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Cellulose is not just cellulose: a review of dislocations as reactive sites in the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose microfibrils

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Abstract

Most secondary plant cell walls contain irregular regions known as dislocations or slip planes. Under industrial biorefining conditions dislocations have recently been shown to play a key role during the initial phase of the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose in plant cell walls. In this review we chart previous publications that have discussed the structure of dislocations and their susceptibility to hydrolysis. The supramolecular structure of cellulose in dislocations is still unknown. However, it has been shown that cellulose microfibrils continue through dislocations, i.e. dislocations are not regions where free cellulose ends are more abundant than in the bulk cell wall. In more severe cases cracks between fibrils form at dislocations and it is possible that the increased accessibility that these cracks give is the reason why hydrolysis of cellulose starts at these locations. If acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of plant cell walls is carried out simultaneously with the application of shear stress, plant cells such as fibers or tracheids break at their dislocations. At present it is not known whether specific carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs) and/or cellulases preferentially access cellulose at dislocations. From the few studies published so far it seems that no special type of CBM is involved. In one case an endoglucanase was found to preferably bind to dislocations.

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Abbreviations

CBM:

Carbohydrate binding domain

GH:

Glycoside hydrolase

MFA:

Microfibril angle

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Novozymes A/S, Denmark.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Budi J. Hidayat, Claus Felby & Lisbeth G. Thygesen

  2. Novozymes A/S, Krogshøjvej 36, 2880, Bagsværd, Denmark

    Katja S. Johansen

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  1. Budi J. Hidayat
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  2. Claus Felby
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  3. Katja S. Johansen
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  4. Lisbeth G. Thygesen
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Correspondence to Budi J. Hidayat.

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Hidayat, B.J., Felby, C., Johansen, K.S. et al. Cellulose is not just cellulose: a review of dislocations as reactive sites in the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose microfibrils. Cellulose 19, 1481–1493 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-012-9740-2

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