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Wood-feeding termites effectively degrade plant biomass through enzymatic degradation. Despite their high efficiencies, however, individual glycoside hydrolases isolated from termites and their symbionts exhibit anomalously low effectiveness in lignocellulose degradation, suggesting hereto unknown enzymatic activities in their digestome. Herein, we demonstrate that an ancient redox-active enzyme encoded by the lower termite Coptotermes gestroi, a Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (CgSOD-1), plays a previously unknown role in plant biomass degradation. We show that CgSOD-1 transcripts and peptides are up-regulated in response to an increased level of lignocellulose recalcitrance and that CgSOD-1 localizes in the lumen of the fore- and midguts of C. gestroi together with termite main cellulase, CgEG-1-GH9. CgSOD-1 boosts the saccharification of polysaccharides by CgEG-1-GH9. We show that the boosting effect of CgSOD-1 involves an oxidative mechanism of action in which CgSOD-1 generates reactive oxygen species that subsequently cleave the polysaccharide. SOD-type enzymes constitute a new addition to the growing family of oxidases, ones which are up-regulated when exposed to recalcitrant polysaccharides, and that are used by Nature for biomass degradation.

Wood-feeding termites effectively degrade plant biomass through enzymatic degradation. Despite their high efficiencies, however, individual glycoside hydrolases isolated from termites and their symbionts exhibit anomalously low effectiveness in lignocellulose degradation, suggesting hereto unknown enzymatic activities in their digestome. Herein, we demonstrate that an ancient redox-active enzyme encoded by the lower termite Coptotermes gestroi, a Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (CgSOD-1) plays a previously unknown role in plant biomass degradation. We show that CgSOD-1 transcripts and peptides are up-regulated in response to an increased level of lignocellulose recalcitrance and that CgSOD-1 localizes in the lumen of the fore- and midguts of C. gestroi together with termite main cellulase, CgEG-1-GH9. CgSOD-1 boosts the saccharification of polysaccharides by CgEG-1-GH9. We show that the boosting effect of CgSOD-1 involves an oxidative mechanism of action in which CgSOD-1 generates reactive oxygen species that subsequently cleave the polysaccharide. SOD-type enzymes constitute a new addition to the growing family of oxidases, ones which are up-regulated when exposed to recalcitrant polysaccharides, and that are used by Nature for biomass degradation.

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos Pesticides are potentially toxic compounds to humans and other living beings, which are indispensable for pests removal in agriculture worldwide. The result of their overuse is the inevitable contamination of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The need for degradation of these compounds has been subject of several studies. The enzymatic biodegradation of synthetic pesticides by microorganisms is an important strategy for removing these pollutants from the environment. Marine fungi are an excellent source of highly oxygenated bioactive compounds with huge potential to biotransform xenobiotics such as pesticides. Thus, the objective of this project was to study the biotransformation of the organophosphate pesticide methyl parathion using fungi of marine origin isolated from the ascidian Didemnum ligulum. Initially, 17 fungi strains have undergone screening on agar culture medium containing different pesticide concentrations (120 mg/L, 240 mg/L and 360 mg/L), and the three strains that showed the greatest growth diameter of the colony, were subjected to culture in a liquid medium to quantify the possible degradation of the methyl parathion. For these strains, the eficiency of degradation was monitored by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methyl parathion was almost completely degraded in 20 days, but there was no significant difference between the reactions with the fungi strains and the abiotic control. The microorganisms, however, showed ability to metabolize p-nitrophenol, the main degradation product of methyl parathion. In conclusion, these three marine fungi, identified as two strains of Penicillium citrinum and one strain of Fusarium proliferatum, have proven to be important sources to study xenobiotic biotransformation. Os pesticidas são compostos, potencialmente tóxicos ao homem e demais seres vivos, que hoje são indispensáveis na remoção de pragas na agricultura mundial. O resultado do seu uso excessivo é a inevitável contaminação dos ecossistemas aquáticos e terrestres. A necessidade da degradação destes compostos tem sido fonte de diversos estudos. A biodegradação enzimática de pesticidas sintéticos por micro-organismos representa uma importante estratégia para a remoção desses poluentes do meio ambiente. Uma excelente fonte de compostos bioativos altamente oxigenados, com enorme potencial bioenzimático a ser explorado na biotransformação de xenobióticos, como os pesticidas, são os fungos marinhos. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste projeto foi estudar a biotransformação do pesticida organofosforado metil paration utilizando-se de fungos de origem marinha isolados da ascídia Didemnum ligulum. Inicialmente, 17 linhagens de fungos passaram por uma triagem em meio de cultura sólido contendo diferentes concentrações (120 mg/L, 240 mg/L e 360 mg/L) de pesticida, e as que apresentaram o melhor desenvolvimento nesse meio, de acordo com observação por diâmetro de crescimento da colônia, foram submetidas a um cultivo em meio líquido para quantificar a possível degradação do metil paration. Três linhagens foram selecionadas para essa segunda etapa, na qual a eficiência de degradação foi monitorada por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE). O metil paration foi completamente degradado em 20 dias, porém não houve significativa diferença entre as reações com as linhagens de fungos e o controle abiótico. Os micro-organismos, no entanto, se mostraram capazes de metabolizar o p-nitrofenol, principal produto de degradação do pesticida metil paration. Assim, esses três fungos marinhos, identificados como duas linhagens de Penicillium citrinum e uma de Fusarium proliferatum, demonstraram ser importantes fontes para estudos de biotransformação de xenobióticos.