Dissecting the catalytic mechanism and revealing the substrate specificity of a new class of oxidative biomass degrading enzymes

For many years, the enzymatic depolymerization of polysaccharides in plant biomass was thought to be accomplished by the complementary action of endo- and exo-acting hydrolases.

Recently, however, it has been shown that there are additional enzymes called lytic polysaccharide monooxygensaes (LPMOs) that aid in this conversion process using a hitherto poorly understood mechanism involving both hydrolysis and oxidation.

Genes encoding LPMOs are abundant in plant-degrading fungi and these enzymes are likely to act on a variety of biomass types.

These enzymes deserve massive attention since there are clear indications on that they may be exploited to dramatically increase the efficiency of enzymatic biomass conversion. However, this enzyme class has hardly been explored and many crucial questions about the LPMOs remain unanswered.

We will therefor address crucial questions by carrying out: Characterization of the catalytic activities, substrate-specificities from a range of LPMOs from biomass degrading fungi and characterize their synergies with other enzymes such as cellulases; In-depth analysis of the catalytic mechanism using a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques to unravel atomic details of the catalytic cycle; Deepen our understanding of LPMO functionality by classical structure-function work in combination with  electrochemical characterizations; Testing the applicability of the enzymes for biomass conversion and design of new optimized enzyme cocktails.