CAZyme prediction in ascomycetous yeast genomes guides discovery of novel xylanolytic species with diverse capacities for hemicellulose hydrolysis.

Our approach of combining high-throughput bioinformatic CAZyme-prediction with growth and enzyme characterization proved to be a powerful pipeline for discovery of novel xylan-degrading yeasts and enzymes. The identified yeasts display diverse profiles in terms of growth, enzymatic activities and xylan substrate preferences, pointing towards different strategies for degradation and utilization of xylan. Together, the results provide novel insights into how yeast degrade xylan, which can be used to improve cell factory design and industrial bioconversion processes.