Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Science. 2010 Oct 1;330(6000):84-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1192838. Epub 2010 Sep 9.
Fungal degradation of plant biomass may provide insights for improving cellulosic biofuel production. We show that the model cellulolytic fungus Neurospora crassa relies on a high-affinity cellodextrin transport system for rapid growth on cellulose. Reconstitution of the N. crassa cellodextrin transport system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae promotes efficient growth of this yeast on cellodextrins. In simultaneous saccharification and fermentation experiments, the engineered yeast strains more rapidly convert cellulose to ethanol when compared with yeast lacking this system.
真菌对植物生物质的降解可能为提高纤维素生物燃料的生产提供思路。我们发现，模式纤维素分解真菌粗糙脉孢菌（Neurospora crassa）依赖于高亲和性的纤维二糖运输系统，从而使其能够在纤维素上快速生长。在酿酒酵母（Saccharomyces cerevisiae）中重建粗糙脉孢菌的纤维二糖运输系统，可促进该酵母对纤维二糖的有效利用。在同步糖化和发酵实验中，与缺乏该系统的酵母相比，工程化酵母菌株能更快速地将纤维素转化为乙醇。
