Uncovering lignin metabolism in Myceliophthora thermophila toward integrated lignocellulose valorization.

Authors

Defei Liu, Rongmei Yan, Yutong Ge, Yuying Zhang, Jingen Li, Chaoguang Tian

Published in

Bioresource technology. Pages 136080. Oct 18, 2026. Epub Oct 18, 2026.

Abstract

Lignin accounts for up to one-third of plant biomass, making it the second most abundant biopolymer on Earth. The thermophilic ascomycete Myceliophthora thermophila is a well-established platform to produce chemicals from plant biomass. However, its capacity for lignin metabolism remains largely unexplored. This study demonstrates that M. thermophila can remodel lignin and metabolize a broad spectrum of lignin-derived aromatic monomers. By integrating transcriptomic profiling with targeted gene deletions, we mapped the key metabolic pathways for these aromatic compounds. Specifically, we found that M. thermophila funnels diverse p-hydroxyphenyl (H) and guaiacyl (G) aromatic monomers into the 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (protocatechuic acid, 3,4-DHB) branch of the β-ketoadipate pathway. Disrupting the protocatechuate hydroxylase and 3,4-dioxygenase genes successfully redirected metabolic flux, achieving 42.5‒95.8% molar yields of 3,4-DHB from H- and G-type monomers. Notably, the engineered strains achieved direct 3,4-DHB production from raw corncob. These findings provide new insights into the metabolism of lignin-derived aromatic compounds in M. thermophila and establish a foundation for integrated lignocellulose biorefineries and aromatic bioprocessing.

PMID:
42893725
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 19 Oct 2026.

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