Hemocyanin facilitates lignocellulose digestion by wood-boring marine crustaceans

Katrin Besser, Graham P. Malyon, William S. Eborall, Giovanni Paro da Cunha, Jefferson G. Filgueiras, Adam Dowle, Lourdes Cruz Garcia, Samuel J. Page, Ray Dupree, Marcelo Kern, Leonardo D. Gomez, Yi Li, Luisa Elias, Federico Sabbadin, Shaza E. Mohamad, Giovanna Pesante, Clare Steele-King, Eduardo Ribeiro de Azevedo, Igor Polikarpov, Paul Dupree, Simon M. Cragg, Neil C. Bruce () and Simon J. McQueen-Mason ()
Additional contact information
Katrin Besser: University of York
Graham P. Malyon: University of Portsmouth
William S. Eborall: University of York
Giovanni Paro da Cunha: University of São Paulo
Jefferson G. Filgueiras: University of São Paulo
Adam Dowle: University of York
Lourdes Cruz Garcia: University of Portsmouth
Samuel J. Page: University of Warwick
Ray Dupree: University of Warwick
Marcelo Kern: University of York
Leonardo D. Gomez: University of York
Yi Li: University of York
Luisa Elias: University of York
Federico Sabbadin: University of York
Shaza E. Mohamad: University of York
Giovanna Pesante: University of York
Clare Steele-King: University of York
Eduardo Ribeiro de Azevedo: University of São Paulo
Igor Polikarpov: University of São Paulo
Paul Dupree: University of Cambridge
Simon M. Cragg: University of Portsmouth
Neil C. Bruce: University of York
Simon J. McQueen-Mason: University of York

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Woody (lignocellulosic) plant biomass is an abundant renewable feedstock, rich in polysaccharides that are bound into an insoluble fiber composite with lignin. Marine crustacean woodborers of the genus Limnoria are among the few animals that can survive on a diet of this recalcitrant material without relying on gut resident microbiota. Analysis of fecal pellets revealed that Limnoria targets hexose-containing polysaccharides (mainly cellulose, and also glucomannans), corresponding with the abundance of cellulases in their digestive system, but xylans and lignin are largely unconsumed. We show that the limnoriid respiratory protein, hemocyanin, is abundant in the hindgut where wood is digested, that incubation of wood with hemocyanin markedly enhances its digestibility by cellulases, and that it modifies lignin. We propose that this activity of hemocyanins is instrumental to the ability of Limnoria to feed on wood in the absence of gut symbionts. These findings may hold potential for innovations in lignocellulose biorefining.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07575-2

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