In Nature, powerful oxidative enzymes secreted by white rot fungi and some bacteria catalyze lignin depolymerization and some microbes are able to catabolize the resulting aromatic compounds as carbon and energy sources. Taken together, these two processes offer a potential route for microbial valorization of lignin. However, many challenges remain in realizing this concept, including that oxidative enzymes responsible for lignin depolymerization also catalyze polymerization of low molecular weight (LMW) lignin. Here, multiple basidiomycete secretomes were screened for ligninolytic enzyme activities in the presence of a residual lignin solid stream from a corn stover biorefinery, dubbed DMR-EH (Deacetylation, Mechanical Refining, and Enzymatic Hydrolysis) lignin. Two selected fungal secretomes, with high levels of laccases and peroxidases, were utilized for DMR-EH lignin depolymerization assays. The secretome from Pleurotus eryngii, which exhibited the highest laccase activity, reduced the lignin average molecular weight (Mw) by 63% and 75% at pH 7 compared to the Mw of the control treated at the same conditions and the initial DMR-EH lignin, respectively, and was applied in further depolymerization assays as a function of time. As repolymerization was observed after 3 days of incubation, an aromatic-catabolic microbe (Pseudomonas putida KT2440) was incubated with the fungal secretome and DMR-EH lignin. These experiments demonstrated that the presence of the bacterium enhances lignin depolymerization, likely due to bacterial catabolism of LMW lignin, which may partially prevent repolymerization. In addition, proteomics was also applied to the P. eryngii secretome to identify the enzymes present in the fungal cocktail utilized for the depolymerization assays, which highlighted a significant number of glucose/ methanol/choline (GMC) oxidoreductases and laccases. Overall, this study demonstrates that ligninolytic enzymes can be used to partially depolymerize a solid, high lignin content biorefinery stream and that the presence of an aromatic-catabolic bacterium as a "microbial sink" improves the extent of enzymatic lignin depolymerization.

Background

White-rot basidiomycete fungi are potent degraders of plant biomass, with the ability to mineralize all lignocellulose components. Recent comparative genomics studies showed that these fungi use a wide diversity of enzymes for wood degradation. Deeper functional analyses are however necessary to understand the enzymatic mechanisms leading to lignocellulose breakdown. The Polyporale fungus Pycnoporus coccineus BRFM310 grows well on both coniferous and deciduous wood. In the present study, we analyzed the early response of the fungus to softwood (pine) and hardwood (aspen) feedstocks and tested the effect of the secreted enzymes on lignocellulose deconstruction.

Results

Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses revealed that P. coccineus grown separately on pine and aspen displayed similar sets of transcripts and enzymes implicated in lignin and polysaccharide degradation. In particular, the expression of lignin-targeting oxidoreductases, such as manganese peroxidases, increased upon cultivation on both woods. The sets of enzymes secreted during growth on both pine and aspen were more efficient in saccharide release from pine than from aspen, and characterization of the residual solids revealed polysaccharide conversion on both pine and aspen fiber surfaces.

Conclusion

The combined analysis of soluble sugars and solid residues showed the suitability of P. coccineus secreted enzymes for softwood degradation. Analyses of solubilized products and residual surface chemistries of enzyme-treated wood samples pointed to differences in fiber penetration by different P. coccineus secretomes. Accordingly, beyond the variety of CAZymes identified in P. coccineus genome, transcriptome and secretome, we discuss several parameters such as the abundance of manganese peroxidases and the potential role of cytochrome P450s and pectin degradation on the efficacy of fungi for softwood conversion.

Pleurotus eryngii is a grassland-inhabiting fungus of biotechnological interest due to its ability to colonize non-woody lignocellulosic material. Genomic, transcriptomic, exoproteomic, and metabolomic analyses were combined to explain the enzymatic aspects underlaying wheat-straw transformation. Up-regulated and constitutive glycoside-hydrolases, polysaccharide-lyases, and carbohydrate-esterases active on polysaccharides, laccases active on lignin, and a surprisingly high amount of constitutive/inducible aryl-alcohol oxidases (AAOs) constituted the suite of extracellular enzymes at early fungal growth. Higher enzyme diversity and abundance characterized the longer-term growth, with an array of oxidoreductases involved in depolymerization of both cellulose and lignin, which were often up-regulated since initial growth. These oxidative enzymes included lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) acting on crystalline polysaccharides, cellobiose dehydrogenase involved in LPMO activation, and ligninolytic peroxidases (mainly manganese-oxidizing peroxidases), together with highly abundant H₂O₂-producing AAOs. Interestingly, some of the most relevant enzymes acting on polysaccharides were appended to a cellulose-binding module. This is potentially related to the non-woody habitat of P. eryngii (in contrast to the wood habitat of many basidiomycetes). Additionally, insights into the intracellular catabolism of aromatic compounds, which is a neglected area of study in lignin degradation by basidiomycetes, were also provided. The multiomic approach reveals that although non-woody decay does not result in dramatic modifications, as revealed by detailed 2D-NMR and other analyses, it implies activation of the complete set of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes characterizing lignocellulose-decaying basidiomycetes.

Fungal plant pathogens remain a serious threat to the sustainable agriculture and forestry, despite the extensive efforts undertaken to control their spread. White root rot disease is threatening rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations throughout South and Southeast Asia and Western Africa, causing tree mortality and severe yield losses. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of the basidiomycete fungus Rigidoporus microporus, a causative agent of the disease. Our phylogenetic analysis confirmed the position of R. microporus among the members of Hymenochaetales, an understudied group of basidiomycetes. Our analysis further identified pathogen's genes with a predicted role in the decay of plant cell wall polymers, in the utilization of latex components and in interspecific interactions between the pathogen and other fungi. We also detected putative horizontal gene transfer events in the genome of R. microporus. The reported first genome sequence of a tropical rubber tree pathogen R. microporus should contribute to the better understanding of how the fungus is able to facilitate wood decay and nutrient cycling as well as tolerate latex and utilize resinous extractives.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

As actors of global carbon cycle, Agaricomycetes (Basidiomycota) have developed complex enzymatic machineries that allow them to decompose all plant polymers, including lignin. Among them, saprotrophic Agaricales are characterized by an unparalleled diversity of habitats and lifestyles. Comparative analysis of 52 Agaricomycetes genomes (14 of them sequenced de novo) reveals that Agaricales possess a large diversity of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes for lignocellulose decay. Based on the gene families with the predicted highest evolutionary rates-namely cellulose-binding CBM1, glycoside hydrolase GH43, lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase AA9, class-II peroxidases, glucose-methanol-choline oxidase/dehydrogenases, laccases, and unspecific peroxygenases-we reconstructed the lifestyles of the ancestors that led to the extant lignocellulose-decomposing Agaricomycetes. The changes in the enzymatic toolkit of ancestral Agaricales are correlated with the evolution of their ability to grow not only on wood but also on leaf litter and decayed wood, with grass-litter decomposers as the most recent eco-physiological group. In this context, the above families were analyzed in detail in connection with lifestyle diversity. Peroxidases appear as a central component of the enzymatic toolkit of saprotrophic Agaricomycetes, consistent with their essential role in lignin degradation and high evolutionary rates. This includes not only expansions/losses in peroxidase genes common to other basidiomycetes but also the widespread presence in Agaricales (and Russulales) of new peroxidases types not found in wood-rotting Polyporales, and other Agaricomycetes orders. Therefore, we analyzed the peroxidase evolution in Agaricomycetes by ancestral-sequence reconstruction revealing several major evolutionary pathways and mapped the appearance of the different enzyme types in a time-calibrated species tree.

Because they comprise some of the most efficient wood-decayers, Polyporales fungi impact carbon cycling in forest environment. Despite continuous discoveries on the enzymatic machinery involved in wood decomposition, the vision on their evolutionary adaptation to wood decay and genome diversity remains incomplete. We combined the genome sequence information from 50 Polyporales species, including 26 newly sequenced genomes and sought for genomic and functional adaptations to wood decay through the analysis of genome composition and transcriptome responses to different carbon sources. The genomes of Polyporales from different phylogenetic clades showed poor conservation in macrosynteny, indicative of genome rearrangements. We observed different gene family expansion/contraction histories for plant cell wall degrading enzymes in core polyporoids and phlebioids and captured expansions for genes involved in signalling and regulation in the lineages of white rotters. Furthermore, we identified conserved cupredoxins, thaumatin-like proteins and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases with a yet uncharacterized appended module as new candidate players in wood decomposition. Given the current need for enzymatic toolkits dedicated to the transformation of renewable carbon sources, the observed genomic diversity among Polyporales strengthens the relevance of mining Polyporales biodiversity to understand the molecular mechanisms of wood decay.

White-rot (WR) fungi are pivotal decomposers of dead organic matter in forest ecosystems and typically use a large array of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes to deconstruct lignocellulose. However, the extent of lignin and cellulose degradation may vary between species and wood type. Here, we combined comparative genomics, transcriptomics and secretome proteomics to identify conserved enzymatic signatures at the onset of wood-decaying activity within the Basidiomycota genus Pycnoporus. We observed a strong conservation in the genome structures and the repertoires of protein-coding genes across the four Pycnoporus species described to date, despite the species having distinct geographic distributions. We further analysed the early response of P. cinnabarinus, P. coccineus and P. sanguineus to diverse (ligno)-cellulosic substrates. We identified a conserved set of enzymes mobilized by the three species for breaking down cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin. The co-occurrence in the exo-proteomes of H2O2-producing enzymes with H2O2-consuming enzymes was a common feature of the three species, although each enzymatic partner displayed independent transcriptional regulation. Finally, cellobiose dehydrogenase-coding genes were systematically co-regulated with at least one AA9 lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase gene, indicative of enzymatic synergy in vivo. This study highlights a conserved core white-rot fungal enzymatic mechanism behind the wood-decaying process.