Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Basidiomycete fungi are the main decomposers of dead wood with an impact on the global carbon cycle. Their degradative mechanisms have been well-studied under aerobic conditions. Here, we study their activity in oxygen-depleted environments. We use metaproteomics in a field study to identify active wood-decomposing fungi and their enzymes at different depths from the wood surface, including in oxygen-depleted conditions. In vitro, we observe that the brown-rot fungus Fomitopsis pinicola can grow on wood in complete anoxia. Using 13C solid-state NMR, we demonstrate the degradation of plant cell-wall polysaccharides and fungal growth in the absence of oxygen. Proteomic analyses reveal that F. pinicola switches from a Fenton chemistry-based process under aerobic conditions to the secretion of plant cell wall-active enzymes in anoxia. Our finding that wood decay fungi can thrive in complete anoxia provides a deeper understanding of lignocellulose degradation mechanisms in nature and raises opportunities for the development of bio-inspired anaerobic processes. The degradation of dead wood by basidiomycete fungi relies on Fenton chemistry under aerobic conditions. Here, Röllig et al. show that these fungi can also thrive and degrade wood in anoxia, switching from a Fenton chemistry-based process to the secretion of plant cell wall-active enzymes.
Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Robert Röllig, Annie Lebreton, Lucia Grenga, Rosalie Cresswell, Signe Lett, Theodora Tryfona, David Navarro, Julien Lambert, Sacha Grisel, Isabelle Gimbert, Helle Jakobe Martens, Guylaine Miotello, Xiaolan Yu, Elodie Drula, Marie-Noelle Rosso, Lionel Tarrago, Bernard Henrissat, Katja Johansen, Ray Dupree, Jean Armengaud, Paul Dupree, Jean-Guy Berrin
Institutions: Aix-Marseille Université, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Fongiques, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, Laboratoire Innovations Technologiques pour la Détection et le Diagnostic, CEA Paris-Saclay, Médicaments et Technologies pour la Santé, University of Warwick, University of Copenhagen, IT University of Copenhagen, University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, University of Minho, Technical University of Denmark
Language: English
Subfield: Insect Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
Awards: G3716179185, G4197476736, G4253133542, G434337789, A Pan-European Solid-State NMR Infrastructure for Chemistry-Enabling Access, The UK High-Field Solid-State NMR National Research Facility, G7633989764, Solid-State NMR at 1.0 GHz: A World-Leading UK Facility to Deliver Advances in Chemistry, Biology and Materials Science
OpenAlex ID: W4413094387