Using fluorogenic probes for the investigation of selective biomass degradation by fungi

A library of fifteen commercially purchased and synthetic fluorogenic probes was employed for the investigation of biomass degradation using extracts of white-rot fungi. These probes were selected or designed to mimic the dominant linkages in celluloses, hemicelluloses, and lignin, the three most abundant polymers found in biomass. The results show that white-rot fungi display a high preference for cleaving mannose- and glucose-based probes, which mimic hemicelluloses. Low degrees of cleavages were noted for xylose- and cellobiose-based probes. No cleavages were observed for probes that mimic the linkages in lignin. Overall, these discoveries prove that it is possible to employ fungi for selective degradation or release of hemicelluloses from biomass.