The effect of an oligosaccharide reducing-end xylanase, BhRex8A, on the synergistic degradation of xylan backbones by an optimised xylanolytic enzyme cocktail

In vitro evaluation of the application of an optimized xylanase cocktail for improved monogastric feed digestibility

Xylanases from glycoside hydrolase (GH) families 10 and 11 are common feed additives for broiler chicken diets due to their catalytic activity on the nonstarch polysaccharide xylan. This study investigated the potential of an optimized binary GH10 and GH11 xylanase cocktail to mitigate the antinutritional effects of xylan on the digestibility of locally sourced chicken feed. Immunofluorescence visualization of the activity of the xylanase cocktail on xylan in the yellow corn of the feed showed a substantial collapse in the morphology of cell walls. Secondly, the reduction in the viscosity of the digesta of the feed by the cocktail showed an effective degradation of the soluble fraction of xylan. Analysis of the xylan degradation products from broiler feeds by the xylanase cocktail showed that xylotriose and xylopentaose were the major xylooligosaccharides (XOS) produced. In vitro evaluation of the prebiotic potential of these XOS showed that they improved the growth of the beneficial bacteria Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. The antibacterial activity of broths from XOS-supplemented probiotic cultures showed a suppressive effect on the growth of the extraintestinal infectious bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae. Supplementing the xylanase cocktail in cereal animal feeds attenuated xylan's antinutritional effects by reducing digesta viscosity and releasing entrapped nutrients. Furthermore, the production of prebiotic XOS promoted the growth of beneficial bacteria while inhibiting the growth of pathogens. Based on these effects of the xylanase cocktail on the feed, improved growth performance and better feed conversion can potentially be achieved during poultry rearing.

Optimization of Xylooligosaccharides Production by Native and Recombinant Xylanase Hydrolysis of Chicken Feed Substrates

Poultry production faces several challenges, with feed efficiency being the main factor that can be influenced through the use of different nutritional strategies. Xylooligosaccharides (XOS) are functional feed additives that are attracting growing commercial interest due to their excellent ability to modulate the composition of the gut microbiota. The aim of the study was to apply crude and purified fungal xylanases, from Trichoderma harzianum, as well as a recombinant glycoside hydrolase family 10 xylanase, derived from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T6, as additives to locally produced chicken feeds. A Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was used to optimize the reducing sugar yield. Response surface methodology (RSM) revealed that reducing sugars were higher (8.05 mg/mL, 2.81 mg/mL and 2.98 mg/mL) for the starter feed treated with each of the three enzymes compared to the treatment with grower feed (3.11 mg/mL, 2.41 mg/mL and 2.62 mg/mL). The hydrolysis products were analysed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis and showed that the enzymes hydrolysed the chicken feeds, producing a range of monosaccharides (arabinose, mannose, glucose, and galactose) and XOS, with xylobiose being the predominant XOS. These results show promising data for future applications as additives to poultry feeds.

Solid-state fermentation production of L-lysine by Corynebacterium glutamicum (ATCC 13032) using agricultural by-products as substrate

To meet the growing demand for L-lysine, an essential amino acid with various applications, it is crucial to produce it on a large scale locally instead of relying solely on imports. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of using Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 for L-lysine production from agricultural by-products such as palm kernel cake, soybean cake, groundnut cake, and rice bran. Solid-state fermentation was conducted at room temperature for 72 h, with the addition of elephant grass extract as a supplement. The results revealed that these agricultural by-products contain residual amounts of L-lysine. By employing solid-state fermentation with C. glutamicum (106 CFU/ml) in 100 g of various agricultural by-products, L-lysine production was achieved. Interestingly, the addition of elephant grass extract (1 g of elephant grass: 10 ml of water) further enhanced L-lysine production. Among the tested substrates, 100 g of groundnut cake moistened with 500 ml of elephant grass extract yielded the highest L-lysine concentration of 3.27 ± 0.02 (mg/gds). Furthermore, fermentation led to a substantial rise (p < 0.05) in soluble protein, with solid-state fermented soybean cake moistened with 500 ml of elephant grass extract exhibiting the highest amount of 7.941 ± 0.05 mg/gds. The activities of xylanase, amylase and protease were also significantly enhanced. This study demonstrates a viable biotechnological approach for locally producing L-lysine from agricultural by-products using solid-state fermentation with C. glutamicum. The findings hold potential for both health and industrial applications, providing a sustainable and economically feasible method for L-lysine production.

Exploring the partial degradation of polysaccharides: Structure, mechanism, bioactivities, and perspectives

Polysaccharides are promising biomolecules with lowtoxicity and diverse bioactivities in food processing and clinical drug development. However, an essential prerequisite for their applications is the fine structure characterization. Due to the complexity of polysaccharide structure, partial degradation is a powerful tool for fine structure analysis, which can effectively provide valid information on the structure of backbone and branching glycosidic fragments of complex polysaccharides. This review aims to conclude current methods of partial degradation employed for polysaccharide structural characterization, discuss the molecular mechanisms, and describe the molecular structure and solution properties of degraded polysaccharides. In addition, the effects of polysaccharide degradation on the conformational relationships between the molecular structure and bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antitumor, and immunomodulatory activities, are also discussed. Finally, we summarize the prospects and current challenges for the partial degradation of polysaccharides. This review will be of great value for the scientific elucidation of polysaccharide fine structures and potential applications.

Tamarind Seed Polysaccharide Hydrolysate Ameliorates Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis via Regulating the Gut Microbiota

(1) Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a disease caused by noninfectious chronic inflammation characterized by varying degrees of inflammation affecting the colon or its entire mucosal surface. Current therapeutic strategies rely on the suppression of the immune response, which is effective, but can have detrimental effects. Recently, different plant polysaccharides and their degradation products have received increasing attention due to their prominent biological activities. The aim of this research was to evaluate the mitigation of inflammation exhibited by tamarind seed polysaccharide hydrolysate (TSPH) ingestion in colitis mice. (2) Methods: TSPH was obtained from the hydrolysis of tamarind seed polysaccharide (TSP) by trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). The structure and physical properties of TSPH were characterized by ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV), thin-layer chromatography (TLC), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-ESI/MS) analysis. Then, the alleviative effects of the action of TSPH on 2.5% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis mice were investigated. (3) Results: TSPH restored pathological lesions in the colon and inhibited the over-secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines in UC mice. The relative expression level of mRNA for colonic tight junction proteins was increased. These findings suggested that TSPH could reduce inflammation in the colon. Additionally, the structure of the gut microbiota was also altered, with beneficial bacteria, including Prevotella and Blautia, significantly enriched by TSPH. Moreover, the richness of Blautia was positively correlated with acetic acid. (4) Conclusions: In conclusion, TSPH suppressed colonic inflammation, alleviated imbalances in the intestinal flora and regulated bacterial metabolites. Thus, this also implies that TSPH has the potential to be a functional food against colitis.

Insights into the xylan degradation system of Cellulomonas sp. B6: biochemical characterization of rCsXyn10A and rCsAbf62A

Valorization of the hemicellulose fraction of plant biomass is crucial for the sustainability of lignocellulosic biorefineries. The Cellulomonas genus comprises Gram-positive Actinobacteria that degrade cellulose and other polysaccharides by secreting a complex array of enzymes. In this work, we studied the specificity and synergy of two enzymes, CsXyn10A and CsAbf62A, which were identified as highly abundant in the extracellular proteome of Cellulomonas sp. B6 when grown on wheat bran. To explore their potential for bioprocessing, the recombinant enzymes were expressed and their activities were thoroughly characterized. rCsXyn10A is a GH10 endo-xylanase (EC 3.2.1.8), active across a broad pH range (5 to 9), at temperatures up to 55 °C. rCsAbf62A is an α-L-arabinofuranosidase (ABF) (EC 3.2.1.55) that specifically removes α-1,2 and α-1,3-L-arabinosyl substituents from arabino-xylo-oligosaccharides (AXOS), xylan, and arabinan backbones, but it cannot act on double-substituted residues. It also has activity on pNPA. No differences were observed regarding activity when CsAbf62A was expressed with its appended CBM13 module or only the catalytic domain. The amount of xylobiose released from either wheat arabinoxylan or arabino-xylo-oligosaccharides increased significantly when rCsXyn10A was supplemented with rCsAbf62A, indicating that the removal of arabinosyl residues by rCsAbf62A improved rCsXyn10A accessibility to β-1,4-xylose linkages, but no synergism was observed in the deconstruction of wheat bran. These results contribute to designing tailor-made, substrate-specific, enzymatic cocktails for xylan valorization. KEY POINTS: • rCsAbf62A removes α-1,2 and α-1,3-L-arabinosyl substituents from arabino-xylo-oligosaccharides, xylan, and arabinan backbones. • The appended CBM13 of rCsAbf62A did not affect the specific activity of the enzyme. • Supplementation of rCsXyn10A with rCsAbf62A improves the degradation of AXOS and xylan.

Recent advances on key enzymatic activities for the utilisation of lignocellulosic biomass

The field of enzymatic degradation of lignocellulose is actively growing and the recent updates of the last few years indicate that there is still much to learn. The growing number of protein sequences with unknown function in microbial genomes indicates that there is still much to learn on the mechanisms of lignocellulose degradation. In this review, a summary of the progress in the field is presented, including recent discoveries on the nature of the structural polysaccharides, new technologies for the discovery and functional annotation of gene sequences including omics technologies, and the novel lignocellulose-acting enzymes described. Novel enzymatic activities and enzyme families as well as accessory enzymes and their synergistic relationships regarding biomass breakdown are described. Moreover, it is shown that all the valuable knowledge of the enzymatic decomposition of plant biomass polymers can be employed towards the decomposition and upgrading of synthetic polymers, such as plastics.

Unraveling Synergism between Various GH Family Xylanases and Debranching Enzymes during Hetero-Xylan Degradation

Enzymes classified with the same Enzyme Commission (EC) that are allotted in different glycoside hydrolase (GH) families can display different mechanisms of action and substrate specificities. Therefore, the combination of different enzyme classes may not yield synergism during biomass hydrolysis, as the GH family allocation of the enzymes influences their behavior. As a result, it is important to understand which GH family combinations are compatible to gain knowledge on how to efficiently depolymerize biomass into fermentable sugars. We evaluated GH10 (Xyn10D and XT6) and GH11 (XynA and Xyn2A) β-xylanase performance alone and in combination with various GH family α-l-arabinofuranosidases (GH43 AXH-d and GH51 Abf51A) and α-d-glucuronidases (GH4 Agu4B and GH67 AguA) during xylan depolymerization. No synergistic enhancement in reducing sugar, xylose and glucuronic acid released from beechwood xylan was observed when xylanases were supplemented with either one of the glucuronidases, except between Xyn2A and AguA (1.1-fold reducing sugar increase). However, overall sugar release was significantly improved (≥1.1-fold reducing sugar increase) when xylanases were supplemented with either one of the arabinofuranosidases during wheat arabinoxylan degradation. Synergism appeared to result from the xylanases liberating xylo-oligomers, which are the preferred substrates of the terminal arabinofuranosyl-substituent debranching enzyme, Abf51A, allowing the exolytic β-xylosidase, SXA, to have access to the generated unbranched xylo-oligomers. Here, it was shown that arabinofuranosidases are key enzymes in the efficient saccharification of hetero-xylan into xylose. This study demonstrated that consideration of GH family affiliations of the carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) used to formulate synergistic enzyme cocktails is crucial for achieving efficient biomass saccharification.

Biochemical and synergistic properties of a novel alpha-amylase from Chinese nong-flavor Daqu

Background

Daqu is the most important fermentation starter for Chinese liquor, with large number of microbes and enzymes being openly enriched in the Daqu system over thousands of years. However, only a few enzymes have been analyzed with crude protein for total liquefying power and saccharifying power of Daqu. Therefore, the complex enzymatic system present in Daqu has not been completely characterized. Moreover, their pivotal and complicated functions in Daqu are completely unknown.

Results

In this study, a novel α-amylase NFAmy13B, from GH13_5 subfamily (according to the Carbohydrate-Active enZYmes Database, CAZy) was successfully heterologous expressed by Escherichia coli from Chinese Nong-flavor (NF) Daqu. It exhibited high stability ranging from pH 5.5 to 12.5, and higher specific activity, compared to other GH13_5 fungal α-amylases. Moreover, NFAmy13B did not show activity loss and retained 96% residual activity after pre-incubation at pH 11 for 21 h and pH 12 for 10 h, respectively. Additionally, 1.25 mM Ca²⁺ significantly improved its thermostability. NFAmy13B showed a synergistic effect on degrading wheat starch with NFAmy13A (GH13_1), another α-amylase from Daqu. Both enzymes could cleave maltotetraose and maltopentaose in same degradation pattern, and only NFAmy13A could efficiently degrade maltotriose. Moreover, NFAmy13B showed higher catalytic efficiency on long-chain starch, while NFAmy13A had higher catalytic efficiency on short-chain maltooligosaccharides. Their different catalytic efficiencies on starch and maltooligosaccharides may be caused by their discrepant substrate-binding region.

Conclusions

This study mined a novel GH13_5 fungal α-amylase (NFAmy13B) with outstanding alkali resistance from Nong-flavor (NF) Daqu. Furthermore, its synergistic effect with NFAmy13A (GH13_1) on hydrolyzing wheat starch was confirmed, and their possible contribution in NF Daqu was also speculated. Thus, we not only provide a candidate α-amylase for industry, but also a useful strategy for further studying the interactions in the complex enzyme system of Daqu.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-021-01571-w.

Feruloyl esterase (FAE-1) sourced from a termite hindgut and GH10 xylanases synergy improves degradation of arabinoxylan

Cereal feedstocks have high arabinoxylan content as their main hemicellulose, which is linked to lignin by hydroxycinnamic acids such as ferulic acid. The ferulic acid is linked to arabinoxylan by ester bonds, and generally, the high substitution of ferulic acid leads to a loss of activity of xylanases targeting the arabinoxylan. In the current study, a feruloyl esterase (FAE-1) from a termite hindgut bacteria was functionally characterised and used in synergy with xylanases during xylan hydrolysis. The FAE-1 displayed temperature and pH optima of 60 ℃ and 7.0, respectively. FAE-1 did not release reducing sugars from beechwood xylan (BWX), wheat arabinoxylan (WAX) and oat spelt xylan (OX), however, displayed high activity of  164.74 U/mg protein on p-nitrophenyl-acetate (pNPA). In contrast, the GH10 xylanases; Xyn10 and XT6, and a GH11 xylanase, Xyn2A, showed more than two-fold increased activity on xylan substrates with low sidechain substitutions; BWX and OX, compared to the highly branched substrate, WAX. Interestingly, the FAE-1 and GH10 xylanases (Xyn10D and XT6) displayed a degree of synergy (DS) that was higher than 1 in all enzyme loading combinations during WAX hydrolysis. The 75%XT6:25%FAE-1 synergistic enzyme combination increased the release of reducing sugars by 1.34-fold from WAX compared to the control, while 25%Xyn10D:75%FAE-1 synergistic combination released about 2.1-fold of reducing sugars from WAX compared to controls. These findings suggest that FAE-1 can be used in concert with xylanases, particularly those from GH10, to efficiently degrade arabinoxylans contained in cereal feedstocks for various industrial settings such as in animal feeds and baking.

High-level expression and enzymatic properties of a novel thermostable xylanase with high arabinoxylan degradation ability from Chaetomium sp. suitable for beer mashing

A novel thermostable xylanase gene from Chaetomium sp. CQ31 was cloned and codon-optimized (CsXynBop). The deduced protein sequence of the gene shared the highest similarity of 75% with the glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 10 xylanase from Achaetomium sp. Xz-8. CsXynBop was over-expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115 by high-cell density fermentation, with the highest xylanase yield of 10,017 U/mL. The recombinant xylanase (CsXynBop) was purified to homogeneity and biochemically characterized. CsXynBop was optimally active at pH 6.5 and 85 °C, respectively, and stable over a broad pH range of 5.0-9.5 and up to 60 °C. The enzyme exhibited strict substrate specificity towards oat-spelt xylan (2, 489 U/mg), beechwood xylan (1522 U/mg), birchwood xylan (1067 U/mg), and showed relatively high activity towards arabinoxylan (1208 U/mg), but exhibited no activity on other tested polysaccharides. CsXynBop hydrolyzed different xylans to yield mainly xylooligosaccharides (XOSs) with degree of polymerization (DP) 2-5. The application of CsXynBop (200 U/g malt) in malt mashing substantially decreased the filtration time and viscosity of malt by 42.3% and 8.6%, respectively. These excellent characteristics of CsXynBop may make it a good candidate in beer industry.

A mini review of xylanolytic enzymes with regards to their synergistic interactions during hetero-xylan degradation

This review examines the recent models describing the mode of action of various xylanolytic enzymes and how these enzymes can be applied (sequentially or simultaneously) with their distinctive roles in mind to achieve efficient xylan degradation. With respect to homeosynergy, synergism appears to be as a result of β-xylanase and/or oligosaccharide reducing-end β-xylanase liberating xylo-oligomers (XOS) that are preferred substrates of the processive β-xylosidase. With regards to hetero-synergism, two cross relationships appear to exist and seem to be the reason for synergism between the enzymes during xylan degradation. These cross relations are the debranching enzymes such as α-glucuronidase or side-chain cleaving enzymes such as carbohydrate esterases (CE) removing decorations that would have hindered back-bone-cleaving enzymes, while backbone-cleaving-enzymes liberate XOS that are preferred substrates of the debranching and side-chain-cleaving enzymes. This interaction is demonstrated by high yields in co-production of xylan substituents such as arabinose, glucuronic acid and ferulic acid, and XOS. Finally, lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMO) have also been implicated in boosting whole lignocellulosic biomass or insoluble xylan degradation by glycoside hydrolases (GH) by possibly disrupting entangled xylan residues. Since it has been observed that the same enzyme (same Enzyme Commission, EC, classification) from different GH or CE and/or AA families can display different synergistic interactions with other enzymes due to different substrate specificities and properties, in this review, we propose an approach of enzyme selection (and mode of application thereof) during xylan degradation, as this can improve the economic viability of the degradation of xylan for producing precursors of value added products.

Biochemical characterization of a novel exo-oligoxylanase from Paenibacillus barengoltzii suitable for monosaccharification from corncobs

BACKGROUND

Xylan is the major component of hemicelluloses, which are the second most abundant polysaccharides in nature, accounting for approximately one-third of all renewable organic carbon resources on earth. Efficient degradation of xylan is the prerequisite for biofuel production. Enzymatic degradation has been demonstrated to be more attractive due to low energy consumption and environmental friendliness, when compared with chemical degradation. Exo-xylanases, as a rate-limiting factor, play an important role in the xylose production. It is of great value to identify novel exo-xylanases for efficient bioconversion of xylan in biorefinery industry.

RESULTS

A novel glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 8 reducing-end xylose-releasing exo-oligoxylanase (Rex)-encoding gene (PbRex8) was cloned from Paenibacillus barengoltzii and heterogeneously expressed in Escherichia coli. The deduced amino acid sequence of PbRex8 shared the highest identity of 74% with a Rex from Bacillus halodurans. The recombinant enzyme (PbRex8) was purified and biochemically characterized. The optimal pH and temperature of PbRex8 were 5.5 and 55 °C, respectively. PbRex8 showed prominent activity on xylooligosaccharides (XOSs), and trace activity on xylan. It also exhibited β-1,3-1,4-glucanase and xylobiase activities. The enzyme efficiently converted corncob xylan to xylose coupled with a GH family 10 endo-xylanase, with a xylose yield of 83%. The crystal structure of PbRex8 was resolved at 1.88 Å. Structural comparison suggests that Arg67 can hydrogen-bond to xylose moieties in the -1 subsite, and Asn122 and Arg253 are close to xylose moieties in the -3 subsite, the hypotheses of which were further verified by mutation analysis. In addition, Trp205, Trp132, Tyr372, Tyr277 and Tyr369 in the grove of PbRex8 were found to involve in glucooligosaccharides interactions. This is the first report on a GH family 8 Rex from P. barengoltzii.

CONCLUSIONS

A novel reducing-end xylose-releasing exo-oligoxylanase suitable for xylose production from corncobs was identified, biochemically characterized and structurally elucidated. The properties of PbRex8 may make it an excellent candidate in biorefinery industries.

Characterization of Thermostable and Chimeric Enzymes via Isopeptide Bond-Mediated Molecular Cyclization

Mannooligosaccharides are released by mannan-degrading endo-β-1,4-mannanase and are known as functional additives in human and animal diets. To satisfy demands for biocatalysis and bioprocessing in crowed environments, in this study, we employed a recently developed enzyme-engineering system, isopeptide bond-mediated molecular cyclization, to modify a mesophilic mannanase from Bacillus subtilis. The results revealed that the cyclized enzymes showed enhanced thermostability and ion stability and resilience to aggregation and freeze-thaw treatment by maintaining their conformational structures. Additionally, by using the SpyTag/SpyCatcher system, we generated a mannanase-xylanase bifunctional enzyme that exhibited a synergistic activity in substrate deconstruction without compromising substrate affinity. Interestingly, the dual-enzyme ring conformation was observed to be more robust than the linear enzyme but inferior to the single-enzyme ring conformation. Taken together, these findings provided new insights into the mechanisms of molecular cyclization on stability improvement and will be useful in the production of new functional oligosaccharides and feed additives.