“…To date, an increasing number of basidiomycete genomes have been sequenced and annotated to understand fungal physiology and, in several cases, to search for enzymes of interest that could be of use in industrial applications (Table 3) (42). These fungi inhabit a wide range of ecological niches and colonize various growth substrates, such as conifers, deciduous trees, forest litter, crops, grassland soils, and roots of plants.…”
Section: Basidiomycete Genomes and Plant Polysaccharide Degradationmentioning
SUMMARY
Basidiomycete fungi subsist on various types of plant material in diverse environments, from living and dead trees and forest litter to crops and grasses and to decaying plant matter in soils. Due to the variation in their natural carbon sources, basidiomycetes have highly varied plant-polysaccharide-degrading capabilities. This topic is not as well studied for basidiomycetes as for ascomycete fungi, which are the main sources of knowledge on fungal plant polysaccharide degradation. Research on plant-biomass-decaying fungi has focused on isolating enzymes for current and future applications, such as for the production of fuels, the food industry, and waste treatment. More recently, genomic studies of basidiomycete fungi have provided a profound view of the plant-biomass-degrading potential of wood-rotting, litter-decomposing, plant-pathogenic, and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) basidiomycetes. This review summarizes the current knowledge on plant polysaccharide depolymerization by basidiomycete species from diverse habitats. In addition, these data are compared to those for the most broadly studied ascomycete genus,
Aspergillus
, to provide insight into specific features of basidiomycetes with respect to plant polysaccharide degradation.
“…To date, an increasing number of basidiomycete genomes have been sequenced and annotated to understand fungal physiology and, in several cases, to search for enzymes of interest that could be of use in industrial applications (Table 3) (42). These fungi inhabit a wide range of ecological niches and colonize various growth substrates, such as conifers, deciduous trees, forest litter, crops, grassland soils, and roots of plants.…”
Section: Basidiomycete Genomes and Plant Polysaccharide Degradationmentioning
SUMMARY
Basidiomycete fungi subsist on various types of plant material in diverse environments, from living and dead trees and forest litter to crops and grasses and to decaying plant matter in soils. Due to the variation in their natural carbon sources, basidiomycetes have highly varied plant-polysaccharide-degrading capabilities. This topic is not as well studied for basidiomycetes as for ascomycete fungi, which are the main sources of knowledge on fungal plant polysaccharide degradation. Research on plant-biomass-decaying fungi has focused on isolating enzymes for current and future applications, such as for the production of fuels, the food industry, and waste treatment. More recently, genomic studies of basidiomycete fungi have provided a profound view of the plant-biomass-degrading potential of wood-rotting, litter-decomposing, plant-pathogenic, and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) basidiomycetes. This review summarizes the current knowledge on plant polysaccharide depolymerization by basidiomycete species from diverse habitats. In addition, these data are compared to those for the most broadly studied ascomycete genus,
Aspergillus
, to provide insight into specific features of basidiomycetes with respect to plant polysaccharide degradation.
“…However, plant cell walls have evolved to defend against external factors, including mechanical, thermal, chemical, and biological stress [5, 6]. To efficiently and completely depolymerize different types of lignocellulosic materials, an arsenal of carbohydrate-active and lignin-acting enzymes is required [7, 8]. Feruloyl esterases (FAEs, also known as ferulic/cinnamic acid esterases, EC 3.1.1.73) are responsible for removing ferulic acid residues and cross-links from polysaccharides.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Fig. 1Model structures of hydroxycinnamic acids, feruloylated plant cell wall polysaccharides and the site of attack by the carbohydrate-active enzymes (modified from [8, 15]). a
p -coumaric acid, b caffeic acid, c ferulic acid, d sinapic acid, e feruloylated glucuronoarabinoxylan, f feruloylated pectic rhamnogalacturonan I, g 8,5′-(benzofuran)-diferulic acid, h 8,5′-diferulic acid, i 5,5′-diferulic acid, j 8,4′-diferulic acid, k 8,8′-diferulic acid, l 8,8′-(aryl)-diferulic acid.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Due to the heterogeneity and complexity of the plant cell walls, a variety of carbohydrate- and lignin-active enzyme sets with complementary activities and specificities are required for complete enzymatic hydrolysis of plant biomass (for details see [8, 29]). As ferulic acid is linked to the lignin–carbohydrate complexes, disruption of the ester bond of the lignin–ferulate–arabinoxylan complex is important for complete cell wall deconstruction.…”
Feruloyl esterases (FAEs) represent a diverse group of carboxyl esterases that specifically catalyze the hydrolysis of ester bonds between ferulic (hydroxycinnamic) acid and plant cell wall polysaccharides. Therefore, FAEs act as accessory enzymes to assist xylanolytic and pectinolytic enzymes in gaining access to their site of action during biomass conversion. Their ability to release ferulic acid and other hydroxycinnamic acids from plant biomass makes FAEs potential biocatalysts in a wide variety of applications such as in biofuel, food and feed, pulp and paper, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. This review provides an updated overview of the knowledge on fungal FAEs, in particular describing their role in plant biomass degradation, diversity of their biochemical properties and substrate specificities, their regulation and conditions needed for their induction. Furthermore, the discovery of new FAEs using genome mining and phylogenetic analysis of current publicly accessible fungal genomes will also be presented. This has led to a new subfamily classification of fungal FAEs that takes into account both phylogeny and substrate specificity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13068-016-0651-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
“…The evolutionary origin of lignin-degrading fungal class II peroxidases (PODs) involved in white rot has been traced to the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of Auriculariales and all other Agaricomycetes (excluding Cantharellales and Sebacinales) in the Early Permian, thus conforming to the evolutionary lag model (13). However, lignin modification is not restricted to lignin-degrading PODs; alternate enzymes, such as dye-decolorizing PODs, H 2 O 2 -generating oxidases, and certain laccase-like multicopper oxidases, also are used by basidiomycetes for lignin modification (92)(93)(94). Furthermore, Agaricomycotina lineages outside of this clade, such as Cantharellales and Dacrymycetes, are capable of degrading lignin and/or producing macroscopic decay patterns similar to white rot (93,(95)(96)(97).…”
Organic carbon burial plays a critical role in Earth systems, influencing atmospheric O 2 and CO 2 concentrations and, thereby, climate. The Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic is so named for massive, widespread coal deposits. A widely accepted explanation for this peak in coal production is a temporal lag between the evolution of abundant lignin production in woody plants and the subsequent evolution of lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes fungi, resulting in a period when vast amounts of lignin-rich plant material accumulated. Here, we reject this evolutionary lag hypothesis, based on assessment of phylogenomic, geochemical, paleontological, and stratigraphic evidence. Lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes may have been present before the Carboniferous, and lignin degradation was likely never restricted to them and their class II peroxidases, because lignin modification is known to occur via other enzymatic mechanisms in other fungal and bacterial lineages. Furthermore, a large proportion of Carboniferous coal horizons are dominated by unlignified lycopsid periderm with equivalent coal accumulation rates continuing through several transitions between floral dominance by lignin-poor lycopsids and lignin-rich tree ferns and seed plants. Thus, biochemical composition had little relevance to coal accumulation. Throughout the fossil record, evidence of decay is pervasive in all organic matter exposed subaerially during deposition, and high coal accumulation rates have continued to the present wherever environmental conditions permit. Rather than a consequence of a temporal decoupling of evolutionary innovations between fungi and plants, Paleozoic coal abundance was likely the result of a unique combination of everwet tropical conditions and extensive depositional systems during the assembly of Pangea.lignin | carbon cycle | wood rot | fungi | lignin degradation
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