Early-branching gut fungi possess a large, comprehensive array of biomass-degrading enzymes.

Science
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

The fungal kingdom is the source of almost all industrial enzymes in use for lignocellulose bioprocessing. We developed a systems-level approach that integrates transcriptomic sequencing, proteomics, phenotype, and biochemical studies of relatively unexplored basal fungi. Anaerobic gut fungi isolated from herbivores produce a large array of biomass-degrading enzymes that synergistically degrade crude, untreated plant biomass and are competitive with optimized commercial preparations from Aspergillus and Trichoderma. Compared to these model platforms, gut fungal enzymes are unbiased in substrate preference due to a wealth of xylan-degrading enzymes. These enzymes are universally catabolite-repressed and are further regulated by a rich landscape of noncoding regulatory RNAs. Additionally, we identified several promising sequence-divergent enzyme candidates for lignocellulosic bioprocessing.

Year of Publication
2016
Journal
Science
Volume
351
Issue
6278
Pages
1192-5
Date Published
2016 Mar 11
ISSN
1095-9203
URL
DOI
10.1126/science.aad1431
PubMed ID
26912365
PubMed Central ID
PMC5098331
Links
Grant list
Howard Hughes Medical Institute / United States
DP1 CA174427 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States
P20 GM103446 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States