An Oxidative Enzyme Boosting the Enzymatic Conversion of Recalcitrant Polysaccharides

Polysaccharide Breakdown

One of the current challenges in the biofuels industry is achieving efficient bioconversion of complex polysaccharides like cellulose and chitin. Recently, chitin-binding proteins (CBPs) have been identified that potentiate chitin hydrolysis. Now, Vaaje-Kolstad et al. (p. 219 ) show that a CBP from the chitinolytic bacterium Serratia marcescens appears to catalyze an oxygenase reaction on the surface of crystallized chitin, leading to chain breakage and generating oxidized ends that can be degraded by chitinases. A structurally similar enzyme, GH61, may play a similar role in the degradation of cellulose.