Article
Microbiology
Stephen P. Lillington, William Chrisler, Charles H. Haitjema, Sean P. Gilmore, Chuck R. Smallwood, Vaithiyalingam Shutthanandan, James E. Evans, Michelle A. O'Malley
Summary: This study used antibodies and imaging tools to investigate the spatial localization patterns of fungal cellulosomes across the life stages of anaerobic fungus Piromyces finnis under different environmental conditions. The findings highlight the impact of cell morphology and regulation of cellulosome production on biomass degradation by anaerobic fungi, providing insights for potential strategies to enhance hydrolytic enzyme yields in fungal cultures.
Review
Microbiology
Jing Ma, Pei Zhong, Yuqi Li, Zhanying Sun, Xiaoni Sun, Min Aung, Lizhuang Hao, Yanfen Cheng, Weiyun Zhu
Summary: Anaerobic fungi play a crucial role in the degradation of forage for herbivores. The hydrogen produced by their hydrogenosomes can be utilized by other microorganisms, improving the nutritional value of animal feeds and generating valuable products. Therefore, studying the hydrogenosome is essential for developing the utilization value of anaerobic fungi.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Rajeev K. Sukumaran, Meera Christopher, Prajeesh Kooloth-Valappil, AthiraRaj Sreeja-Raju, Reshma M. Mathew, Meena Sankar, Anoop Puthiyamadam, Velayudhanpillai-Prasannakumari Adarsh, Aswathi Aswathi, Valan Rebinro, Amith Abraham, Ashok Pandey
Summary: Fungal biomass degrading enzymes are crucial for biorefineries, but limited by the cost of biomass hydrolyzing enzymes. Current research focuses on improving the quantity and quality of enzymes secreted by fungi. Further production enhancements require modifying fungal metabolism.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Yihan Xue, Rui Shen, Yuqi Li, Zhanying Sun, Xiaoni Sun, Fengming Li, Xiaobin Li, Yanfen Cheng, Weiyun Zhu
Summary: This study aimed to isolate anaerobic fungi from rumen and fecal samples of Bactrian camels and investigate their potential for lignocellulosic bioconversion. The results showed that Oontomyces sp. CR2 isolated from Bactrian camel rumen contents had the highest lignocellulosic bioconversion potential, suggesting the Bactrian camel rumen as a good source for industrial applications.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Agricultural Engineering
Huichuan Zhuang, Po-Heng Lee, Zhuoying Wu, Houde Jing, Jianyu Guan, Xiaojing Tang, Giin-Yu Amy Tan, Shao-Yuan Leu
Summary: Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising technology for recovering bioenergy from biodegradable biomass, including cellulose waste. Cellulose has potential in AD but the process is substrate-specific, with cellulolysis bacteria sensitive to enzyme-substrate interactions. The cellulosome, a self-assembled enzyme complex in bacteria, is being gradually studied, but the genomic fingerprints of culture-specific cellulosome in AD are unclear, especially under processing conditions. More research is needed to clarify the factors affecting cellulosome-induced cellulolysis in AD.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Myeong-Eun Lee, Young Jin Ko, Dong-Hyeok Hwang, Byeong-Hyeon Cho, Wu-Young Jeong, Nisha Bhardwaj, Sung Ok Han
Summary: A novel whole cell biocatalyst was developed by displaying the enzyme complex on Corynebacterium glutamicum, which showed high efficiency in sugar production and growth. This biocatalyst also demonstrated the ability to produce valuable chemicals.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Microbiology
Marlene Benchimol, Ana Paula Gadelha, Wanderley de Souza
Summary: This review presents the main cell organelles and structures of two important protist parasites, Giardia intestinalis, and Trichomonas vaginalis, and highlights their potential as new drug targets. The development of highly specific compounds that interfere with key steps of essential metabolic pathways or in functional macromolecular complexes associated with cell structures and organelles is important for improving the quality of chemotherapy against parasitic protozoa.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Matias R. Iglesias Rando, Natalia Gorojovsky, Vanesa Zylberman, Fernando A. A. Goldbaum, Patricio O. O. Craig
Summary: The development of multifunctional particles using polymeric scaffolds is an emerging technology for nanobiotechnological applications. In this study, a system based on the interaction of cohesin and dockerin modules with decameric Brucella abortus lumazine synthase (BLS) subunits and target proteins was developed to produce multifunctional complexes. The produced enzymatic complexes showed higher activity and association to the substrate compared to free enzyme, highlighting the usefulness of this scaffold for the development of multifunctional particles.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
K. Narayanan Rajnish, Melvin S. Samuel, Ashwini J. John, Saptashwa Datta, Narendhar Chandrasekar, Ramachandran Balaji, Sujin Jose, Ethiraj Selvarajan
Summary: Cellulose as a raw material for biofuel production requires breakdown into intermediate sugars, and immobilizing cellulase enzymes on nanomaterials has been proven to significantly enhance efficiency and provide an economic solution for the processing of cellulose.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Neha Srivastava, Manish Srivastava, Alaa Alhazmi, Tahreem Kausar, Shafiul Haque, Rajeev Singh, Pramod W. Ramteke, Pradeep Kumar Mishra, Maria Tuohy, Maja Leitgeb, Vijai Kumar Gupta
Summary: This review discusses recent advances in fungal cellulase production using fruit wastes as a potential substrate, and explores the availability, generation, and processing data of fruit wastes as well as their potential applications in cellulase enzyme production.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Stephen P. Lillington, Matthew Hamilton, Jan-Fang Cheng, Yasuo Yoshikuni, Michelle A. O'Malley
Summary: Anaerobic fungi found in the guts of herbivores have the ability to extract sugars from recalcitrant plant material. These fungi use enzyme complexes called cellulosomes to accelerate biomass hydrolysis. The CotH proteins in these fungi have ATP hydrolysis activity and may contribute to fungal cellulosome assembly and activity.
PROTEIN EXPRESSION AND PURIFICATION
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Patrick A. Leggieri, Corey Kerdman-Andrade, Thomas S. Lankiewicz, Megan T. Valentine, Michelle A. O'Malley
Summary: The study presents a microplate-based method to measure AGF and methanogen concentrations in co-culture, demonstrating significant increases in AGF growth rate and degradation rates in the presence of methanogens. This method allows for direct growth measurements and calculation of metabolic fluxes, essential for understanding rumen metabolism and the impact of co-culture on degradation and production processes.
MICROBIAL CELL FACTORIES
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yanan Yin, Mengtong Li, Xiaohui Tao, Chao Yang, Wenrong Zhang, Haichao Li, Yucong Zheng, Xiaochang Wang, Rong Chen
Summary: This study investigated the effects of adding 10% biochar on organic matter transformation in composting and determined the role of cellulase and fungal communities. The results showed that biochar enhanced the conversion of organic matter, with rape stalk biochar (RSB) treatment being the most effective. RSB increased cellulase activity and promoted the growth of specific fungi that play a key role in organic matter degradation and conversion. Overall, RSB improved organic matter conversion by enhancing the function of cellulase and fungal communities.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Dendera Munguia-Aguilar, Hector A. Ruiz, Elias Razo-Flores, Cesar Nieto-Delgado, Edith Cadena-Chamorro, Felipe Alatriste-Mondragon
Summary: The efficiency of enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass can be improved by a sequential process of hydrothermal pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis, resulting in higher release of sugars and methane production.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Myeong-Eun Lee, Sang Kyu Shin, Jeong-Joo Oh, Dong-Hyeok Hwang, Young Jin Ko, Jeong Eun Hyeon, Sung Ok Han
Summary: CcGlcNAcase is a cellulosomal component that enhances the degradation of fungi-infected lignocellulosic biomass in the presence of chitin, leading to higher levels of glucose and total reducing sugars.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Raymond M. RedCorn, Ethan T. Hillman, Kevin V. Solomon, Abigail S. Engelberth
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2019)
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Casey A. Hooker, Kok Zhi Lee, Kevin V. Solomon
CURRENT OPINION IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2019)
Editorial Material
Biochemical Research Methods
Eric D. Lee, Emily R. Aurand, Douglas C. Friedman
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Craig Sweet, Aayush Aayush, Logan Readnour, Kevin Solomon, David H. Thompson
Summary: A rapid purification workflow for ELP using polar organic solvent extraction and precipitation strategy was developed, providing highly pure ELP in approximately 2.5 hours while removing major host cell contaminants. This method can produce a functional ELP construct suitable for in vivo applications, demonstrating its efficiency and effectiveness in protein purification.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Ethan T. Hillman, Mengwan Li, Casey A. Hooker, Jacob A. Englaender, Ian Wheeldon, Kevin V. Solomon
Summary: The development of the bioeconomy relies on accessing energy-rich carbon trapped in plant materials through strategies like anaerobic fungal pretreatment. By partnering with versatile organisms, anaerobic fungi can sustain the production of fine chemicals from lignocellulose at high efficiency.
BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Candice L. Swift, Katherine B. Louie, Benjamin P. Bowen, Heather M. Olson, Samuel O. Purvine, Asaf Salamov, Stephen J. Mondo, Kevin Solomon, Aaron T. Wright, Trent R. Northen, Igor Grigoriev, Nancy P. Keller, Michelle A. O'Malley
Summary: Anaerobic gut fungi, as low-abundance members of the herbivore digestive tract, have been found to potentially synthesize diverse natural products, including antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides. Through a multi-omics approach, genes encoding biosynthetic enzymes for natural products were identified in four representative anaerobic gut fungal species. This suggests that these fungi could serve as a valuable source of antimicrobials and therapeutics.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kok Zhi Lee, Michael A. Mechikoff, Archana Kikla, Arren Liu, Paula Pandolfi, Kevin Fitzgerald, Frederick S. Gimble, Kevin Solomon
Summary: NgAgo, a potential pAgo candidate, exhibits endonuclease activity in prokaryotes but shows poor expression in non-halophilic hosts. It possesses a single-stranded DNA binding domain in addition to canonical PIWI domains, allowing it to be programmed for targeted DNA cleavage and enhancing homologous recombination or gene-editing in Escherichia coli.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Candice L. Swift, Katherine B. Louie, Benjamin P. Bowen, Casey A. Hooker, Kevin V. Solomon, Vasanth Singan, Chris Daum, Christa P. Pennacchio, Kerrie Barry, Vaithiyalingam Shutthanandan, James E. Evans, Igor V. Grigoriev, Trent R. Northen, Michelle A. O'Malley
Summary: In the co-culture environment of anaerobic gut fungi and rumen bacteria, fungi produce antimicrobials while bacteria upregulate self-protective mechanisms.
Article
Microbiology
Ethan T. Hillman, Elizabeth M. Frazier, Evan K. Shank, Adrian N. Ortiz-Velez, Jacob A. Englaender, Kevin Solomon
Summary: Anaerobic fungi have rich biosynthetic potential, but their biosynthetic pathways have limited success in model hosts like E. coli. This is due to the extreme AT bias in the genome of anaerobic fungi like P. indianae, which causes growth defects in E. coli. Codon optimization rescues growth and enables gene evaluation in otherwise difficult to express genes.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Kok Zhi Lee, Michael A. Mechikoff, Mrugesh Krishna Parasa, Tyler J. Rankin, Paula Pandolfi, Kevin S. Fitzgerald, Ethan T. Hillman, Kevin Solomon
Summary: Prokaryote genomes encode diverse programmable DNA endonucleases with significant potential for biotechnology and gene editing. A positive selection screen based on the homing endonuclease I-SceI has been developed and validated to measure the relative activity of endonucleases and enrich for more active variants. This system may be applied in high throughput to characterize novel programmable endonucleases and evolve endonuclease function.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Mostafa S. Elshahed, Radwa A. Hanafy, Yanfen Cheng, Sumit S. Dagar, Joan E. Edwards, Veronika Flad, Katerina Olsa Fliegerova, Gareth W. Griffith, Sandra Kittelmann, Michael Lebuhn, Michelle A. O'Malley, Sabine Marie Podmirseg, Kevin Solomon, Julia Vinzelj, Diana Young, Noha H. Youssef
Summary: Establishing a solid taxonomic framework is crucial for effective communication and reproducibility in scientific research. Difficulties in isolating and preserving anaerobic fungi (phylum Neocallimastigomycota) have resulted in limited availability and loss of described taxa. Therefore, providing clear criteria and rank assignment scheme is necessary for accurate characterization and naming of newly obtained Neocallimastigomycota isolates.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Ethan T. Hillman, Louis Edwards Caceres-Martinez, Gozdem Kilaz, Kevin Solomon
Summary: Microbial processes in oil wells can be engineered to inhibit deleterious hydrogen sulfide production and shape oil hydrocarbon composition through nutrient injection strategies, as demonstrated by this study which screened microbial communities from five oil wells in the Illinois basin. The economic potential and sustainability of top-down approaches for microbiome engineering to control microbes in oil extraction and enhance oil recovery have been validated through pilot studies.
Review
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Akash J. Vaidya, Kevin V. Solomon
Summary: Naturally derived biological nanoparticles have been gaining attention in modern medicine due to their advantages in controlled biodistribution and tissue targeting. Research efforts focus on functionalizing or engineering these structures for various applications such as vaccines, imaging, and drug delivery. This review provides a comprehensive summary of VLP functionalization approaches and highlights biomedically relevant examples.
ACS APPLIED BIO MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Kok Zhi Lee, Vindula Basnayake Pussepitiyalage, Yu-Hsuan Lee, L. Sue Loesch-Fries, Michael T. Harris, Shohreh Hemmati, Kevin V. Solomon
Summary: Biomolecules such as the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) are increasingly used as templates for the synthesis of functional nanomaterials, with applications in sensing, catalysis, and energy storage. Recent research efforts have focused on understanding and controlling self-assembly processes and extending the use of biomolecular templates. While control of VLP surface features is well-established, limited tools exist for controlling VLP self-assembly, which hinders efforts to control template uniformity and synthesis of certain nanomaterials.
BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Yu-Hsuan Lee, Kok Zhi Lee, Rachel G. Susler, Corren A. Scott, Longfei Wang, L. Sue Loesch-Fries, Michael T. Harris, Kevin Solomon
ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS
(2020)