Cited by 561Enzyme-mediated dye degradationLignin and Wood ChemistryBiofuel production and bioconversion

Microbial degradation of lignin: how a bulky recalcitrant polymer is efficiently recycled in nature and how we can take advantage of this

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Ruiz‐Dueñas, Francisco J., Martínez, Ángel T.·2009·Microbial Biotechnology

Abstract

Summary: Lignin is the second most abundant constituent of the cell wall of vascular plants, where it protects cellulose towards hydrolytic attack by saprophytic and pathogenic microbes. Its removal represents a key step for carbon recycling in land ecosystems, as well as a central issue for industrial utilization of plant biomass. The lignin polymer is highly recalcitrant towards chemical and biological degradation due to its molecular architecture, where different non‐phenolic phenylpropanoid units form a complex three‐dimensional network linked by a variety of ether and carbon–carbon bonds. Ligninolytic microbes have developed a unique strategy to handle lignin degradation based on unspecific one‐electron oxidation of the benzenic rings in the different lignin substructures by extracellular haemperoxidases acting synergistically with peroxide‐generating oxidases. These peroxidases posses two outstanding characteristics: (i) they have unusually high redox potential due to haem pocket architecture that enables oxidation of non‐phenolic aromatic rings, and (ii) they are able to generate a protein oxidizer by electron transfer to the haem cofactor forming a catalytic tryptophanyl‐free radical at the protein surface, where it can interact with the bulky lignin polymer. The structure–function information currently available is being used to build tailor‐made peroxidases and other oxidoreductases as industrial biocatalysts.

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Crossref · 10.1111/j.1751-7915.2008.00078.x

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  • These C sources can contain complex plant-based OM considered rather resistant to chemical and biological degradation as well as labile low-molecular-weight C such as amino acids, carbohydrates and carboxylic acids that can be easily used by microorganisms to fuel microbially mediated Fe(III) reduction leading to As release.

    “These C sources can contain complex plant-based OM which is considered rather resistant to chemical and biological degradation 26,27 as well as labile low-molecular-weight C such as amino acids, carbohydrates and carboxylic acids that can be easily used by microorganisms to fuel microbially mediated Fe(III) reduction leading to As release 16,28,29 .”

    From Role of in Situ Natural Organic Matter in Mobilizing As during Microbial Reduction of FeIII-Mineral-Bearing Aquifer Sediments from Hanoi (Vietnam). (2020) · cites this paper as [26]

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  • For PS degradation, enzymes similar to those utilised by lignin-oxidising microbes were suggested.

    “For PS degradation, enzymes similar to those utilised by ligninoxidising microbes were suggested, 114,118”

    From The fate of plastic in the ocean environment – a minireview (2021) · cites this paper as [118]

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  1. Dunford H.B. 1999 Wiley‐VCH
  2. Eriksson K.‐E.L. Blanchette R.A. Ander P. 1990 Springer‐Verlag
  3. Higuchi T. 1997 Springer, Verlag
  4. Marques G. Gamelas J.A.F. Evtuguin D. Ruiz‐Dueñas F.J. Morales M. Del Río J.C. 2008 et al.) Versatile peroxidase reoxidation of Mn‐based polyoxomethalate in chlorine‐free bleaching of eucalypt pulp. Proceeding of the 8th International Peroxidase Symposium, Tampere, 2023 August.
  5. Paice M.G. Bourbonnais R. Reid I.D. Archibald F.S. Jurasek L. Oxidative bleaching enzymes: a review J Pulp Paper Sci 1995 21 J280 J284
  6. Sixta H. 2006 Wiley‐VCH

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Authors
Ruiz‐Dueñas, F. J., & Martínez, Á. T.
Venue
Microbial Biotechnology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2009-02-18
Volume
2
Issue
2
Pages
164-177
ISSN
1751-7915 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2129126200
Cited by
561
References
107
Citations by year
2026: 26 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 42 · 2016: 48 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 38 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 22
FWCI
1.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Microbial Biotechnology (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Universidad de Alcalá
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Enzyme-mediated dye degradation
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Lignin and Wood Chemistry
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biofuel production and bioconversion
Keywords
lignin degradation, ligninolytic microorganisms, heme peroxidase, lignin recalcitrance, lignin substructures, plant biomass utilization, carbon recycling, industrial biocatalysts, ligninolytic enzymes
MeSH terms
Biodegradation, Environmental, Fungal Proteins, Fungi, Lignin, Biocatalysis, Recycling

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