Lignocellulose-degrading
fungi use various oxidative enzymes to
degrade lignocellulosic biomass. Oxidative cleavage of cellulose by
AA9 family lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), LPMO9s, reportedly
enhances cellulose depolymerization catalyzed by hydrolytic enzymes.
To improve this enhancement, functional and structural understanding
of LPMO9s is needed. Here, we recombinantly expressed an LPMO9 of Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, CsLPMO9, in Pichia pastoris. Simultaneous treatment of microcrystalline
cellulose with CsLPMO9 and a commercial cellulase
cocktail led to an 8.5-fold higher reducing sugar yield over the sum
of the yields on individual treatment with CsLPMO9
and the cellulase cocktail. Similarly, simultaneous treatment of phosphoric
acid-swollen cellulose resulted in a 3.2-fold increased yield. We
also solved the crystal structure of CsLPMO9. CsLPMO9 takes on a typical LPMO structure having a β-sandwich
fold with a copper-coordinating histidine brace. Solvent-exposed residues,
including Tyr residues, in the putative substrate-binding surface
of CsLPMO9 were deduced to be involved in binding
cellulosic substrates. Mutagenesis of two characteristic Tyr residues
revealed that they contribute to the affinity of CsLPMO9 with cellulosic substrate. The high synergy of CsLPMO9 and the cellulase cocktail may be promising for efficient biomass
utilization.