Search

Two novel GH11 endo-xylanases from Myceliophthora thermophila C1 (C1), Xyl7 and Xyl8, were purified and the influence of solubility and molecular structure of various xylans on their efficiency was investigated. Both endo-xylanases were hindered by a high degree of substitution of a xylan. The two GH11 xylanases released different products from the xylans, in which Xyl7 displayed a degradation product composition closer to GH10 xylanases. A correlation of the degradation product composition with a specific residue at position 163 in the amino acid sequence of Xyl8 is suggested: tyrosine in Xyl8; valine in Xyl7. This is confirmed with examples of various endo-xylanases reported in literature. The C1 GH11 xylanases were more efficient on self-associated xylan compared to C1 GH10 endo-xylanases and they released more small xylooligomers from these xylans. This is contrary to the general assumption that GH10 xylanases degrade xylans to a higher degree than GH11 xylanases., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rapid and efficient enzymatic degradation of plant biomass into fermentable sugars is a major challenge for the sustainable production of biochemicals and biofuels. Enzymes that are more thermostable (up to 70°C) use shorter reaction times for the complete saccharification of plant polysaccharides compared to hydrolytic enzymes of mesophilic fungi such as Trichoderma and Aspergillus species. The genus Myceliophthora contains four thermophilic fungi producing industrially relevant thermostable enzymes. Within this genus, isolates belonging to M. heterothallica were recently separated from the well-described species M. thermophila. We evaluate here the potential of M. heterothallica isolates to produce efficient enzyme mixtures for biomass degradation. Compared to the other thermophilic Myceliophthora species, isolates belonging to M. heterothallica and M. thermophila grew faster on pretreated spruce, wheat straw, and giant reed. According to their protein profiles and in vitro assays after growth on wheat straw, (hemi-)cellulolytic activities differed strongly between M. thermophila and M. heterothallica isolates. Compared to M. thermophila, M. heterothallica isolates were better in releasing sugars from mildly pretreated wheat straw (with 5% HCl) with a high content of xylan. The high levels of residual xylobiose revealed that enzyme mixtures of Myceliophthora species lack sufficient β-xylosidase activity. Sexual crossing of two M. heterothallica showed that progenies had a large genetic and physiological diversity. In the future, this will allow further improvement of the plant biomass-degrading enzyme mixtures of M. heterothallica.

Xylanases are mostly classified as belonging to glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 10 and 11, which differ in catalytic properties and structures. However, within one family, differences may also be present. The influence of solubility and molecular structure of substrates towards the efficiency of two GH10 xylanases from Myceliophthora thermophila C1 was investigated. The xylanases differed in degradation of high and low substituted substrate and the substitution pattern was an important factor influencing their efficiency. Alkali-labile interactions, as well as the presence of cellulose within the complex cell wall structure hindered efficient hydrolysis for both xylanases. The presence of a carbohydrate binding module did not enhance the degradation of the substrates. The differences in degradation could be related to the protein structure of the two xylanases. The study shows that the classification of enzymes does not predict their performance towards various substrates., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Enzymes from a balanced human gut flora are promising tools to design prebiotic oligosaccharides. In this study, we investigated the action of enzymes from fecal bacteria on the complex polysaccharide konjac glucomannan (KGM). The oligosaccharides produced were compared to oligosaccharides from KGM digests with fungal endo-β-(1,4)-glucanase (EG) or endo-β-(1,4)-mannanase (EM). For this purpose, the oligosaccharides from the different digests were first studied for their structural characteristics like monosugar composition and exo-enzymatic degradability, as monitored by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection. Whereas the oligosaccharides produced by EG and EM were characteristic for the selectivity of the respective enzyme in cleaving the mannose-/glucose-sugar linkages of KGM, oligosaccharides produced by the fecal enzymes did not point to a sugar-selective degradation. The oligosaccharide fragments from the different digests indicated the KGM polysaccharide to be composed of a backbone composed of short mannose and glucose sequences, to which branches rich in mannose are attached.

The application of capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF) as a tool for the characterization of complex carbohydrate structures was investigated for konjac glucomannan (KGM) oligosaccharide mixtures and the monitoring of their structural changes during 72 h of in vitro fermentation with human gut flora. Different types of KGM oligosaccharide mixtures were produced from a KGM polysaccharide using endo-beta-(1,4)-mannanase and endo-beta-(1,4)-glucanase. Distinction of structures emerging from different enzymatic KGM digests and detection of acetylated oligosaccharides were possible by both CE-LIF and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Using CE-LIF it could be shown that the endo-beta-(1,4)-glucanase digest exhibited a large degradability of the DP2, DP3, DP5, and DP6 components during in vitro fermentation, whereas the endo-beta-(1,4)-mannanase digest was digested only slightly, thereby highlighting the influence of structural characteristics on the fermentability by human gut flora.