Hemocyanin facilitates lignocellulose digestion by wood-boring marine crustaceans

Author(s):Show less -

Besser, Katrin ^[1] ; Malyon, Graham P. ^[2] ; Eborall, William S. ^[1] ; da Cunha, Giovanni Paro ^[3] ; Filgueiras, Jefferson G. ^[3] ; Dowle, Adam ^[4] ; Garcia, Lourdes Cruz ^[2] ; Page, Samuel J. ^[5] ; Dupree, Ray ^[5] ; Kern, Marcelo ^[1] ; Gomez, Leonardo D. ^[1] ; Li, Yi ^[1] ; Elias, Luisa ^[1] ; Sabbadin, Federico ^[1] ; Mohamad, Shaza E. ^{[1, 6]} ; Pesante, Giovanna ^[1] ; Steele-King, Clare ^[1] ; de Azevedo, Eduardo Ribeiro ^[3] ; Polikarpov, Igor ^[3] ; Dupree, Paul ^[7] ; Cragg, Simon M. ^[2] ; Bruce, Neil C. ^[1] ; McQueen-Mason, Simon J. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ York, Dept Biol, Ctr Novel Agr Prod, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire - England

^[2] Univ Portsmouth, Sch Biol Sci, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, Hants - England

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Phys Sao Carlos, BR-13566590 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ York, Dept Biol, Biosci Technol Fac, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire - England

^[5] Univ Warwick, Dept Phys, Coventry CV4 7AL, W Midlands - England

^[6] Univ Technol Malaysia, Malaysia Japan Int Inst Technol, Kuala Lumpur 54100 - Malaysia

^[7] Univ Cambridge, Dept Biochem, Cambridge CB2 1QW - England

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS; v. 9, DEC 3 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 4

Abstract

Woody (lignocellulosic) plant biomass is an abundant renewable feedstock, rich in polysaccharides that are bound into an insoluble fiber composite with lignin. Marine crustacean woodborers of the genus Limnoria are among the few animals that can survive on a diet of this recalcitrant material without relying on gut resident microbiota. Analysis of fecal pellets revealed that Limnoria targets hexose-containing polysaccharides (mainly cellulose, and also glucomannans), corresponding with the abundance of cellulases in their digestive system, but xylans and lignin are largely unconsumed. We show that the limnoriid respiratory protein, hemocyanin, is abundant in the hindgut where wood is digested, that incubation of wood with hemocyanin markedly enhances its digestibility by cellulases, and that it modifies lignin. We propose that this activity of hemocyanins is instrumental to the ability of Limnoria to feed on wood in the absence of gut symbionts. These findings may hold potential for innovations in lignocellulose biorefining. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/13684-0 - Structural and functional studies of enzymes that participate in complex carbohydrates synthesis and degradation
• Grantee: Igor Polikarpov
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 17/24465-3 - NMR methods for plant cell wall characterization: development and applications to second generation biofuel technologies
• Grantee: Eduardo Ribeiro de Azevedo
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Regular Program Grants