Combining loss of function of FOLYLPOLYGLUTAMATE SYNTHETASE1 and CAFFEOYL-COA 3-O-METHYLTRANSFERASE1 for lignin reduction and improved saccharification efficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana

This article tests if lignin content can be further reduced by combining genetic mutations in C1 metabolism and the lignin biosynthetic pathway by generating and functionally characterizing fpgs1ccoaomt1 double mutants. The observations demonstrate that additional reduction in lignin content and improved sugar release can be achieved by simultaneous downregulation of a gene in the C1 (FPGS1) and lignin biosynthetic (CCOAOMT) pathways

Impact of engineered lignin composition on biomass recalcitrance and ionic liquid pretreatment efficiency

Lignin plays important biological functions in plant cell walls, but also contributes to the recalcitrance of the walls to deconstruction. In recent years, genetic modification of lignin biosynthesis pathways has become one of the primary targets of plant cell wall engineering. In this study, we used a combination of approaches to characterize the structural and compositional features of wild-type Arabidopsis and mutants with distinct lignin monomer compositions: fah1-2 (Guaiacyl, G-lignin dominant), C4H-F5H (Syringyl, S-lignin dominant), COMT1 (G/5-hydroxy G-lignin dominant), and a newly developed med5a med5b ref8 (p-hydroxyphenyl, H-lignin dominant) mutant. In order to understand how lignin modification affects biomass recalcitrance, substrate reactivity and lignin fractionation, we correlated these properties with saccharification efficiency after ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment. Results showed that the cleavage of β-O-4 linkages in the H- or S-lignin mutants was greater than that in G-lignin mutants. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) based calculations indicate higher chemical reactivity of the linkages between H- and S-lignin monomers, a possible cause of the reduced recalcitrance of H- or S-lignin mutants. Glycome profiling was conducted to study the impact of lignin modification on overall composition, extractability, integrity and lignin-associated features of most major non-cellulosic cell wall glycans in these mutants. This study provides insights into the role of lignin monomer composition on the enzymatic digestibility of biomass and the effect of lignin modification on overall wall structure and biomass pretreatment performance

Combinatorial Glycomic Analyses to Direct CAZyme Discovery for the Tailored Degradation of Canola Meal Non-Starch Dietary Polysaccharides

Canola meal (CM), the protein-rich by-product of canola oil extraction, has shown promise as an alternative feedstuff and protein supplement in poultry diets, yet its use has been limited due to the abundance of plant cell wall fibre, specifically non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) and lignin. The addition of exogenous enzymes to promote the digestion of CM NSP in chickens has potential to increase the metabolizable energy of CM. We isolated chicken cecal bacteria from a continuous-flow mini-bioreactor system and selected for those with the ability to metabolize CM NSP. Of 100 isolates identified, Bacteroides spp. and Enterococcus spp. were the most common species with these capabilities. To identify enzymes specifically for the digestion of CM NSP, we used a combination of glycomics techniques, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay characterization of the plant cell wall fractions, glycosidic linkage analysis (methylation-GC-MS analysis) of CM NSP and their fractions, bacterial growth profiles using minimal media supplemented with CM NSP, and the sequencing and de novo annotation of bacterial genomes of high-efficiency CM NSP utilizing bacteria. The SACCHARIS pipeline was used to select plant cell wall active enzymes for recombinant production and characterization. This approach represents a multidisciplinary innovation platform to bioprospect endogenous CAZymes from the intestinal microbiota of herbivorous and omnivorous animals which is adaptable to a variety of applications and dietary polysaccharides