Publications by authors named "Tiziano Benocci"
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers found that the ancestor of Colletotrichum diverged around the late Cretaceous period, coinciding with the evolution of flowering plants, and highlighted instances of these fungi moving from dicots to monocots.
- * Comparative gene analysis revealed that while these fungi share core genes for degrading plant cell walls, they exhibit significant differences in how they regulate these genes depending on the types of plants they infect.
Article Synopsis
- - The study examines how a specific organism produces enzymes (CAZymes) to break down plant biomass for sustainable fuels and chemicals, focusing on the transcriptional response to two feedstocks: corn stover and soybean hulls over different time intervals.
- - Results showed that corn stover prompted a greater and broader CAZyme expression, while soybean hulls produced more specific enzyme types; key transcription factors (XYR1 and ARA1) were found to regulate this response based on the sugar compositions of the feedstocks.
- - Blocking certain metabolic pathways increased CAZyme gene expression in both substrates over time, highlighting the complexity of the regulatory mechanisms involved in plant biomass degradation and the impact of feedstock composition on this process.
Article Synopsis
- Podospora anserina, a late colonizer of herbivore dung, has developed enzymes for breaking down tough plant materials, indicating potential uses in biotechnology.
- The study focused on how P. anserina's gene expression changes when grown on soybean hulls and corn stover, finding initial activation of specific genes related to each feedstock and broader gene expression over time, especially with soybean hulls.
- The findings highlight how understanding the organism's transcriptomic responses can lead to better methods for breaking down plant biomass for industrial applications.
A senescence-delaying pre-culture medium for transcriptomics of Podospora anserina.
J Microbiol Methods
March 2018
Podospora anserina is an efficient degrader of recalcitrant plant biomass but senesces quickly on most standard pre-culturing media. Among nine pre-culture media, sufficient growth without senescence was only observed on Luria-Bertani medium. The high quality RNA obtained from subsequent transfer cultures was suitable for transcriptomics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrichoderma reesei is used to produce saccharifying enzyme cocktails for biofuels. There is limited understanding of the transcription factors (TFs) that regulate genes involved in release and catabolism of l-arabinose and d-galactose, as the main TF XYR1 is only partially involved. Here, the T.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFungi play a major role in the global carbon cycle because of their ability to utilize plant biomass (polysaccharides, proteins, and lignin) as carbon source. Due to the complexity and heterogenic composition of plant biomass, fungi need to produce a broad range of degrading enzymes, matching the composition of (part of) the prevalent substrate. This process is dependent on a network of regulators that not only control the extracellular enzymes that degrade the biomass, but also the metabolic pathways needed to metabolize the resulting monomers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The fungal genus Aspergillus is of critical importance to humankind. Species include those with industrial applications, important pathogens of humans, animals and crops, a source of potent carcinogenic contaminants of food, and an important genetic model. The genome sequences of eight aspergilli have already been explored to investigate aspects of fungal biology, raising questions about evolution and specialization within this genus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFungi are found in all natural and artificial biotopes and can use highly diverse carbon sources. They play a major role in the global carbon cycle by decomposing plant biomass and this biomass is the main carbon source for many fungi. Plant biomass is composed of cell wall polysaccharides (cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin) and lignin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF