筛选微生物降解木质纤维素的研究进展

木质纤维素资源是自然界中含量丰富的可再生资源,利用微生物降解木质纤维素是一种重要的策略。在综合国内外对木质纤维素降解微生物的筛选方法和研究策略的基础上,从单一菌株、复合微生物菌系和组学技术三个方面对筛选微生物降解木质纤维素进行了总结和分析,阐述了各个策略的优势特点和应用价值,即单一菌株易于培养但降解能力较低,复合菌系降解能力强但传代稳定性较差,组学技术能够更好的解释微生物降解木质纤维素的机理,为筛选木质纤维素降解微生物提供一定的指导。同时提出使用合成生物学的策略进行相应微生物的筛选,旨在为筛选高效降解木质纤维素的微生物提供一定的参考。     

木质纤维素的微生物降解

木质纤维素广泛存在于自然界中,因结构复杂,其高效降解需要多种微生物的协同互作,由于参与木质纤维素降解的微生物种类繁多,其协同降解机理尚不完全明确。随着微生物分子生物学和组学技术的快速发展,将为微生物协同降解木质纤维素机制的研究提供新的方法和思路。笔者前期研究发现,细菌复合菌系在50℃下表现出强大的木质纤维素降解能力,菌系由可分离培养和暂时不可分离培养细菌组成,但是可分离培养细菌没有降解能力。通过宏基因组和宏转录组研究表明,与木质纤维素降解相关的某些基因表达量发生显著变化,通过组学方法有可能更加深入解释微生物协同降解木质纤维素的微生物学和酶学机理。文中从酶、纯培养菌株和复合菌群三个方面综述了木质纤维素微生物降解研究进展,着重介绍了组学技术在解析复合菌群作用机理方面的现状和应用前景,以期为探索微生物群落协同降解木质纤维素的机理提供借鉴。     

瘤胃中木质纤维素降解菌及降解酶基因的研究进展

摘要：反刍动物瘤胃是公认的木质纤维素高效降解的天然反应器,对瘤胃微生物的研究成为开发生物能源的热点领域之一。其研究手段已经从传统的依赖分离培养从瘤胃中获得木质纤维素降解菌,并对降解菌中的木质纤维素降解酶逐一分析,发展到通过基因组/元基因组技术,直接从瘤胃中发现获得大量新的木质纤维素降解酶基因/基因簇,进而探讨其降解的分子机理。已有的研究结果表明,瘤胃微生物降解木质纤维素的过程非常复杂,其中涉及到大量不同种类的微生物、酶及基因/基因簇,随着新分析技术的建立和完善,对这些微生物、酶和基因的研究已取得了诸多进展。本论文综述报道了近期有关该方向的研究进展。     

瘤胃木质纤维素降解菌及降解酶基因的研究进展

反刍动物瘤胃是公认的木质纤维素高效降解的天然反应器,对瘤胃微生物的研究已成为开发生物能源的热点领域之一。目前的研究手段已经从传统的依赖分离培养从瘤胃中获得木质纤维素降解菌,并对降解菌中的木质纤维素降解酶逐一分析,发展到通过基因组/元基因组学技术,直接从瘤胃中发现并获得大量新的木质纤维素降解酶基因/基因簇,进而探讨其降解的分子机理。已有的研究结果表明,瘤胃微生物降解木质纤维素的过程非常复杂,涉及大量不同种类的微生物及基因/基因簇,随着新分析技术的建立和完善,对这些微生物和基因的研究已取得了诸多进展。本论文综述了近期有关该方向的研究进展。     

蟋蟀后肠纤维素降解细菌的分离与鉴定

近年来,具有农业、能源和环保价值的昆虫微生物种类和基因得到了开发,昆虫肠道微生物展示了其巨大的应用潜力,本研究旨在从蟋蟀后肠分离和鉴定纤维素降解细菌。首先采用羧甲基纤维素钠液体培养基对蟋蟀后肠中的微生物进行富集培养,然后使用羧甲基纤维素钠固体培养基分离和筛选单菌落,再通过16S rRNA测序对纤维素降解细菌进行分子鉴定,最后通过刚果红染色来进一步分析细菌降解纤维素的能力。从蟋蟀后肠中共分离出20株纤维素降解细菌,16S rRNA基因测序结果显示来自肠杆菌属(Enterobacter)9株,不动杆菌属(Acinetobacter)7株,克雷伯氏菌属(Klebsiella)2株,鞘氨醇杆菌属(Sphingobacterium)1株和葡萄球菌属(Staphylococcus)1株。刚果红染色试验结果显示,克雷伯氏菌属两株PDSCDXS_2B和8B,鞘氨醇杆菌属PDSCDXS_7C和不动杆菌属PDSCDXS_12C具有较高的纤维素降解能力。这是首次从蟋蟀后肠分离和筛选出来具有纤维素降解能力的细菌,为昆虫源纤维素降解细菌的研究提供了微生物资源。     

瘤胃纤维素降解细菌的研究进展

反刍动物瘤胃是自然界中最有效的纤维素降解系统，其纤维素降解能力主要源于寄居于其中的纤维素降解细菌、真菌和原虫。其中，瘤胃纤维素降解细菌因数量庞大、种类繁多以及代谢途径丰富，在木质纤维素降解及利用方面发挥着重要作用。本文综述了国内外瘤胃纤维素降解细菌的种类，分析了瘤胃纤维素降解细菌的特性；阐述了瘤胃纤维素降解细菌通过纤维小体对纤维素的降解过程，以及瘤胃微生物之间的相互作用和相互制约关系；简述宏组学技术在开发新纤维素降解菌和新纤维素酶方面的应用，旨在为进一步研究纤维素降解细菌的降解机理，开发新的纤维素菌种和酶资源提供新的思路。     

外源微生物及辅料对秸秆降解效果的影响

研究加入外源微生物及添加辅料对秸秆降解率的影响。通过秸杆固体培养进行了降解试验,结果显示,加入外源微生物后纤维素降解率明显提高,嗜热侧孢霉可提高34.76%,放线菌可提高18.99%。通过在秸秆中加入辅料香菇菌糠,培养后秸秆的纤维素含量由原来的32.11%降至14.19%,降解率达55.81%。加入外源微生物的秸秆降解过程具有升温快、温度高及高温维持时间长等优点。加入微生物的秸秆降解高温维持8 d,对照为6 d。秸秆降解过程中的最高温度分别为63℃和58℃。为下一步外源微生物的进一步研究及菌糠的大量利用提供参考。     

高效降解木质纤维素的白蚁肠道微生物组

木食性白蚁是自然界木质纤维素的高效降解者,在长期进化过程中白蚁与其肠道微生物组协同作用发展出不同的纤维素降解机制。木食性白蚁具有分别来源于白蚁和共生微生物的两套纤维素酶系统。在低等白蚁中,木质颗粒经过白蚁前、中肠分泌的内源性酶初步消化后,在后肠共生鞭毛虫中被降解为乙酸、二氧化碳和氢。高等木食性白蚁在进化中丢失了鞭毛虫,木质颗粒经白蚁自身分泌的酶初步消化后,在后肠大量共生细菌的帮助下被有效降解。培菌类白蚁利用其菌圃中的蚁巢伞菌和肠道微生物协同作用降解木质纤维素。共生微生物在白蚁的氮素固定与循环、中间产物代谢及纤维素降解等过程中发挥了重要作用。学习和模拟白蚁高效降解木质纤维素的体系,对生物质能源的产业化发展具有积极的意义。     

黄翅大白蚁后肠降解滤纸微生物群落的分析

黄翅大白蚁(Macrotermes barneyi)具有高效降解木质纤维素的能力,其后肠内存在着丰富的共生微生物。采用活性电泳和变形梯度凝胶电泳的方法对黄翅大白蚁后肠降解滤纸微生物群落进行分析。活性电泳实验证实了此微生物群落纤维素酶的存在(内切葡聚糖酶、β-葡萄糖苷酶和木聚糖酶),变形梯度凝胶电泳实验鉴定出微生物组的群落结构,即7种细菌和3种真菌。本研究初步阐明了黄翅大白蚁后肠内与滤纸降解相关的微生物种类,为进一步了解黄翅大白蚁纤维素的降解机制以及生物质资源的高效利用提供了理论基础。     

黄翅大白蚁后肠降解滤纸微生物群落的分析简

黄翅大白蚁（ Macrotermes barneyi）具有高效降解木质纤维素的能力,其后肠内存在着丰富的共生微生物。采用活性电泳和变形梯度凝胶电泳的方法对黄翅大白蚁后肠降解滤纸微生物群落进行分析。活性电泳实验证实了此微生物群落纤维素酶的存在（内切葡聚糖酶、β葡萄糖苷酶和木聚糖酶）,变形梯度凝胶电泳实验鉴定出微生物组的群落结构,即7种细菌和3种真菌。本研究初步阐明了黄翅大白蚁后肠内与滤纸降解相关的微生物种类,为进一步了解黄翅大白蚁纤维素的降解机制以及生物质资源的高效利用提供了理论基础。     

Chitin degradation by cellulolytic anaerobes and facultative aerobes from soils and sediments

Species of strictly and facultatively anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria from soils and sediments were examined for the ability to degrade chitin. Of 22 species studied, 16 degraded insoluble chitin. Cellulomonas uda, which was selected for a comparative study of its cellulase and chitinase enzyme systems, produced different enzyme systems for the degradation of cellulose and chitin and different patterns of regulation of production of the two enzyme systems were observed. Moreover, C. uda utilized chitin as a source of nitrogen for the degradation of cellulose. In natural environments, the ability to use chitin as a nitrogen source may confer on cellulolytic microorganisms, such as C. uda, a selective advantage over other cellulolytic microbes.     

Changes in physiological groups of microorganisms in soil following wildfire

Abstract: Physiological groups of soil microorganisms were investigated in a forest ( Pinus pinaster Sol.) to asses their response to wildfire-induced soil changes. Microbial fluctuations were recorded 1 month and 1 year after the fire, both in the field and during controlled soil incubations. In both the burned and the unburned soil, starch-mineralizing microbes predominated over cellulose-mineralizing microbes; there were a relatively high number of ammonium-producers, whereas nitrite and nitrate producers were scarce. In the short term, burning produced a decreasing to nearly undetectable number in cellulase-producers whilst amylase-producers, and especially, ammonifying microbes increased, and the nitrifying groups did not change. One year after the wildfire, the burning effect was slightly overcome by cellulolytic microorganisms and the amylolytic population was slightly decreased; the improvement of ammonifiers was reduced, ammonium oxidizers were positively affected and nitrite oxidizers continued to be unaffected by the fire. The trends of populations during soil incubation indicated that, in the long term, the effect of burning will probably be nil on ammonifiers, somewhat negative on cellulolytic and amylolytic microbes and slightly positive on nitrite- and nitrate-formers.     

Enumeration and isolation of cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic bacteria from human feces

The fibrolytic microbiota of the human large intestine was examined to determine the numbers and types of cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic bacteria present. Fecal samples from each of five individuals contained bacteria capable of degrading the hydrated cellulose in spinach and in wheat straw pretreated with alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP-WS), whereas degradation of the relatively crystalline cellulose in Whatman no. 1 filter paper (PMC) was detected for only one of the five samples. The mean concentration of cellulolytic bacteria, estimated with AHP-WS as a substrate, was 1.2 X 10(8)/ml of feces. Pure cultures of bacteria isolated on AHP-WS were able to degrade PMC, indicating that interactions with other microbes were primarily responsible for previous low success rates in detecting fecal cellulolytic bacteria with PMC as a substrate. The cellulolytic bacteria included Ruminococcus spp., Clostridium sp., and two unidentified strains. The mean concentration of hemicellulolytic bacteria, estimated with larchwood xylan as a substrate, was 1.8 X 10(10)/ml of feces. The hemicellulose-degrading bacteria included Butyrivibrio sp., Clostridium sp., Bacteroides sp., and two unidentified strains, as well as four of the five cellulolytic strains. This work demonstrates that many humans harbor intestinal cellulolytic bacteria and that a hydrated cellulose source such as AHP-WS is necessary for their consistent detection and isolation.     

Recombinant Bacillus subtilis That Grows on Untreated Plant Biomass

Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising feedstock to produce biofuels and other valuable biocommodities. A major obstacle to its commercialization is the high cost of degrading biomass into fermentable sugars, which is typically achieved using cellulolytic enzymes from Trichoderma reesei. Here, we explore the use of microbes to break down biomass. Bacillus subtilis was engineered to display a multicellulase-containing minicellulosome. The complex contains a miniscaffoldin protein that is covalently attached to the cell wall and three noncovalently associated cellulase enzymes derived from Clostridium cellulolyticum (Cel48F, Cel9E, and Cel5A). The minicellulosome spontaneously assembles, thus increasing the practicality of the cells. The recombinant bacteria are highly cellulolytic and grew in minimal medium containing industrially relevant forms of biomass as the primary nutrient source (corn stover, hatched straw, and switch grass). Notably, growth did not require dilute acid pretreatment of the biomass and the cells achieved densities approaching those of cells cultured with glucose. An analysis of the sugars released from acid-pretreated corn stover indicates that the cells have stable cellulolytic activity that enables them to break down 62.3% ± 2.6% of the biomass. When supplemented with beta-glucosidase, the cells liberated 21% and 33% of the total available glucose and xylose in the biomass, respectively. As the cells display only three types of enzymes, increasing the number of displayed enzymes should lead to even more potent cellulolytic microbes. This work has important implications for the efficient conversion of lignocellulose to value-added biocommodities.     

Enumeration and isolation of cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic bacteria from human feces.

The fibrolytic microbiota of the human large intestine was examined to determine the numbers and types of cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic bacteria present. Fecal samples from each of five individuals contained bacteria capable of degrading the hydrated cellulose in spinach and in wheat straw pretreated with alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP-WS), whereas degradation of the relatively crystalline cellulose in Whatman no. 1 filter paper (PMC) was detected for only one of the five samples. The mean concentration of cellulolytic bacteria, estimated with AHP-WS as a substrate, was 1.2 X 10(8)/ml of feces. Pure cultures of bacteria isolated on AHP-WS were able to degrade PMC, indicating that interactions with other microbes were primarily responsible for previous low success rates in detecting fecal cellulolytic bacteria with PMC as a substrate. The cellulolytic bacteria included Ruminococcus spp., Clostridium sp., and two unidentified strains. The mean concentration of hemicellulolytic bacteria, estimated with larchwood xylan as a substrate, was 1.8 X 10(10)/ml of feces. The hemicellulose-degrading bacteria included Butyrivibrio sp., Clostridium sp., Bacteroides sp., and two unidentified strains, as well as four of the five cellulolytic strains. This work demonstrates that many humans harbor intestinal cellulolytic bacteria and that a hydrated cellulose source such as AHP-WS is necessary for their consistent detection and isolation.     

Development of a simple cultivation method for isolating hitherto-uncultured cellulase-producing microbes

Although enrichment culture is typically employed to isolate cellulolytic microbes, this approach tends to favor fast-growing species and discriminates against all others. Therefore, efforts to prevent the overgrowth of fast-growing species are necessary to isolate novel cellulase-producing strains. In this study, we developed a simple culture method for isolating hitherto-uncultured microbes that possess cellulase activity, particularly exocellulase. In this method, the microbial source (a forest soil) was suspended in sterilized water and inoculated onto a mineral salts agar medium, which was then overlaid with filter paper to sandwich the microbial suspension between the agar surface and paper. The filter paper fibers served to immobilize the microbial cells and were the dominant carbon source. Following cultivation at 30°C for 2 weeks, emerging colonies were isolated based on their morphology and were then subjected to phylogenetic and enzyme analyses. Using this method, 2,150 CFUs/g dry soil were obtained, and the ratio of fungal to bacterial isolates was approximately 4:1. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that most fungal and bacterial isolates belong to ten and two genera, respectively. Notably, all isolates possessed exocellulase activity, and several strains showed strong activity that was comparable to Trichoderma cellulase. Many isolates also exhibited cellulase and xylanase activity, and several strains possessed laccase activity. It is expected that the culture method described here will be useful for the isolation of hitherto-uncultured cellulolytic microbes and the identification of novel cellulases.     

Recent progress in consolidated bioprocessing

Consolidated bioprocessing, or CBP, the conversion of lignocellulose into desired products in one step without added enzymes, has been a subject of increased research effort in recent years. In this review, the economic motivation for CBP is addressed, advances and remaining obstacles for CBP organism development are reviewed, and we comment briefly on fundamental aspects. For CBP organism development beginning with microbes that have native ability to utilize insoluble components of cellulosic biomass, key recent advances include the development of genetic systems for several cellulolytic bacteria, engineering a thermophilic bacterium to produce ethanol at commercially attractive yields and titers, and engineering a cellulolytic microbe to produce butanol. For CBP organism development, beginning with microbes that do not have this ability and thus requiring heterologous expression of a saccharolytic enzyme system, high-yield conversion of model cellulosic substrates and heterologous expression of CBH1 and CBH2 in yeast at levels believed to be sufficient for an industrial process have recently been demonstrated. For both strategies, increased emphasis on realizing high performance under industrial conditions is needed. Continued exploration of the underlying fundamentals of microbial cellulose utilization is likely to be useful in order to guide the choice and development of CBP systems.     

Cellulose-Enriched Microbial Communities from Leaf-Cutter Ant (Atta colombica) Refuse Dumps Vary in Taxonomic Composition and Degradation Ability

Deconstruction of the cellulose in plant cell walls is critical for carbon flow through ecosystems and for the production of sustainable cellulosic biofuels. Our understanding of cellulose deconstruction is largely limited to the study of microbes in isolation, but in nature, this process is driven by microbes within complex communities. In Neotropical forests, microbes in leaf-cutter ant refuse dumps are important for carbon turnover. These dumps consist of decaying plant material and a diverse bacterial community, as shown here by electron microscopy. To study the portion of the community capable of cellulose degradation, we performed enrichments on cellulose using material from five Atta colombica refuse dumps. The ability of enriched communities to degrade cellulose varied significantly across refuse dumps. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of enriched samples identified that the community structure correlated with refuse dump and with degradation ability. Overall, samples were dominated by Bacteroidetes, Gammaproteobacteria, and Betaproteobacteria. Half of abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) across samples were classified within genera containing known cellulose degraders, including Acidovorax, the most abundant OTU detected across samples, which was positively correlated with cellulolytic ability. A representative Acidovorax strain was isolated, but did not grow on cellulose alone. Phenotypic and compositional analyses of enrichment cultures, such as those presented here, help link community composition with cellulolytic ability and provide insight into the complexity of community-based cellulose degradation.     

Accumulation of recombinant cellobiohydrolase and endoglucanase in the leaves of mature transgenic sugar cane

A major strategic goal in making ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass a cost-competitive liquid transport fuel is to reduce the cost of production of cellulolytic enzymes that hydrolyse lignocellulosic substrates to fermentable sugars. Current production systems for these enzymes, namely microbes, are not economic. One way to substantially reduce production costs is to express cellulolytic enzymes in plants at levels that are high enough to hydrolyse lignocellulosic biomass. Sugar cane fibre (bagasse) is the most promising lignocellulosic feedstock for conversion to ethanol in the tropics and subtropics. Cellulolytic enzyme production in sugar cane will have a substantial impact on the economics of lignocellulosic ethanol production from bagasse. We therefore generated transgenic sugar cane accumulating three cellulolytic enzymes, fungal cellobiohydrolase I (CBH I), CBH II and bacterial endoglucanase (EG), in leaves using the maize PepC promoter as an alternative to maize Ubi1 for controlling transgene expression. Different subcellular targeting signals were shown to have a substantial impact on the accumulation of these enzymes; the CBHs and EG accumulated to higher levels when fused to a vacuolar-sorting determinant than to an endoplasmic reticulum-retention signal, while EG was produced in the largest amounts when fused to a chloroplast-targeting signal. These results are the first demonstration of the expression and accumulation of recombinant CBH I, CBH II and EG in sugar cane and represent a significant first step towards the optimization of cellulolytic enzyme expression in sugar cane for the economic production of lignocellulosic ethanol.     

Penicillium strains as dominant degraders in soil for coffee residue, a biological waste unsuitable for fertilization

AIMS: Coffee residue is an agricultural waste which inhibits the growth of several crops. Therefore coffee residue-degrading microbes in soil were screened, isolated and characterized. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty isolates were obtained after enrichment culture of soil samples. Seven strains (fast degraders) showed strong degrading activity, while 18 strains (slow degraders) showed weak degrading activity. DNA analysis suggested that the fast degraders are Penicillium, and the slow degraders are Penicillium, Trichoderma/Hypocrea, Fusarium/Gibberella, Phaeoacremonium/Togninia or Acidocella. The all fast degraders are cellulolytic, mannolytic and pectinolytic. CONCLUSIONS: Although it is generally thought that fungi such as Trichoderma contribute largely to aerobic degradation of cellulosic biomass, our data suggested that Penicillium overwhelms them in coffee residue degradation. It was implied that polysaccharides in coffee residue are not degraded independently by different microbes, but degraded simultaneously by strains with cellulolytic, mannolytic and pectinolytic activity. Since there is no report of an ascomycete possessing all the three enzyme activities, the fast degraders are ecologically important and have the potential to be used as producers of the costly enzymes from agricultural wastes. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY: The present results advance our understanding of microbial degradation of a phytotoxic agricultural waste, and offer a new tool for recycling it.