Serpula lacrymans : biochemical mechanism and gene characterisation
Irnia Nurika (1), Dan Eastwood (2), Timothy D.H. Bugg (3), Guy Barker (4)
(1,2 and 4) School of Life Science, University of Warwick – United Kingdom
(3)Chemistry Dept, University of Warwick – United Kingdom
Developing low input microbial biorefinery of wheat straw is a potentially efficient and important process to derive a new sources of energy and chemicals. Serpula lacrymans aggressively decompose lignocellulose causing lignin extensively modified but intact. However, the degradative mechanism of this brown rot fungus are not fully elucidated. Solid state fermentation of wheat straw degradation using a range of fungi showed that a greater production of solvent extracable phenolic compounds was observed in S. lacrymans than the white rot fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Schizophyllum commune. However, deep understanding of enzymatic and non enzymatic processes, including Fenton’s reaction, and genes which regulate this process are lacking.
Experiments devise to achieve the optimum chemicals production via a low input microbial biorefinery process, by changing the concentration of Fe/Cu and H2O2 and in situ enzyme to develop a synergy with a Fenton’s reaction and monitor genes which might be putatively regulated this reaction by cloning and characterising their function. Novel iron reductase genes (eg. CDH) hypothesised to be in iron cycling by S. lacrymans are targeted for expresssion and functional characterisation. Fenton’s chemistry in brown rot fungi will be transfered into bacteria and that S.lacrymans genes are good candidates for this to promote iron reduction.