ObjectiveIn a previous study, analysis of Illumina sequenced metagenomic DNA data of bacteria in Vietnamese goats’ rumen showed a high diversity of putative lignocellulolytic genes. In this study, taxonomy speculation of microbial community and lignocellulolytic bacteria population in the rumen was conducted to elucidate a role of bacterial structure for effective degradation of plant materials.MethodsThe metagenomic data had been subjected into Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLASTX) algorithm and the National Center for Biotechnology Information non-redundant sequence database. Here the BLASTX hits were further processed by the Metagenome Analyzer program to statistically analyze the abundance of taxa.ResultsMicrobial community in the rumen is defined by dominance of Bacteroidetes compared to Firmicutes. The ratio of Firmicutes versus Bacteroidetes was 0.36:1. An abundance of Synergistetes was uniquely identified in the goat microbiome may be formed by host genotype. With regard to bacterial lignocellulose degraders, the ratio of lignocellulolytic genes affiliated with Firmicutes compared to the genes linked to Bacteroidetes was 0.11:1, in which the genes encoding putative hemicellulases, carbohydrate esterases, polysaccharide lyases originated from Bacteroidetes were 14 to 20 times higher than from Firmicutes. Firmicutes seem to possess more cellulose hydrolysis capacity showing a Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio of 0.35:1. Analysis of lignocellulolytic potential degraders shows that four species belonged to Bacteroidetes phylum, while two species belonged to Firmicutes phylum harbouring at least 12 different catalytic domains for all lignocellulose pretreatment, cellulose, as well as hemicellulose saccharification.ConclusionBased on these findings, we speculate that increasing the members of Bacteroidetes to keep a low ratio of Firmicutes versus Bacteroidetes in goat rumen has resulted most likely in an increased lignocellulose digestion.

The scarcity of enzymes having an optimal activity in lignocellulose deconstruction is an obstacle for industrial-scale conversion of cellulosic biomass into biofuels. With the aim of mining novel lignocellulolytic enzymes, a ~9 Gb metagenome of bacteria in Vietnamese native goats' rumen was sequenced by Illumina platform. From the data, 821 ORFs encoding carbohydrate esterases (CEs) and polysaccharide lyases (PLs) serving for lignocellulose pre-treatment, 816 ORFs encoding 11 glycoside hydrolase families (GHs) of cellulases, and 2252 ORFs encoding 22 GHs of hemicellulases, were mined. The carbohydrate binding module (CBM) was also abundant with 763 ORFs, of which 480 ORFs are located with lignocellulolytic enzymes. The enzyme modularity analysis showed that CBMs are usually present in endoglucanase, endo 1,3-beta-D-glucosidase, and endoxylanase, whereas fibronectin 3-like module (FN3) mainly represents in GH3 and immunoglobulin-like domain (Ig) was located in GH9 only. Every domain located in each ORF was analyzed in detail to contribute enzymes' modularity which is valuable for modelling, to study the structure, and for recombinant production. With the aim of confirming the annotated results, a mined ORF encoding CBM63 was highly expressed in E. coli in soluble form. The purified recombinant CBM63 exhibited no cellulase activity, but enhanced a commercial cellulase activity in the destruction of a paper filter.

Objective: Fibronectin 3 (FN3) and immunoglobulin like modules (Ig) are usually collocated beside modular cellulase catalytic domains. However, very few researches have investigated the role of these modules. In a previous study, we have sequenced and analyzed bacterial metagenomic DNA in Vietnamese goats' rumen and found that cellulase-producing bacteria and cellulase families were dominant. In this study, the properties of modular cellulases and the role of a FN3 in unique endoglucanase belonging to glycosyl hydorlase (GH) family 5 were determined.Methods: Based on Pfam analysis, the cellulases sequences containing FN3, Ig modules were extracted from 297 complete open reading frames (ORFs). The alkaline, thermostability, tertiary structure of deduced enzymes were predicted by AcalPred, TBI software, Phyre2 and Swiss models. Then, whole and truncated forms of a selected gene were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by His-tag affinity column for assessment of FN3 ability to enhance enzyme activity, solubility and conformation.Results: From 297 complete ORFs coding for cellulases, 148 sequences containing FN3, Ig were identified. Mostly FN3 appeared in 90.9% beta-glucosidases belonging to glycosyl hydrolase family 3 (GH3) and situated downstream of catalytic domains. The Ig was found upstream of 100% endoglucanase GH9. Rarely FN3 was seen to be situated downstream of X domain and upstream of catalytic domain endoglucanase GH5. Whole enzyme (called XFN3GH5 based on modular structure) and truncate forms FN3, XFN3, FN3GH5, GH5 were cloned in pET22b (+) and pET22SUMO to be expressed in single and fusion forms with a small ubiquitin-related modifier partner (S). The FN3, SFN3 increased GH5 solubility in FN3GH5, SFN3GH5. The SFN3 partly served for GH5 conformation in SFN3GH5, increased modules interaction and enzyme-soluble substrate affinity to enhance SXFN3GH5, SFN3GH5 activities in mixtures. Both SFN3 and SXFN3 did not anchor enzyme on filter paper but exfoliate and separate cellulose chains on filter paper for enzyme hydrolysis.Conclusion: Based on these findings, the presence of FN3 module in certain cellulases was confirmed and it assisted for enzyme conformation and activity in both soluble and insoluble substrate.

Thermotolerant yeasts are widely considered to be alternative strains to traditional yeasts for bioethanol production at high temperatures. In this study, thirty-two yeasts isolated from lychees were screened for thermotolerance, and seven selected isolates were identified as Candida tropicalis (isolates H8, H19, and H23), Meyerozyma guilliermondii (isolates H1 and H12) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (isolates H10 and H18). They tolerated up to 45 oC, 12% (v/v) ethanol concentration, 10 g/L acetic acid, and 5 g/L furfural, respectively, and produced 47.96 to 70.18 g/L of ethanol from 160 g/L glucose at 40 oC during 48 h of fermentation. Among the evaluated yeasts, M. guilliermondii H1 showed great potential for second-generation bioethanol fermentation with its ability to ferment xylose and arabinose. Under the optimal conditions resulting from a Plackett Burman design and a Box Behnken design, the highest ethanol concentration of 11.12 g/L was produced from 40 g/L substrate-based sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate (non-detoxified hydrolysate) at 40 °C by M. guilliermondii H1. These findings suggested that the newly isolated thermotolerant yeast M. guilliermondii H1 is a good candidate for ethanol production from agricultural wastes.