Bioprospection of low molecular weight fungal enzymes involved in plant cell wall degradation

• Grant number: 19/21989-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: September 01, 2020
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Chemistry of Macromolecules
• Principal Investigator: Richard John Ward
• Grantee: José Carlos dos Santos Salgado
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50884-5 - INCT 2014: National Institute of Science and Technology of Bioethanol, AP.TEM

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse has been targeted as a feedstock for second-generation ethanol, which requires saccharification by lignocelulose-degrading enzymes, either for the pretreatment or for the liberation of monosaccharides from the polysaccharides of the cell wall. One of the major problems for the use of bagasse is the release of all monosaccharides, since the enzymes identified so far can only degrade the most accessible polymers, being unable to enter the cell wall matrix which has pores with an average diameter of 40 Angstroms. This biomass accessibility problem for the degradation could be circumvented using low molecular weight enzymes (minizymes) that would enter the cell wall spaces and degrade the biomass. This project aims to search for low molecular weight enzymes from fungi that degrade lignocellulosic materials, and apply them to biomass hydrolysis. The fungi will be grown in different media, and different protein separation techniques will be applied. Subsequently, the enzymes will be identified by mass spectrometry. With the identified sequences, the coding sequenced will be cloned in heterologous systems established in our laboratory (Escherichia coli, Pichia pastoris or Aspergillus nidulans), and after expression will be characterized. After this step, the minizymes will be used in cocktails to evaluate their effect on the saccharification process of the lignocellulosic biomass. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CARLI, SIBELI; SALGADO, JOSE CARLOS SANTOS; MELEIRO, LUANA PARRAS; WARD, RICHARD JOHN. ovalent Immobilization of Chondrostereum purpureum Endopolygalacturonase on Ferromagnetic Nanoparticles: Catalytic Properties and Biotechnological Applicatio. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, v. 194, n. 2, SEP 2021. (19/17958-9, 14/50884-5, 17/13734-3, 19/21989-7, 16/17582-0)

FURTADO, GILVAN PESSOA; CARLI, SIBELI; MELEIRO, LUANA PARRAS; SANTOS SALGADO, JOSE CARLOS; WARD, RICHARD JOHN. Enhanced hydrolytic efficiency of an engineered CBM11-glucanase enzyme chimera against barley beta-D-glucan extracts. Food Chemistry, v. 365, DEC 15 2021. (16/17582-0, 16/24139-6, 17/13734-3, 14/50884-5, 19/21989-7)

ALNOCH, ROBSON C.; ALVES, GABRIELA S.; SALGADO, JOSE C. S.; DE ANDRADES, DIANDRA; DE FREITAS, EMANUELLE N.; NOGUEIRA, KAROLINE M. V.; VICI, ANA C.; OLIVEIRA, DOUGLAS P.; CARVALHO-JR, VALDEMIRO P.; SILVA, ROBERTO N.; et al. Immobilization and Application of the Recombinant Xylanase GH10 of Malbranchea pulchella in the Production of Xylooligosaccharides from Hydrothermal Liquor of the Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus grandis) Wood Chips. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, v. 23, n. 21, p. 18-pg., 2022-11-01. (14/50884-5, 18/07522-6, 19/21989-7, 20/15510-8, 20/00081-4)

CARLI, SIBELI; PARRAS MELEIRO, LUANA; SALGADO, JOSE CARLOS SANTOS; WARD, RICHARD JOHN. Synthetic carbohydrate-binding module-endogalacturonase chimeras increase catalytic efficiency and saccharification of lignocellulose residues. BIOMASS CONVERSION AND BIOREFINERY, v. N/A, p. 12-pg., 2022-05-03. (16/24139-6, 16/17582-0, 17/13734-3, 19/21989-7, 14/50884-5)