Investigating lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase-assisted wood cell wall degradation with microsensors.

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO) supports biomass hydrolysis by increasing saccharification efficiency and rate. Recent studies demonstrate that H 2 O 2 rather than O 2 is the cosubstrate of the LPMO-catalyzed depolymerization of polysaccharides. Some studies have questioned the physiological relevance of the H 2 O 2 -based mechanism for plant cell wall degradation. This study reports the localized and time-resolved determination of LPMO activity on poplar wood cell walls by measuring the H 2 O 2 concentration in their vicinity with a piezo-controlled H 2 O 2 microsensor. The investigated Neurospora crassa LPMO binds to the inner cell wall layer and consumes enzymatically generated H 2 O 2 . The results point towards a high catalytic efficiency of LPMO at a low H 2 O 2 concentration that auxiliary oxidoreductases in fungal secretomes can easily generate. Measurements with a glucose microbiosensor additionally demonstrate that LPMO promotes cellobiohydrolase activity on wood cell walls and plays a synergistic role in the fungal extracellular catabolism and in industrial biomass degradation.