Expression of a fungal laccase fused with a bacterial cellulose-binding module improves the enzymatic saccharification efficiency of lignocellulose biomass in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana

Transgenic Research volume 26, pages753–761(2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Delignification is effective for improving the saccharification efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass materials. We previously identified that the expression of a fungal laccase (Lac) fused with a bacterial cellulose-binding module domain (CBD) improved the enzymatic saccharification efficiency of rice plants. In this work, to evaluate the ability of the Lac-CBD fused chimeric enzyme to improve saccharification efficiency in a dicot plant, we introduced the chimeric gene into a dicot model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Transgenic plants expressing the Lac-CBD chimeric gene showed normal morphology and growth, and showed a significant increase of enzymatic saccharification efficiency compared to control plants. The transgenic plants with the largest improvement of enzymatic saccharification efficiency also showed an increase of crystalline cellulose in their cell wall fractions. These results indicated that expression of the Lac-CBD chimeric protein in dicotyledonous plants improved the enzymatic saccharification of plant biomass by increasing the crystallinity of cellulose in the cell wall.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported in part by a Cooperative Research Grant of the Plant Transgenic Design Initiative Program, Gene Research Center, University of Tsukuba (TO, RI, TF, and TS), and a Hirosaki University Grant for Exploratory Research by Young Scientists (TS).

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Author notes

  1. Ryota Iiyoshi and Taichi Oguchi have contributed equally to this work.

Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Bunkyo-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8561, Japan

    Ryota Iiyoshi, Toru Furukawa & Tomonori Sonoki

  2. Tsukuba Plant Innovation Research Center (T-PIRC), Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ten-nodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Taichi Oguchi

  3. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8569, Japan

    Yosuke Iimura

  4. Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 981-8555, Japan

    Yukihiro Ito

Authors
  1. Ryota Iiyoshi
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  2. Taichi Oguchi
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  3. Toru Furukawa
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  4. Yosuke Iimura
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  5. Yukihiro Ito
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  6. Tomonori Sonoki
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Correspondence to Taichi Oguchi.

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Iiyoshi, R., Oguchi, T., Furukawa, T. et al. Expression of a fungal laccase fused with a bacterial cellulose-binding module improves the enzymatic saccharification efficiency of lignocellulose biomass in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana . Transgenic Res 26, 753–761 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-017-0043-0

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Keywords

  • Laccase
  • Cellulose-binding module
  • Saccharification
  • Cell wall composition
  • Lignocellulosic biomass