Evaluating the utility of hydrothermolysis pretreatment approaches in enhancing lignocellulosic biomass degradation by the anaerobic fungus Orpinomyces sp. strain C1A.

Members of the anaerobic fungi (Phylum Neocallimastigomycota) are efficient biomass degraders and represent promising agents for fuel and chemical production from lignocellulosic biomass. Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is considered an unavoidable first step in enzyme-based saccharification schemes, but its necessity in any proposed anaerobic fungi-based schemes is still unclear. Here, we evaluated the effect of hydrothermal pretreatments on the extent of corn stover and switchgrass degradation by an anaerobic fungal isolate, Orpinomyces sp. strain C1A. Using a factorial experimental design, we evaluated the effect of three different temperatures (180, 190, and 200°C) and three hold times (5, 10, and 15min). Pretreated corn stover and switchgrass were more amenable to degradation by strain C1A when compared to untreated biomass, as evident by the higher proportion of plant biomass degraded compared to untreated controls. However, when factoring in the proportion of biomass lost during the pretreatment process (ranging between 25.78 and 58.92% in corn stover and 28.34 and 38.22% in switchgrass), hydrothermolysis provided negligible or negative improvements to the extent of corn stover and switchgrass degradation by strain C1A. Product analysis demonstrated a shift towards higher ethanol and lactate production and lower acetate production associated with increase in pretreatment severity, especially in switchgrass incubations. The results are in stark contrast to the requirement of pretreatment in enzyme-based schemes for biomass saccharification, and their implications on the potential utility of anaerobic fungi in biofuel and biochemical production are discussed.