Biocatalytic upgrading of natural biopolymers for reassembly as multipurpose materials

Project Information

BioUPGRADE

Grant agreement ID: 964764

DOI

10.3030/964764

Project closed

EC signature date 19 January 2021

Start date 1 May 2021

End date 31 October 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)

Total cost

€ 2 992 140,00

EU contribution

€ 2 992 140,00

Coordinated by

AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR
Finland

CORDIS provides links to public deliverables and publications of HORIZON projects.

Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .

Deliverables

Documents, reports (6)

Application-driven functional screens for carbohydrate oxidoreductases and transaminases with preferred regioselectivity to promote crosslinking and tailored surface charge

Establish analytical methods to screen enzyme function including methods based on fluorometry mass spectrometry NMR and zeta potential measurements

Microbial expansin-related proteins with enhanced action on cellulose and chitin

Incorporate experimental data and molecular modeling to design and then construct microbial expansin related proteins with increased potential to bind and alter the architecture of cellulose andor chitin fibre

Computational framework to identify biophysical signatures for surface acting proteins

Application and integration of ancestral sequence resurrection molecular modeling techniques and data mining methods for the selection and design of surface acting proteins

Workshop on inclusivity and work-life balance for the PIs and researchers

Leverage existing resources at beneficiary institutions to ensure all project participants complete at least one workshop on inclusivity which will help to ensure retention of underrepresented groups in STEM careers post graduation

Application-driven functional screens for microbial expansin action on bio-fibers

Establish biophysical methods to screen protein functions including methods based on viscoelasticity porosity and crystallinity eg dynamic light scattering solute exclusion and Xray diffraction

Matrix of compositional, structural and biophysical properties of bio-fibre starting materials

Evaluate the molecular composition structure and network organisation of the prioritized biofibers using complementary biochemical and biophysical techniques These include glycomic analyses of the structural polysaccharides highresolution low temperature scanning electron microscopy cryoSEM atomic force microscopy solidstate spectroscopy FTIR and ssNMR and small angle scattering techniques SAXS and SANS12

Websites, patent fillings, videos etc. (1)

BioUPGRADE Public website created

Set up a public website to disseminate announcements eg recruitment conferences scientific publications and outreach activities

Publications

Peer reviewed articles (14)

Comparative assessment of chemical and biochemical approaches for the activation of lignocellulosic materials and emerging opportunities for expansin-related proteins

Author(s): Salla Hiltunen, Janak Sapkota, Eleni Ioannou, Majid Haddad Momeni, Emma Master, Matti Ristolainen
Published in: Cellulose, Issue 31, 2024, Page(s) 147-168, ISSN 0969-0239
Publisher: Blackie Academic & Professional
DOI: 10.1007/s10570-023-05637-3

Enzymatic Routes to Designer Hemicelluloses for Use in Biobased Materials

Author(s): Thu V. Vuong, Mohammad Aghajohari, Xuebin Feng, Amanda K. Woodstock, Deepti M. Nambiar, Zeina C. Sleiman, Breeanna R. Urbanowicz, Emma R. Master
Published in: JACS Au, Issue 4, 2024, Page(s) 4044-4065, ISSN 2691-3704
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.4c00469

Carbohydrate-binding domain CBM63 of microbial expansin-like BsEXLX1 facilitates the adsorption of expansin-related proteins to hemicelluloses in plant secondary cell walls

Author(s): Pramod Sivan, Deepika Dahiya, Ylenia Jabalera, Taru Koitto, Raul Perez-Jimenez, Ewa J. Mellerowicz, Emma Master, Francisco Vilaplana
Published in: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, Issue 18, 2025, ISSN 2731-3654
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
DOI: 10.1186/s13068-025-02674-x

Insights into the action of phylogenetically diverse microbial expansins on the structure of cellulose microfibrils

Author(s): Majid Haddad Momeni, Aleksi Zitting, Vilma Jäämuru, Rosaliina Turunen, Paavo Penttilä, Garry W. Buchko, Salla Hiltunen, Natalia Maiorova, Anu Koivula, Janak Sapkota, Kaisa Marjamaa, Emma R. Master
Published in: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, Issue 17, 2024, ISSN 2731-3654
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
DOI: 10.1186/s13068-024-02500-w

Enzymatic upgrading of nanochitin using an ancient lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase

Author(s): Leire Barandiaran, Borja Alonso-Lerma, Antonio Reifs, Izaskun Larraza, Raquel Olmos-Juste, Alba Fernandez-Calvo, Ylenia Jabalera, Arantxa Eceiza, Raul Perez-Jimenez
Published in: Communications Materials, Issue 3, 2022, ISSN 2662-4443
Publisher: Springer Nature
DOI: 10.1038/s43246-022-00277-9

Fungal loosenin-like proteins boost the cellulolytic enzyme conversion of pretreated wood fiber and cellulosic pulps

Author(s): Deepika Dahiya, Taru Koitto, Kim Kutvonen, Yan Wang, Majid Haddad Momeni, Siiri de Ruijter, Emma R. Master
Published in: Bioresource Technology, Issue 394, 2025, Page(s) 130188, ISSN 0960-8524
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.130188

Sequential extraction of hemicelluloses by subcritical water improves saccharification of hybrid aspen wood grown in greenhouse and field conditions

Author(s): Pramod Sivan, Emilia Heinonen, Madhavi Latha Gandla, Amparo Jiménez-Quero, Hüsamettin Deniz Özeren, Leif J. Jönsson, Ewa J. Mellerowicz, Francisco Vilaplana
Published in: Green Chemistry, Issue 14/25, 2023, Page(s) 5634-5646, ISSN 1757-7039
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
DOI: 10.1039/d3gc01020a

Uncovering Sequence and Structural Characteristics of Fungal Expansin‐Related Proteins With Potential to Drive Substrate Targeting

Author(s): Anna Pohto, Taru Koitto, Deepika Dahiya, Alessandra Castro, Elizaveta Sidorova, Martina Huusela, Scott E. Baker, Adrian Tsang, Emma Master
Published in: Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, 2025, ISSN 0887-3585
Publisher: Wiley-Liss Inc
DOI: 10.1002/prot.70029

SANS investigation of fungal loosenins reveals substrate-dependent impacts of protein action on the inter-microfibril arrangement of cellulosic substrates

Author(s): Deepika Dahiya, Zsuzsanna Péter-Szabó, Manjula Senanayake, Sai Venkatesh Pingali, Wellington C. Leite, James Byrnes, Garry W. Buchko, Pramod Sivan, Francisco Vilaplana, Emma R. Master, Hugh O’Neill
Published in: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, Issue 18, 2025, ISSN 2731-3654
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
DOI: 10.1186/s13068-025-02618-5

Effects of sequential ball milling and loosenin-like protein treatment on pulp fibers

Author(s): Salla Hiltunen, Deepika Dahiya, Martina Huusela, Emma Master, Matti Ristolainen, Janak Sapkota
Published in: Industrial Crops and Products, Issue 237, 2025, Page(s) 122177, ISSN 0926-6690
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2025.122177

Compliant mechanical response of the ultrafast folding protein EnHD under force

Author(s): Antonio Reifs, Irene Ruiz Ortiz, Amaia Ochandorena Saa, Jörg Schönfelder, David De Sancho, Victor Muñoz, Raul Perez-Jimenez
Published in: Communications Physics, Issue 6, 2023, ISSN 2399-3650
Publisher: Springer Nature
DOI: 10.1038/s42005-022-01125-5

Evolution of CRISPR-associated endonucleases as inferred from resurrected proteins

Author(s): Borja Alonso-Lerma, Ylenia Jabalera, Sara Samperio, Matias Morin, Almudena Fernandez, Logan T. Hille, Rachel A. Silverstein, Ane Quesada-Ganuza, Antonio Reifs, Sergio Fernández-Peñalver, Yolanda Benitez, Lucia Soletto, Jose A. Gavira, Adrian Diaz, Wim Vranken, Avencia Sanchez-Mejias, Marc Güell, Francisco J. M. Mojica, Benjamin P. Kleinstiver, Miguel A. Moreno-Pelayo, Lluis Montoliu, Raul Perez
Published in: Nature Microbiology, Issue 8/1, 2023, Page(s) 77–90, ISSN 2058-5276
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01265-y

Loosenin-Like Proteins from Phanerochaete carnosa Impact Both Cellulose and Chitin Fiber Networks

Author(s): Mareike Monschein, Eleni Ioannou, Taru Koitto, Leamon A. K. M. Al Amin, Jutta J. Varis, Edward R. Wagner, Kirsi S. Mikkonen, Daniel J. Cosgrove, Emma R. Master
Published in: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Issue 89/1, 2023, ISSN 0099-2240
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
DOI: 10.1128/aem.01863-22

Phylogenetically distinct fungal expansins show different binding preferences towards cellulosic materials and enhance cellulase activity

Author(s): Taru Koitto, Deepika Dahiya, Martina Huusela, Merja Penttilä, Emma Master
Published in: Current Research in Biotechnology, Issue 9, 2025, Page(s) 100296, ISSN 2590-2628
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100296

Conference proceedings (1)

Microbial Expansin Related Proteins for Improved Enzymatic Action for Conversion of Lignocellulose to Platform Sugars

Author(s): Deepika Dahiya, Siiri de Ruijter, Kim Kutvonen, Emma Master, Amy Yan Wang
Published in: NWBC 2022: The 10th Nordic Wood Biorefinery Conference, 2022, Page(s) 220-221, ISBN 978-951-38-8772-8
Publisher: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
DOI: 10.32040/2242-122x.2022.t409