Novel approach to produce biomass-derived oligosaccharides simultaneously by recombinant endoglucanase from Trichoderma reesei

Abstract

The recombinant endoglucanase gene (EG I) from Trichoderma reesei was successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris for the purpose of producing oligosaccharides from various biomass-derived substrates. Interestingly, the recombinant endoglucanase I (ReEG I) showed the catalytic activity towards both cellulose and xylan hydrolysis, yet it was more efficient with xylans. Among various glucans and xylans substrates (paper pulp, carboxymethylated cellulose, oat spelt xylan, birchwood xylan), birchwood xylan displayed a higher yield of xylooligosaccharides (XOS) (69.5 % after optimization). Eventually, it was observed that ReEG I could simultaneously produce XOS and COS, when the alkali-extracted corncob residues were used as substrate. This is the first report on simultaneous production of XOS and COS by recombinant endoglucanase I from Trichoderma reesei expressed in Pichia pastoris, where a novel application of genetically engineered enzymes is proposed to provide an attractive application for high value utilization of biomass.

Keywords: Alkali-extracted corncob residues; Cello-oligosaccharide; Endoglucanase Ⅰ; Trichoderma reesei; Xylo-oligosaccharide.