Butyrivibrio spp. and other xylanolytic microorganisms from the rumen have cinnamoyl esterase activity.

High concentrations of hydroxycinnamic acids in the hemicellulosic fraction of dry season tropical grasses may influence the rate of microbial degradation of arabinoxylans by ruminant animals. The ability of 22 strains of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, other ruminal bacteria (Ruminococcus albus SY3, Ruminococcus flavefaciens RF1,Prevotella ruminicola AR20) and the ruminal phycomycete Neocallimastix patriciarum CX to digest the tropical grass Heteropogon contortus(spear grass) and hydrolyse esterified ferulic and p-coumaric acid was examined. Significant digestion (8-36%) of spear grass occurred with the B. fibrisolvens strains H17c, A38, LP92-1-1, 49,R. albus SY3 and N. patriciarum. Hydrolysis of ester-linked ferulic and p-coumaric acid occurred with all organisms except B. fibrisolvens strains GS113, OB156 and LP1028 and P. ruminicola AR20. The ratio of ferulic to p-coumaric acid hydrolysed by different strains of Butyrivibrio spp. varied markedly from 0.96 for AR 51 to 0.16 for A38. Butyrivibrios which were fibrolytic (H17c and A38) had higher extracellular cinnamoyl esterase activity than bacteria that did not digest spear grass fibre (LP 91-4-1 and AR 20) which had low activities or only produced cell associated enzyme. Cell associated and extracellular esterase activity were induced when Butyrivibrio spp. strains H17c, A38 and E14 and the Ruminococcus spp. were grown on birchwood xylan but induction did not occur to the same extent with N. patriciarum. This is the first reported observation of cinnamoyl esterase activity in the genus Ruminococcus. The fungus N. patriciarum had significantly higher digestibility of spear grass and solubilisation of phenolic acids than the bacteria. The study shows that high levels of extracellular cinnamoyl esterases are characteristic of a selection of fibre-degrading ruminal bacteria and fungi which probably indicates that these enzymes are common amongst xylanolytic ruminal microorganisms.

Solubilization of lignin by the ruminal anaerobic fungus Neocallimastix patriciarum.

The ability of the ruminal anaerobic phycomycete Neocallimastix patriciarum to digest model lignin compounds and lignified structures in plant material was studied in batch culture. The fungus did not degrade or transform model lignin compounds that were representative of the predominant intermonomer linkages in lignin, nor did it solubilize acid detergent lignin that had been isolated from spear grass. In a stem fraction of sorghum, 33.6% of lignin was apparently solubilized by the fungus. Solubilization of ester- and either-linked phenolics accounted for 9.2% of the lignin released. The amounts of free phenolic acids detected in culture fluid were equivalent to the apparent loss of ester-linked phenolics from the sorghum substrate. However, the fungus was unable to cleave the ether bond in hydroxycinnamic acid bridges that cross-link lignin and polysaccharide. It is suggested that the majority of the solubilized lignin fraction was a lignin carbohydrate complex containing ether-linked hydroxycinnamic acids. The lignin carbohydrate complex was probably solubilized through dissolution of xylan in the lignin-xylan matrix rather than by lignin depolymerization.

Isolation and characterization of a Clostridium sp. with cinnamoyl esterase activity and unusual cell envelope ultrastructure.

Microorganisms that hydrolyse the ester linkages between phenolic acids and polysaccharides in plant cell walls are potential sources of enzymes for the degradation of lignocellulosic waste. An anaerobic, mesophilic, spore-forming, xylanolytic bacterium with high hydroxy cinnamic acid esterase activity was isolated from the gut of the grass-eating termite Tumilitermes pastinator. The bacterium was motile and rod-shaped, stained gram-positive, had an eight-layered cell envelope, and formed endospores. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA indicated that the bacterium is closely related to Clostridium xylanolyticum and is grouped with polysaccharolytic strains of clostridia. A wide range of carbohydrates were fermented, and growth was stimulated by either xylan or cellobiose as substrates. The bacterium hydrolysed and then hydrogenated the hydroxy cinnamic acids (ferulic and p-coumaric acids), which are esterified to arabinoxylan in plant cell walls. Three cytoplasmic enzymes with hydroxy cinnamic acid esterase activity were identified using non-denaturing gel electrophoresis. This bacterium possesses an unusual multilayered cell envelope in which both leaflets of the cytoplasmic membrane, the peptidoglycan layer and the S layer are clearly discernible. The fate of all these components was easily followed throughout the endospore formation process. The peptidoglycan component persisted during the entire morphogenesis. It was seen to enter the septum and to pass with the engulfing membranes to surround the prespore. It eventually expanded to form the cortex, verification for the peptidoglycan origin of the cortex. Sporogenic vesicles, which are derived from the cell wall peptidoglycan, were associated with the engulfment process. Spore coat fragments appeared early, in stage II, though spore coat formation was not complete until after cortex formation.