Biocatalytic potential of Pseudolycoriella CAZymes (Sciaroidea, Diptera) in degrading plant and fungal cell wall polysaccharides

• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106449
• Publication Date: 2023-03-20T21:58:32Z
• Authors: Vitor Trinca; Sibeli Carli; João Vitor Cardos...; Carolina Victal G...; Mariana Mendes da...; Vitor Kunes; Luana Parras Meleiro; Guilherme Thomaz ...; Frank Menzel; Luiz Paulo Moura ...; Tatiana Teixeira ...; Richard John Ward; Nadia Monesi
• Keywords: Decomposer; Cutin

Soil biota has a crucial impact on soil ecology, global climate changes, and effective crop management studying the diverse ecological roles of dipteran larvae deepens understanding food webs. A multi-omics study Pseudolycoriella hygida comb. nov. (Diptera: Sciaroidea: Sciaridae) aimed to characterize carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) for litter degradation in this species. Manual curation 17,881 predicted proteins Psl. genome identified 137 secreted CAZymes, which 33 are present saliva proteome, broadly confirmed by CAZyme catalytic profiling against plant cell wall polysaccharides pNP-glycosyl substrates. Comparisons with two other sciarid species outgroup Lucilia cuprina Calliphoridae) 42 families defining profile. The litter-degrading potential sciarids corroborates their significant role as decomposers, yields insights evolution insect feeding habits, highlights importance insects source biotechnologically relevant enzymes.