Yoshimi Yoshihisa, Tryfona Theodora, Dupree Paul
1 Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge.
J Appl Glycosci (1999). 2024 Feb 20;72(1):7201301. doi: 10.5458/jag.7201301. eCollection 2025.
Different forms of plant biomass have been utilised for various applications in daily life and have gained increasing attention as replacements for fossil fuel-based products in the pursuit of a sustainable society. Plant cell walls, the primary carbon sink of plant biomass, have a high-order polysaccharide architecture consisting of cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectins, lignin and some proteins. Hemicelluloses are a group of polysaccharides that interact with cellulose, which is fundamental to the different properties and functionality of the plant cell walls. However, for industrial applications, the complex polysaccharide architecture poses a barrier to their efficient use. Understanding the molecular basis of plant cell walls - especially cellulose-hemicellulose interactions - is therefore critical to improving the utilisation of plant biomass. Recent research has revealed that the detailed structures, modification patterns, and conformation of hemicelluloses play an influential role in their interaction with cellulose. In this review, we discuss the latest insights into hemicelluloses across different forms of plant biomass and how their structures affect cell wall assembly. Additionally, we explore recent findings on how alterations in hemicellulose structure and modification patterns affect the usability of plant biomass, including the extractability of polysaccharides and the digestibility of biomass by glycoside hydrolases for biofuel production. Furthermore, we address unsolved questions in the field and propose future strategies to maximize the potential of plant biomass.
不同形式的植物生物质已被用于日常生活中的各种应用，并在追求可持续社会的过程中，作为化石燃料基产品的替代品而受到越来越多的关注。植物细胞壁是植物生物质的主要碳汇，具有由纤维素、半纤维素、果胶、木质素和一些蛋白质组成的高阶多糖结构。半纤维素是一组与纤维素相互作用的多糖，这对于植物细胞壁的不同特性和功能至关重要。然而，对于工业应用而言，复杂的多糖结构对其有效利用构成了障碍。因此，了解植物细胞壁的分子基础，尤其是纤维素 - 半纤维素相互作用，对于提高植物生物质的利用率至关重要。最近的研究表明，半纤维素的详细结构、修饰模式和构象在其与纤维素的相互作用中发挥着重要作用。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了对不同形式植物生物质中半纤维素的最新见解，以及它们的结构如何影响细胞壁组装。此外，我们探讨了关于半纤维素结构和修饰模式的改变如何影响植物生物质可用性的最新发现，包括多糖的可提取性以及糖苷水解酶对生物质进行生物燃料生产的消化率。此外，我们还讨论了该领域尚未解决的问题，并提出了未来的策略，以最大限度地发挥植物生物质的潜力。
