Mbio 304, Lec-4, Microbial Decomposition of Hemicellulose

Microbial degradation of
hemicellulose
• Hemicellulose is any of several heteropolymers
(matrix polysaccharides), present along with
cellulose in almost all plant cell walls.
• While cellulose is crystalline, strong, and resistant to

hydrolysis, hemicellulose has a random structure
with little strength.
• It is easily hydrolyzed by acid or base as well as

hemicellulase enzymes.
• Unlike cellulose, hemicellulose consists of shorter
chains – 500–3,000 sugar units as opposed to 7,000–
15,000 glucose molecules per polymer seen in
cellulose.
• In addition, hemicellulose is a branched polymer, while

cellulose is unbranched.
• Hemicelluloses are embedded in the cell walls of

plants, sometimes in chains that form a 'ground' - they
bind with pectin to cellulose to form a network of
cross-linked fibres.
•This class of polymers is divided into two categories.
– Homoglycans: these contain only a single monosaccharide
type, but they usually are not the major hemicelluloses in
the plant. Typical homoglycans are xylan, mannan, or
galactan, which are polymers containing xylose, mannose,
or galactose units.
– Heteroglycans: These frequently abundant
polysaccharides contain more than one kind of
monosaccharide
– The heteroglycans are named on the basis of the

sugars in the polymer; thus, plants contain
• glucomannans,
• arabinoxylans,
• arabinogalactans, in their cell walls.
• The structure of such polymers are usually complex.
Some may have 50-200 sugar units made up from
the several sugars characteristic of these wall
constituents.
• the hemicelluloses are usually branched.
• The arrangement of different units in the

heteroglycan is not chaotic, even in the branched
molecules, and distinct and ordered arrangements
are typical.
• Furthermore, only a few sugars are common.
• These are:
• Pentoses (5 carbon sugars): xylose and

arabinose
• Hexoses (6 carbon sugars): mannose, glucose,

and galactose
• Decomposition
• Initial decoposition  rapid

• Later decoposition  slow
• Organism produce some enzymes which creates masking effect. So, it

seems these degrade the hemicellulose to a substancial level.
• Hemicellulose  CO2 + cellular constituents
• Decomposition is governed by physical and chemical characteristics of the

habitat (pH, temp etc).
• It is higher in aerobic, higher temp, high inorganic nutrient.
• Also mature plant hemicellulose undergo slow decomposition

• Microorganism
• Diverse  as the structure of hemilecculose is
heterogeneous.
• Both aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms are

involved in degradation.
• Fungi
– Hyphomycetes
– Zygomycetes
– Pyrenomycetes
– hymenomycetes
• Bacteria
– Bacillus
– Cytophaga
– Erwinia
– Pseudomonas
– Sporocytophaga
– Xanthomonas
• Actinomycetes
– Streptomyces
• These organisms use hemicellulose as the sole

source of carbon and energy
• Fungi
– Alternaria
– Aspergillus
– Chaetomium
– Fusarium
– Glomerulla,
– Penicillium,
– Trichoderma
• Degradation of mannan
• Rapidly degraded in soil

• Bacillus and Vibrio
• A number of actinomycetes
• Fungi  Aspergillus, Chaetomium, Penicilliuj,
Rhizopus, Trichoderma nad Zygorhynchus
• Degradation of galactans
• Basidiomycetes, aerobic and anaerobic

bacteria, actinomycetes
• Fungi  Aspergillis, Cunninghamella,

Humicola, Penicilloujm, Rhizopus,
Trichoderma, Zygorynchus
• Rate of decomposition is less than xylan or

mannan
• Biochemistry of Hemicellulose degradation
• Large polymer  has to be broken down into

smaller/simple compounds by extracellular
enzymes. These simple molecules then enters the
cells and assimilated.
• 3 types of enzymes involved:

– Endo enzymes: randonly cleave bond
– Exo enzymes: cleave either a single dimer or monomer

from one end of the polysaccharide chain
– Glycosidases: hydrolyse the oligomers or disaccharides

produced from the action of the other two enzymes and
produces simple sugars
• endoenzymes splits xylan into xylobiose
(disaccharide) and higher oligosaccharides
• These higher oligosaccharides are split by

exoenzymes and glycosidases to xylose
• Mannanases
• Either constitutive or inducible enzymes
• Different mannanases are known and one type do
not attach other types of mannan (due to variability
in building blocks)
• Galactanases
• Bond   - (1  4) or  - (1  3) between galactose
units.
• Need two different enzymes.
• End products  galactose, galactobiose,

galactotriose
• Glycosidases
• Specific for particular substrate and are named accordingly
• e. g. :- xylosidase act on xylose oligomer  xylose produced
• Mannosidase act on mannose oligomer  mannose

produced
• A single organism cannot decompose too many types of

hemicellulose.
• Exception is Fusarium oxysporum growing on components of

tomato tissue that synthesize  arabanase, xylanase,
galactanase, and glycosidases.

Mbio 304, Lec-4, Microbial Decomposition of Hemicellulose

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mbio 304, Lec-4, Microbial Decomposition of Hemicellulose

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mbio 304, Lec-4, Microbial Decomposition of Hemicellulose

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Microbial degradation of

• While cellulose is crystalline, strong, and resistant to

• It is easily hydrolyzed by acid or base as well as

• In addition, hemicellulose is a branched polymer, while

• Hemicelluloses are embedded in the cell walls of

– The heteroglycans are named on the basis of the

• the hemicelluloses are usually branched.

• The arrangement of different units in the

• Pentoses (5 carbon sugars): xylose and

• Hexoses (6 carbon sugars): mannose, glucose,

• Initial decoposition  rapid

• Organism produce some enzymes which creates masking effect. So, it

• Hemicellulose  CO2 + cellular constituents

• Decomposition is governed by physical and chemical characteristics of the

• It is higher in aerobic, higher temp, high inorganic nutrient.

• Also mature plant hemicellulose undergo slow decomposition

• Both aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms are

• These organisms use hemicellulose as the sole

• Rapidly degraded in soil

• Basidiomycetes, aerobic and anaerobic

• Fungi  Aspergillis, Cunninghamella,

• Rate of decomposition is less than xylan or

• Large polymer  has to be broken down into

• 3 types of enzymes involved:

– Exo enzymes: cleave either a single dimer or monomer

– Glycosidases: hydrolyse the oligomers or disaccharides

• These higher oligosaccharides are split by

• Need two different enzymes.

• End products  galactose, galactobiose,

• Specific for particular substrate and are named accordingly

• e. g. :- xylosidase act on xylose oligomer  xylose produced

• Mannosidase act on mannose oligomer  mannose

• A single organism cannot decompose too many types of

• Exception is Fusarium oxysporum growing on components of

You might also like