus sphaericus. CMC concentration, yeast extract, pH and incubation temperature were optimised for cellulase production using a central composite design and their optimum values were determined to be 4.3% (w/v), 2.1% (w/v), 6.2 and 45.2 °C respectively. The CMCase activity at these values was 5.16±0.07 U/ml, which was 2.5 times that of the un-optimised system. Similarly, pretreated rice straw, enzyme load, incubation time and Tween-80 concentrations were optimised for enhanced saccharification of rice straw by optimised cellulase preparations, and their optimum values were calculated as 1.84% (w/v), 40 U, 57.4 h and 0.76 mM respectively. A percent saccharification of 69.5% was reported at optimal conditions. HPLC analysis revealed that hydrolysate produced at optimal conditions of saccharification constituted 70.8% of glucose.

Role and significance of beta-glucosidases in the hydrolysis of cellulose for bioethanol production

One of the major challenges in the bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass into liquid biofuels includes the search for a glucose tolerant beta-gulucosidase. Beta-glucosidase is the key enzyme component present in cellulase and completes the final step during cellulose hydrolysis by converting the cellobiose to glucose. This reaction is always under control as it gets inhibited by its product glucose. It is a major bottleneck in the efficient biomass conversion by cellulase. To circumvent this problem several strategies have been adopted which we have discussed in the article along with its production strategies and general properties. It plays a very significant role in bioethanol production from biomass through enzymatic route. Hence several amendments took place in the commercial preparation of cellulase for biomass hydrolysis, which contains higher and improved beta-glucosidase for efficient biomass conversion. This article presents beta-glucosidase as the key component for bioethanol from biomass through enzymatic route.

Identification and proteomic analysis of a novel gossypol-degrading fungal strain

BACKGROUND

Cottonseed meal, an important source of feed raw materials, has limited use in the feed industry because of the presence of the highly toxic gossypol. The aim of the current work was to isolate the gossypol-degrading fungus from a soil microcosm and investigate the proteins involved in gossypol degradation.

RESULTS

A fungal strain, AN-1, that uses gossypol as its sole carbon source was isolated and identified as Aspergillus niger. A large number of intracellular proteins were detected using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, but no significant difference was observed between the glucose-containing and gossypol-containing mycelium extracts. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis results showed that the protein spots were concentrated in the 25.0-66.2 kDa range and distributed in different pI gradients. PDQuest software showed that 51 protein spots in the gels were differentially expressed. Of these, 20 differential protein spots, including six special spots expressed in gossypol, were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

CONCLUSION

The fungus AN-1 biodegraded gossypol and the proteomic analysis results indicate that some proteins were involved in the gossypol biodegradation during fungus survival, using gossypol as its sole carbon source.

Biodiversity characterization of cellulolytic bacteria present on native Chaco soil by comparison of ribosomal RNA genes

Sequence analysis of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene was used to study bacterial diversity of a pristine forest soil and of two cultures of the same soil enriched with cellulolytic bacteria. Our analysis revealed high bacterial diversity in the native soil sample, evidencing at least 10 phyla, in which Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria accounted for more than 76% of all sequences. In both enriched samples, members of Proteobacteria were the most frequently represented. The majority of bacterial genera in both enriched samples were identified as Brevundimonas and Caulobacter, but members of Devosia, Sphingomonas, Variovorax, Acidovorax, Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas, Stenotrophomonas, Achromobacter and Delftia were also found. In addition, it was possible to identify cellulolytic taxa such as Acidothermus, Micromonospora, Streptomyces, Paenibacillus and Pseudomonas, which indicates that this ecosystem could be an attractive source for study of novel enzymes for cellulose degradation.

Complex expression of the cellulolytic transcriptome of Saccharophagus degradans

Saccharophagus degradans is an aerobic marine bacterium that can degrade cellulose by the induced expression of an unusual cellulolytic system composed of multiple endoglucanases and glucosidases. To understand the regulation of the cellulolytic system, transcript levels for the genes predicted to contribute to the cellulolytic system were monitored by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) during the transition to growth on cellulose. Four glucanases of the cellulolytic system exhibited basal expression during growth on glucose. All but one of the predicted cellulolytic system genes were induced strongly during growth on Avicel, with three patterns of expression observed. One group showed increased expression (up to 6-fold) within 4 h of the nutritional shift, with the relative expression remaining constant over the next 22 h. A second group of genes was strongly induced between 4 and 10 h after nutritional transfer, with relative expression declining thereafter. The third group of genes was slowly induced and was expressed maximally after 24 h. Cellodextrins and cellobiose, products of the predicted basally expressed endoglucanases, stimulated expression of representative cellulase genes. A model is proposed by which the activity of basally expressed endoglucanases releases cellodextrins from Avicel that are then perceived and transduced to initiate transcription of each of the regulated cellulolytic system genes forming an expression pattern.

Multicomponent cellulase production by Cellulomonas biazotea NCIM-2550 and its applications for cellulosic biohydrogen production

Among four cellulolytic microorganisms examined, Cellulomonas biazotea NCIM-2550 can grow on various cellulosic substrates and produce reducing sugar. The activity of cellulases (endoglucanase, exoglucanase, and cellobiase), xylanase, amylase, and lignin class of enzymes produced by C. biazotea was mainly present extracellularly and the enzyme production was dependent on cellulosic substrates (carboxymethyl cellulose [CMC], sugarcane bagasse [SCB], and xylan) used for growth. Effects of physicochemical conditions on cellulolytic enzyme production were systematically investigated. Using MnCl(2) as a metal additive significantly induces the cellulase enzyme system, resulting in more reducing sugar production. The efficiency of fermentative conversion of the hydrolyzed SCB and xylan into clean H(2) energy was examined with seven H(2)-producing pure bacterial isolates. Only Clostridiumbutyricum CGS5 exhibited efficient H(2) production performance with the hydrolysate of SCB and xylan. The cumulative H(2) production and H(2) yield from using bagasse hydrolysate (initial reducing sugar concentration = 1.545 g/L) were approximately 72.61 mL/L and 2.13 mmol H(2)/g reducing sugar (or 1.91 mmol H(2)/g cellulose), respectively. Using xylan hydrolysate (initial reducing sugar concentration = 0.345 g/L) as substrate could also attain a cumulative H(2) production and H(2) yield of 87.02 mL/L and 5.03 mmol H(2)/g reducing sugar (or 4.01 mmol H(2)/g cellulose), respectively.

Profiling differential expression of cellulases and metabolite footprints in Aspergillus terreus

This study reports differential expression of endoglucanase (EG) and beta-glucosidase (betaG) isoforms of Aspergillus terreus. Expression of multiple isoforms was observed, in presence of different carbon sources and culture conditions, by activity staining of poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis gels. Maximal expression of four EG isoforms was observed in presence of rice straw (28 U/g DW substrate) and corn cobs (1.147 U/ml) under solid substrate and shake flask culture, respectively. Furthermore, the sequential induction of EG isoforms was found to be associated with the presence of distinct metabolites (monosaccharides/oligosaccharides) i.e., xylose (X), G(1), G(3) and G(4) as well as putative positional isomers (G(1)/G(2), G(2)/G(3)) in the culture extracts sampled at different time intervals, indicating specific role of these metabolites in the sequential expression of multiple EGs. Addition of fructose and cellobiose to corn cobs containing medium during shake flask culture resulted in up-regulation of EG activity, whereas addition of mannitol, ethanol and glycerol selectively repressed the expression of three EG isoforms (Ia, Ic and Id). The observed regulation profile of betaG isoforms was distinct when compared to EG isoforms, and addition of glucose, fructose, sucrose, cellobiose, mannitol and glycerol resulted in down-regulation of one or more of the four betaG isoforms.

Cyclic AMP regulates the biosynthesis of cellobiohydrolase in Cellulomonas flavigena growing in sugar cane bagasse

Cellulomonas flavigena produces a battery of cellulase components that act concertedly to degrade cellulose. The addition of cAMP to repressed C. flavigena cultures released catabolic repression, while addition of cAMP to induced C. flavigena cultures led to a cellobiohydrolase hyperproduction. Exogenous cAMP showed positive regulation on cellobiohydrolase production in C. flavigena grown on sugar cane bagasse. A C. flavigena cellobiohydrolase gene was cloned (named celA), which coded for a 71- kDa enzyme. Upstream, a repressor celR1, identified as a 38 kDa protein, was monitored by use of polyclonal antibodies.