Expanding xylose metabolism in yeast for plant cell wall conversion to biofuels

Abstract
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Abstract

Sustainable biofuel production from renewable biomass will require the efficient and complete use of all abundant sugars in the plant cell wall. Using the cellulolytic fungus Neurospora crassa as a model, we identified a xylodextrin transport and consumption pathway required for its growth on hemicellulose. Reconstitution of this xylodextrin utilization pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed that fungal xylose reductases act as xylodextrin reductases, producing xylosyl-xylitol oligomers as metabolic intermediates. These xylosyl-xylitol intermediates are generated by diverse fungi and bacteria, indicating that xylodextrin reduction is widespread in nature. Xylodextrins and xylosyl-xylitol oligomers are then hydrolyzed by two hydrolases to generate intracellular xylose and xylitol. Xylodextrin consumption using a xylodextrin transporter, xylodextrin reductases and tandem intracellular hydrolases in cofermentations with sucrose and glucose greatly expands the capacity of yeast to use plant cell wall-derived sugars and has the potential to increase the efficiency of both first-generation and next-generation biofuel production.

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Xin Li

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
Xin Li, A patent application related to some of the work presented here has been filed on behalf of the Regents of the University of California..
Vivian Yaci Yu

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Yuping Lin

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Kulika Chomvong

Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Raíssa Estrela

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Annsea Park

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Julie M Liang

Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Elizabeth A Znameroski

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Joanna Feehan

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Soo Rin Kim

Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Yong-Su Jin

Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
N Louise Glass

Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Jamie H D Cate

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

For correspondence
jcate@lbl.gov

Competing interests
Jamie H D Cate, A patent application related to some of the work presented here has been filed on behalf of the Regents of the University of California..

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