From lignocellulose to plastics: Knowledge transfer on the degradation approaches by fungi.

Paul Daly, Feng Cai, Christian P Kubicek, Siqi Jiang, Marica Grujic, Mohammad Javad Rahimi, Mohamed Salah Sheteiwy, Richard Giles, Asad Riaz, Ronald P de Vries, Günseli Bayram Akcapinar, Lihui Wei, Irina S Druzhinina

Journal: Biotechnology advances 2021;50():107770

PMID: 33989704

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

In this review, we argue that there is much to be learned by transferring knowledge from research on lignocellulose degradation to that on plastic. Plastic waste accumulates in the environment to hazardous levels, because it is inherently recalcitrant to biological degradation. Plants evolved lignocellulose to be resistant to degradation, but with time, fungi became capable of utilising it for their nutrition. Examples of how fungal strategies to degrade lignocellulose could be insightful for plastic degradation include how fungi overcome the hydrophobicity of lignin (e.g. production of hydrophobins) and crystallinity of cellulose (e.g. oxidative approaches). In parallel, knowledge of the methods for understanding lignocellulose degradation could be insightful such as advanced microscopy, genomic and post-genomic approaches (e.g. gene expression analysis). The known limitations of biological lignocellulose degradation, such as the necessity for physiochemical pretreatments for biofuel production, can be predictive of potential restrictions of biological plastic degradation. Taking lessons from lignocellulose degradation for plastic degradation is also important for biosafety as engineered plastic-degrading fungi could also have increased plant biomass degrading capabilities. Even though plastics are significantly different from lignocellulose because they lack hydrolysable C-C or C-O bonds and therefore have higher recalcitrance, there are apparent similarities, e.g. both types of compounds are mixtures of hydrophobic polymers with amorphous and crystalline regions, and both require hydrolases and oxidoreductases for their degradation. Thus, many lessons could be learned from fungal lignocellulose degradation.

Address: Key Lab of Food Quality and Safety of Jiangsu Province - State Key Laboratory Breeding, Base, Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China; Fungal Physiology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute & Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.; Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Fungal Genomics Laboratory (FungiG), Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China; Institute of Chemical, Environmental & Bioscience Engineering (ICEBE), TU Wien, Austria.; Institute of Chemical, Environmental & Bioscience Engineering (ICEBE), TU Wien, Austria.; Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Fungal Genomics Laboratory (FungiG), Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.; Salt-Soil Agricultural Center, Key Laboratory of Agricultural Environment in the Lower Reaches of Yangtze River Plain, Institute of Agriculture Resources and Environment, Jiangsu Academy of Agriculture Science, Nanjing, China; Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.; Department of Science and Technology, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico Arecibo, Puerto Rico.; Institute of Agro-product Processing, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China.; Fungal Physiology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute & Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.; Department of Medical Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Acibadem University, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: [email protected].; Key Lab of Food Quality and Safety of Jiangsu Province - State Key Laboratory Breeding, Base, Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: [email protected].; Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, Fungal Genomics Laboratory (FungiG), Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China; Institute of Chemical, Environmental & Bioscience Engineering (ICEBE), TU Wien, Austria. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2021.107770

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MeSH Terms: Cellulose, Fungi, Lignin, Plastics