Composting involves the selection of a microbiota capable of resisting the high temperatures generated during the process and degrading the lignocellulose. A deep understanding of the thermophilic microbial community involved in such biotransformation is valuable to improve composting efficiency and to provide thermostable biomass-degrading enzymes for biorefinery. This study investigated the lignocellulose-degrading thermophilic microbial culturome at all the stages of plant waste composting, focusing on the dynamics, enzymes, and thermotolerance of each member of such a community. The results revealed that 58% of holocellulose (cellulose plus hemicellulose) and 7% of lignin were degraded at the end of composting. The whole fungal thermophilic population exhibited lignocellulose-degrading activity, whereas roughly 8-10% of thermophilic bacteria had this trait, although exclusively for hemicellulose degradation (xylan-degrading). Because of the prevalence of both groups, their enzymatic activity, and the wide spectrum of thermotolerance, they play a key role in the breakdown of hemicellulose during the entire process, whereas the degradation of cellulose and lignin is restricted to the activity of a few thermophilic fungi that persists at the end of the process. The xylanolytic bacterial isolates (159 strains) included mostly members of Firmicutes (96%) as well as a few representatives of Actinobacteria (2%) and Proteobacteria (2%). The most prevalent species were Bacillus licheniformis and Aeribacillus pallidus. Thermophilic fungi (27 strains) comprised only four species, namely Thermomyces lanuginosus, Talaromyces thermophilus, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Gibellulopsis nigrescens, of whom A. fumigatus and T. lanuginosus dominated. Several strains of the same species evolved distinctly at the stages of composting showing phenotypes with different thermotolerance and new enzyme expression, even not previously described for the species, as a response to the changing composting environment. Strains of Bacillus thermoamylovorans, Geobacillus thermodenitrificans, T. lanuginosus, and A. fumigatus exhibiting considerable enzyme activities were selected as potential candidates for the production of thermozymes. This study lays a foundation to further investigate the mechanisms of adaptation and acquisition of new traits among thermophilic lignocellulolytic microorganisms during composting as well as their potential utility in biotechnological processing.

Bacterial systems have gained wide attention for depolymerization of lignocellulosic biomass, due to their high functional diversity and adaptability. To achieve the full microbial exploitation of lignocellulosic residues and the cost-effective production of bioproducts within a biorefinery, multiple metabolic pathways and enzymes of various specificities are required. In this work, highly diverse aerobic, mesophilic bacteria enriched from Keri Lake, a pristine marsh of increased biomass degradation and natural underground oil leaks, were explored for their metabolic versatility and enzymatic potential towards lignocellulosic substrates. A high number of Pseudomonas species, obtained from enrichment cultures where organosolv lignin served as the sole carbon and energy source, were able to assimilate a range of lignin-associated aromatic compounds. Comparatively more complex bacterial consortia, including members of Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacilli, Sphingobacteria, and Flavobacteria, were also enriched from cultures with xylan or carboxymethyl cellulose as sole carbon sources. Numerous individual isolates could target diverse structural lignocellulose polysaccharides by expressing hydrolytic activities on crystalline or amorphous cellulose and xylan. Specific isolates showed increased potential for growth in lignin hydrolysates prepared from alkali pretreated agricultural wastes. The results suggest that Keri isolates represent a pool of effective lignocellulose degraders with significant potential for industrial applications in a lignocellulose biorefinery.

BACKGROUND: Textile industry represents one prevalent activity worldwide, generating large amounts of highly contaminated and rich in azo dyes wastewater, with severe effects on natural ecosystems and public health. However, an effective and environmentally friendly treatment method has not yet been implemented, while concurrently, the increasing demand of modern societies for adequate and sustainable energy supply still remains a global challenge. Under this scope, the purpose of the present study was to isolate promising species of yeasts inhabiting wood-feeding termite guts, for combined azo dyes and textile wastewater bioremediation, along with biodiesel production.
RESULTS: Thirty-eight yeast strains were isolated, molecularly identified and subsequently tested for desired enzymatic activity, lipid accumulation, and tolerance to lignin-derived metabolites. The most promising species were then used for construction of a novel yeast consortium, which was further evaluated for azo dyes degradation, under various culture conditions, dye levels, as well as upon the addition of heavy metals, different carbon and nitrogen sources, and lastly agro-waste as an inexpensive and environmentally friendly substrate alternative. The novel yeast consortium, NYC-1, which was constructed included the manganese-dependent peroxidase producing oleaginous strains Meyerozyma caribbica, Meyerozyma guilliermondii, Debaryomyces hansenii, and Vanrija humicola, and showed efficient azo dyes decolorization, which was further enhanced depending on the incubation conditions. Furthermore, enzymatic activity, fatty acid profile and biodiesel properties were thoroughly investigated. Lastly, a dye degradation pathway coupled to biodiesel production was proposed, including the formation of phenol-based products, instead of toxic aromatic amines.
CONCLUSIONS: In total, this study might be the first to explore the application of MnP and lipid-accumulating yeasts for coupling dye degradation and biodiesel production.

Recycling biomass is indispensable these days not only because fossil energy sources are gradually depleted, but also because pollution of the environment, caused by the increasing use of energy, must be reduced. This article intends to overview the results of plant biomass processing methods that are currently in use. Our aim was also to review published methods that are not currently in use. It is intended to explore the possibilities of new methods and enzymes to be used in biomass recycling. The results of this overview are perplexing in almost every area. Advances have been made in the pre-treatment of biomass and in the diversity and applications of the enzymes utilized. Based on molecular modeling, very little progress has been made in the modification of existing enzymes for altered function and adaptation for the environmental conditions during the processing of biomass. There are hardly any publications in which molecular modeling techniques are used to improve enzyme function and to adapt enzymes to various environmental conditions. Our view is that using modern computational, biochemical, and biotechnological methods would enable the purposeful design of enzymes that are more efficient and suitable for biomass processing.

Liometopum apiculatum is a species of ants widely distributed in arid and semi-arid ecosystems where there is a relative food shortage compared with tropical ecosystems. L. apiculatum has established an ecological balance involving symbiotic interactions, which have allowed them to survive through mechanisms that are still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the metabolic potential of isolated bacteria from L. apiculatum using enzymatic activity assay and substrate assimilation. Results revealed a complex bacteria consortium belonging to Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria phylum. Most of the isolated bacteria showed activities associated with biopolymers degradation, from them Exiguobacterium and B. simplex showed the highest amylolytic activity (27 U/mg protein), while A. johnsonii and B. pumulis showed the highest cellulolytic and xylanolytic activities (1 and 2.9 U/mg protein, respectively). By other hand, some microorganisms such as S. ficaria, E. asburiae, P. agglomerans, A. johnsonii, S. rubidaea, S. marcescens, S. warneri, and M. hydrocarbonoxydans were able to grow up to 1000 mg/L of phthalates esters. These results not only revealed the important contribution of the symbionts in L apiculatum ants feeding habits, but also have shown a promising source of enzymes with potential biotechnological applications such as lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysis and bioremediation processes.

Microbial activity is the main route for cycling mangrove nutrients. In general, microorganisms have abilities to degrade lignocellulosic compounds. Among the biotechnological potential of the microbiota from mangroves, it is noteworthy about endophytic fungi, which can be considered as effective sources of different bioactive compounds. In this sense, thirty (30) endophytic fungi were isolated from mangrove forest sampling Cananeia, SP, Brazil. These microorganisms were analyzed about their enzymatic activities including: lignin peroxidase EC 1.11.1.14, manganese peroxidase EC 1.11.1.13 and laccase EC 1.10.3.2, as well endo-cellulase EC 3.2.1.4 and endo-xylanase EC 3.2.1.8. Besides that, production of bioactive secondary metabolites like biosurfactant and/or bioemulsifier was also investigated. As results, nineteen (19) isolates were selected about their ligninolytic abilities, nine (9) of them about cellulase activity and thirteen (13) showed xylanase abilities. The fungal isolate named as 3(3), characterized as Fusarium sambucinum, showed a prominent lignin peroxidase (42.4 U L-1) and manganese peroxidase (23.6 U L-1) activities. The isolate 63.1, also related to Fusarium sp. genera, was selected about its laccase activity (41.5 U L-1). From all the investigated fungi, the isolate 47(4) Trichoderma camerunense was selected about its cellulolytic and xylanolytic activities, showing 45.23 and 26.09 U mL-1, respectively. The same fungi also showed biosurfactant ability demonstrated by superficial tension decreasing to 38 mN/m. In addition, fifteen (15) fungi exhibited bioemulsifier activity, with E24 values up to 62.8%.

The ligninolytic enzyme consortium is one of the most-efficient oxidative systems found in nature, playing a pivotal role during wood decay and coal formation. Typically formed by high redox-potential oxidoreductases, this array of enzymes can be used within the emerging lignocellulose biorefineries in processes that range from the production of bioenergy to that of biomaterials. To ensure that these versatile enzymes meet industry standards and needs, they have been subjected to directed evolution and hybrid approaches that surpass the limits imposed by nature. This Opinion article analyzes recent achievements in this field, including the incipient groundbreaking research into the evolution of resurrected enzymes, and the engineering of ligninolytic secretomes to create consolidated bioprocessing microbes with synthetic biology applications.

Fungi have been recently recognized as organisms able to grow in presence of high salt concentration with halophilic and halotolerance properties and their ligninolytic enzyme complex have an unspecific action enabling their use to degradation of a number of xenobiotic compounds. In this work, both the effect of salt and polyols on growth of the basidiomycetes strains, on their ability to produce ligninolytic enzyme and diuron degradation were evaluated. Results showed that the presence of NaCl in the culture medium affected fungal specimens in different ways. Seven out of ten tested strains had growth inhibited by salt while Dacryopinax elegans SXS323, Polyporus sp MCA128 and Datronia stereoides MCA167 fungi exhibited higher biomass production in medium containing 0.5 and 0.6 mol.L(-1) of NaCl, suggesting to be halotolerant. Polyols such as glycerol and mannitol added into the culture media improved the biomass and ligninases production by D. elegans but the fungus did not reveal consumption of these polyols from media. This fungus degraded diuron in medium control, in presence of NaCl as well as polyols, produced MnP, LiP and laccase.