Metagenomic and metasecretomic analyses of an enrichment microbial consortium of anaerobic fungi to the degradation of sugarcane bagasse: prospection of cellulosomas and lignocellolytic enzymes

Abstract

Second generation of biofuel derived from lignocellulosic biomass is a trend for future of the fuel market. In Brazil, there are several of studies to use sugarcane bagasse as carbon resource for bioethanol production. Rumen anaerobic fungi has its profile of lignocellulolytic enzymes yet unexplored, beyond there is lack of sufficient understanding of synergism and microbial interaction that occur during the process of biomass degradation within rumen. Likewise, rumen microbiome also represents a resource for prospection of fungal cellulosomes due to several dockerin sequences present in glycoside hydrolases. In contrast to bacterial cellulosomes, only few studies described the architecture and enzymes anchoring mechanism in fungal cellulosomes. In this context, the goal of this project will be to employ bovine rumen sample to construct a fungal anaerobic consortium degrading of sugarcane bagasse. The anaerobic fungal population within microbial consortium will be quantified by Real-Time PCR. Subsequently, the genetic and extracellular enzymes contents will be analyzed by metagenomic and metasecretomic approaches. Obtained datasets compilation will provide information for identification and reconstruction of fungal cellulosomes (in silico). The fungal cellulosomes identified will be cloned and expressed in Aspergillus nidulans. Finally, the enzymes revealed will be evaluated for its potential of complementing commercial lignocellulolytic cocktail.