Characterization of a hypotetic protein overexpressed by Trichoderma spp. under plant biomass degradation

• Grant number: 18/25636-9
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2019
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Anete Pereira de Souza
• Grantee: Anna Carolina Emi de Lima Tanada
• Home Institution: Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética (CBMEG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Plant biomass is currently the main renewable energy source with potential biotechnological applications. Cellulose representing the major structural polysaccharide of plants and the most abundant component of the plant cell walls. Cellulosic substrates can be used for the production of free glucose residues and for the generation of high value-added bioproducts such as bioethanol and other chemicals. However, the recalcitrant nature of cellulose makes the cell wall degradation a difficult task and requires a wide range of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes/proteins for its deconstruction and use in biotechnological processes. Thus, the search for new enzymes that can be used to increase the yield of biomass degradation is an important area of study. Using a multidisciplinary approach focusing on the transcriptome and exoproteome of Trichoderma spp. which encompasses a group of filamentous fungi, well-known as producers of carbohydrates-active enzymes, our group was able to discover numerous enzymes/proteins that might be involved in plant biomass degradation. Among the identified proteins, many of these have not yet been characterized or were annotated as hypothetical proteins, constituting excellent targets to be investigated in protein characterization studies. In this work, we propose the heterologous production and initial functional characterization of a hypothetical protein that was overexpressed and secreted by Trichoderma spp. under conditions of degradation of biomass.