Molecular studies of a Trichoderma longibrachiatum xyloglucanase: cloning, heterologous expression, purification and characterization

• Grant number: 21/07066-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2021
• End date: September 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Biochemistry of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Maria de Lourdes Teixeira de Moraes Polizeli
• Grantee: Alex Graça Contato
• Supervisor: Rolf Alexander Prade
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Oklahoma State University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/25862-6 - Structural studies and functional properties of xyloglucanases and lichenases: applications on hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, BP.DR

Abstract

The xyloglucan (XG) is the predominant hemicellulose at the primary cell wall of thesuperior plants. This includes all the dicotyledonous and non-gramineous monocotyledonous plants. It is usually found strongly associated to the cellulose through hydrogen bonds, forming a tridimensional network of cellulose and xyloglucan. It is probably the second most abundantpolymer in nature, after cellulose. It is highly soluble in water, preventing it from forming crystalline microfibrils like the cellulose. It has a fundamental role in the stretching and expansion of the plant cell wall. There are five types of enzymes known for being able of cleaving the linear chain of the xyloglucan, the most famous of them being the xyloglucanase (XEG). The enzymes that cleave this polymer present great utility at the degradation and conversion of the lignocellulosic biomass. The present study has, as an innovative aim, the cloning, heterologous expression, purification and characterization of a xyloglucanase from Trichoderma longibrachiatum, a microorganism which was isolated at the campus of USP Ribeirão Preto. Besides that, the hydrolysis profile of this enzyme will be verified through HPAEC-PAD. This proposal is linked to the themed project "INCT do Bioetanol", coordinated by Prof. Dr. Marcos Silveira Buckeridge and already approved by FAPESP/CNPq at the beginning of 2017. (AU)