Lignocellulose, the major reservoir of organic carbon on Earth, is recalcitrant to turnover and resistant to microbial and enzymatic attack because of the protective action of lignin and the crystalline structure of cellulose. Basidiomycetes are the only organisms known to degrade lignocellulose using two alternative degradation strategies: white rot basidiomycetes break down the lignin moiety extensively before attacking the cellulose, whereas brown rot basidiomycetes cause limited lignin alteration while primarily degrading cellulose. These strategies depend on complex portfolios of extracellular enzymes whose production and export are environment and substrate dependent. More than 265 fungal genomes (more than 90 corresponding to basidiomycetes) have been sequenced. These sequences can be bioinformatically screened to identify presumptive secreted proteins that, however, differ from the experimental data, stressing the importance of using complementary approaches for analyzing these complex systems. The study of fungal secretomes from the scope of their different lignin degradation strategies and lifestyles would facilitate their use in the treatment of lignocellulose as carbon feedstock for biofuel production and further biorefinery processes. In this article, we carry out a comparative review of the analytical tools and strategies used for studying basidiomycetes' secretomes and compare the available results from these two points of view.
Biological significance: In this article, we review the tools and strategies used in the analysis of basidiomycetes' secretomes and we compare the secretome data available for this type of fungi with a special emphasis on the enzymes involved in lignocellulose degradation. This comparative study provides a basis for distinguishing different lifestyles (saprotrophs, symbionts and parasites) on the basis of their respective secretomes.
Keywords: Basidiomycete; Bioinfosecretome; Lignin degradation; Secretome.
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