Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) catalyze a reaction that is crucial for the biological decomposition of various biopolymers and for the industrial conversion of plant biomass. Despite the importance of LPMOs, the exact molecular-level nature of the reaction mechanism is still debated today. Here, we investigated the pH-dependent conformation of a second-sphere histidine (His) that we call the stacking histidine, which is conserved in fungal AA9 LPMOs and is speculated to assist catalysis in several of the LPMO reaction pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are monocopper enzymes that oxidatively degrade various polysaccharides, such as cellulose. Despite extensive research on this class of enzymes, the role played by their C-terminal regions predicted to be intrinsically disordered (dCTR) has been overlooked. Here, we investigated the function of the dCTR of an LPMO, called AA9A, up-regulated during plant infection by , the causative agent of anthracnose.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRapeseed meal (RSM) is a cheap, abundant and renewable feedstock, whose biorefinery is a current challenge for the sustainability of the oilseed sector. RSM is rich in sinapic acid (SA), a -hydroxycinnamic acid that can be decarboxylated into canolol (2,6-dimethoxy-4-vinylphenol), a valuable bioactive compound. Microbial phenolic acid decarboxylases (PADs), mainly described for the non-oxidative decarboxylation of ferulic and -coumaric acids, remain very poorly documented to date, for SA decarboxylation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Environ Microbiol
October 2023
Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are taxonomically widespread copper-enzymes boosting biopolymers conversion (e.g. cellulose, chitin) in Nature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) belonging to the AA14 family are believed to contribute to the enzymatic degradation of lignocellulosic biomass by specifically acting on xylan in recalcitrant cellulose-xylan complexes. Functional characterization of an AA14 LPMO from Trichoderma reesei, TrAA14A, and a re-evaluation of the properties of the previously described AA14 from Pycnoporus coccineus, PcoAA14A, showed that these proteins have oxidase and peroxidase activities that are common for LPMOs. However, we were not able to detect activity on cellulose-associated xylan or any other tested polysaccharide substrate, meaning that the substrate of these enzymes remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacterial lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are known to oxidize the most abundant and recalcitrant polymers in Nature, namely cellulose and chitin. The genome of the model actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) encodes seven putative LPMOs, of which, upon phylogenetic analysis, four group with typical chitin-oxidizing LPMOs, two with typical cellulose-active LPMOs, and one which stands out by being part of a subclade of non-characterized enzymes. The latter enzyme, called ScLPMO10D, and most of the enzymes found in this subclade are unique, not only because of variation in the catalytic domain, but also as their C-terminus contains a cell wall sorting signal (CWSS), which flags the LPMO for covalent anchoring to the cell wall.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe discovery of oxidative cleavage of glycosidic bonds by enzymes currently known as lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) has profoundly changed our current understanding of enzymatic processes underlying the conversion of polysaccharides in the biosphere. LPMOs are truly unique enzymes, harboring a single copper atom in a solvent-exposed active site, allowing them to oxidize C-H bonds at the C1 and/or C4 carbon of glycosidic linkages found in recalcitrant, often crystalline polysaccharides such as cellulose and chitin. To catalyze this challenging reaction, LPMOs harness and control a powerful oxidative reaction that involves Fenton-like chemistry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobal food security is endangered by fungal phytopathogens causing devastating crop production losses. Many of these pathogens use specialized appressoria cells to puncture plant cuticles. Here, we unveil a pair of alcohol oxidase-peroxidase enzymes to be essential for pathogenicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFilamentous fungi are keystone microorganisms in the regulation of many processes occurring on Earth, such as plant biomass decay and pathogenesis as well as symbiotic associations. In many of these processes, fungi secrete carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) to modify and/or degrade carbohydrates. Ten years ago, while evaluating the potential of a secretome from the maize pathogen Ustilago maydis to supplement lignocellulolytic cocktails, we noticed it contained many unknown or poorly characterized CAZymes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiocatalytic pathways for the synthesis of (-)-menthol, the most sold flavor worldwide, are highly sought-after. To access the key intermediate ()-citronellal used in current major industrial production routes, we established a one-pot bienzymatic cascade from inexpensive geraniol, overcoming the problematic biocatalytic reduction of the mixture of ()-isomers in citral by harnessing a copper radical oxidase (AlcOx) and an old yellow enzyme (OYE). The cascade using OYE2 delivered 95.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) constitute an enigmatic class of enzymes, the discovery of which has opened up a new arena of riveting research. LPMOs can oxidatively cleave the glycosidic bonds found in carbohydrate polymers enabling the depolymerisation of recalcitrant biomasses, such as cellulose or chitin. While most studies have so far mainly explored the role of LPMOs in a (plant) biomass conversion context, alternative roles and paradigms begin to emerge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are monocopper enzymes secreted by many organisms and viruses. LPMOs catalyze the oxidative cleavage of different types of polysaccharides and are today divided into eight families (AA9-11, AA13-17) within the Auxiliary Activity enzyme class of the CAZy database. LPMOs minimal architecture encompasses a catalytic domain, to which can be appended a carbohydrate-binding module.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCopper radical alcohol oxidases (CRO-AlcOx), which have been recently discovered among fungal phytopathogens, are attractive for the production of fragrant fatty aldehydes. With the initial objective to investigate the secretion of CRO-AlcOx by natural fungal strains, we undertook time course analyses of the secretomes of three Colletotrichum species (C. graminicola, C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe fish pathogen () LFI1238 is thought to be incapable of utilizing chitin as a nutrient source, since approximately half of the genes representing the chitinolytic pathway are disrupted by insertion sequences. In the present study, we combined a broad set of analytical methods to investigate this hypothesis. Cultivation studies revealed that grew efficiently on acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and chitobiose [(GlcNAc)], the primary soluble products resulting from enzymatic chitin hydrolysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFrom Egyptian mummies to the Chanel n°5 perfume, fatty aldehydes have long been used and keep impacting our senses in a wide range of foods, beverages and perfumes. Natural sources of fatty aldehydes are threatened by qualitative and quantitative variability while traditional chemical routes are insufficient to answer the society shift toward more sustainable and natural products. The production of fatty aldehydes using biotechnologies is therefore the most promising alternative for the flavors and fragrances industry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOxidative plant cell-wall processing enzymes are of great importance in biology and biotechnology. Yet, our insight into the functional interplay amongst such oxidative enzymes remains limited. Here, a phylogenetic analysis of the auxiliary activity 7 family (AA7), currently harbouring oligosaccharide flavo-oxidases, reveals a striking abundance of AA7-genes in phytopathogenic fungi and Oomycetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of retaining glycoside hydrolases as synthetic tools for glycochemistry is highly topical and the focus of considerable research. However, due to the incomplete identification of the molecular determinants of the transglycosylation/hydrolysis partition (t/h), rational engineering of retaining glycoside hydrolases to create transglycosylases remains challenging. Therefore, to understand better the factors that underpin transglycosylation in a GH51 retaining α-l-arabinofuranosidase from Thermobacillus xylanilyticus, the investigation of this enzyme's active site was pursued.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are widely distributed in Nature, where they catalyze the hydroxylation of glycosidic bonds in polysaccharides. Despite the importance of LPMOs in the global carbon cycle and in industrial biomass conversion, the catalytic properties of these monocopper enzymes remain enigmatic. Strikingly, there is a remarkable lack of kinetic data, likely due to a multitude of experimental challenges related to the insoluble nature of LPMO substrates, like cellulose and chitin, and to the occurrence of multiple side reactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLytic polysaccharide (mono)oxygenases (LPMOs) perform oxidative cleavage of polysaccharides, and are key enzymes in biomass processing and the global carbon cycle. It has been shown that LPMO reactions may be driven by light, using photosynthetic pigments or photocatalysts, but the mechanism behind this highly attractive catalytic route remains unknown. Here, prompted by the discovery that LPMOs catalyze a peroxygenase reaction more efficiently than a monooxygenase reaction, we revisit these light-driven systems, using an LPMO from Streptomyces coelicolor (ScAA10C) as model cellulolytic enzyme.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are copper-containing enzymes that play a key role in the oxidative degradation of various biopolymers such as cellulose and chitin. While hunting for new LPMOs, we identified a new family of proteins, defined here as X325, in various fungal lineages. The three-dimensional structure of X325 revealed an overall LPMO fold and a His brace with an additional Asp ligand to Cu(II).
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