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Overproduction of fungal endo-β-1,4-glucanase leads to characteristic lignocellulose modification for considerably enhanced biomass enzymatic saccharification and bioethanol production in transgenic rice straw

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Abstract

Genetic modification of plant cell walls has been considered to reduce lignocellulose recalcitrance for enhanced biomass enzymatic saccharification and biofuel production in bioenergy crops. Although endo-β-1,4-glucanase (EG II) secreted by fungi has been broadly applied for enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose, it remains to explore its role in cellulose modification when the EG II gene is overexpressed in plant. In this study, we selected transgenic rice plants that overproduced Trichoderma reesei EG II enzyme specifically deposited into plant cell walls, and then examined much higher enzymatic activities by fourfold to fivefold in transgenic young seedlings than those of wild type in vitro. Notably, despite slightly altered cell wall compositions and polymer interlinkages relative to the wild type, the transgenic mature rice straw exhibited significantly reduced cellulose DP and CrI values and hemicellulosic Xyl/Ara ratio, leading to much increased biomass porosity. These should play integrated impact for enhanced biomass enzymatic saccharification and bioethanol production even under mild alkali pretreatment. Therefore, the results suggested that the EG II deposition should have enzymatic activity specific for minor-modification of cellulose microfibrils in transgenic rice plants. It has also provided a potential strategy for mild cell wall modification and optimal biomass process in rice and other bioenergy crops.

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Abbreviations

EG II:

Endo-β-1,4-glucanase

CrI:

Cellulose crystallinity index

DP:

Degree of polymerization

Ara:

Arabinose

Xyl:

Xylose

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

FTIR:

Fourier transforms infrared

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Acknowledgments

This work was in part supported by Grants from the National Science Foundation of China (31670296; 31571721), the National 111 Project (B08032), the National Transgenic Project (2009ZX08009-119B) and the Youth Fund of Jiangsu Province (BK20140417).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomass and Bioenergy Research Centre, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

    Ying Li, Haiyan Sun, Chunfen Fan, Huizhen Hu, Leiming Wu, Xiaohuan Jin, Zhengyi Lv, Yanting Wang, Shengqiu Feng, Peng Chen & Liangcai Peng

  2. School of Biology and Food Engineering, Changshu Institute of Technology, Changshu, 215500, China

    Haiyan Sun

  3. Key Laboratory of Eco-environments of Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education, Institute of Resources Botany, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Chunfen Fan

  4. State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, College of Life Science, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, China

    Huizhen Hu

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  1. Ying Li
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  2. Haiyan Sun
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  3. Chunfen Fan
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Li, Y., Sun, H., Fan, C. et al. Overproduction of fungal endo-β-1,4-glucanase leads to characteristic lignocellulose modification for considerably enhanced biomass enzymatic saccharification and bioethanol production in transgenic rice straw. Cellulose 26, 8249–8261 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-019-02500-2

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