Multimodular fused acetyl-feruloyl esterases from soil and gut Bacteroidetes improve xylanase depolymerization of recalcitrant biomass.

We demonstrated that multidomain carbohydrate esterases, targeting the non-carbohydrate decorations on different xylan polysaccharides, can considerably facilitate glycoside hydrolase-mediated hydrolysis of xylan and xylan-rich biomass. Moreover, we demonstrated for the first time a synergistic effect between the two fused catalytic domains of a multidomain carbohydrate esterase.