Combinatorial enzyme approach for production and screening of libraries of Feruloyl Oligosaccharides

Authors: Wong, Dominic; Batt-Throne, Sarah; Orts, William

Submitted to: Advances in Enzyme Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/27/2020
Publication Date: 9/30/2020
Citation: Wong, D., Batt Throne, S.B., Orts, W.J. 2020. Combinatorial enzyme approach for production and screening of libraries of Feruloyl Oligosaccharides. Advances in Enzyme Research. 8:27-37. https://doi.org/10.4236/aer.2020.83003.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/aer.2020.83003

Interpretive Summary: The hemicellulose polymer xylan contain a beta-1,4-xylosyl main chain decorated with at least four types of side groups viz acetyl groups, phenolic-ferulic acids, glucuronyl residues, and arabinofuranosyl residues. The cleavage of these side groups requires acetylxylan esterase, feruloyl esterase, beta-glucuronidase, alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase, respectively. These side groups can be removed in a combinatorial scheme by specific enzymes targeting each group individually or in various combinations to produce libraries of xylo-oligosaccharides. The structural diversity of the oligosaccharide fragments would express into different reactivity and functional properties. The present work describes combinatorial enzyme digestion of wheat insoluble arabinoxylan to produce libraries of xylo-oligosaccharides, resulting in isolation of oligo species exhibiting antimicrobial activities.

Technical Abstract: Combinatorial chemistry involves the chemical or biological synthesis of diverse variation of the structures of a target molecule and the library is then screened for variants of desirable target properties. The approach has been a focus of research activity in modern drug discovery and biotechnology. This report is to demonstrate the application of enzymes using the concept of combinatorial chemistry as a novel approach for the bioconversion of plant fibers. Wheat insoluble fiber was subjected to combinatorial enzyme digestion to create structural variants of feruloyl oligosaccharides (FOS). Fractionation and screening resulted in the isolation of bioactive FOS species showing antimicrobial activity.