Comprehensive evaluation of the effect of hemicellulolytic enzymes mixtures for cell wall deconstruction of sugarcane bagasse

The cost of enzymes for the release of fermentable sugars from plant cell wall polysaccharides remains one of the major hurdles to the development of an economically viable cellulosic ethanol industry. Commercial enzyme cocktails for the conversion of plant biomass to fermentable sugars are complex mixtures containing more than 80 proteins of suboptimal activities and relative proportions. The goal of this work was to study the effect of hemicellulolytic enzymes mixtures for cell wall deconstruction of sugarcane bagasse and wheat arabinoxylan, and their potential biotechnological application. Five hemicellulolytic enzymes (two endo-1,4-xylanases (GH10 and GH11), two α-L-arabinofuranosidases (GH51 and GH54) and one β-xylosidase (GH43) were produced at high levels and purified. The enzymes were combinatorially assayed using experimental designs and automated pipetting system, in order to analyze synergistic and antagonistic effects of hemicellulolytic enzymes interaction in the degradation of the biomass analyzed. The products generated in the hydrolysis were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis and quantified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Through such analysis, it was possible to define which enzymatic combinations favor the xylose production and which favor xylooligosaccharides production and thus enable the development of target biotechnological applications.