A distinct autofluorescence distribution pattern marks enzymatic deconstruction of plant cell wall

Here, we have addressed the challenges of quantifying the impact of extensive enzymatic deconstruction on plant cell wall at microscale. Investigation of highly deconstructed spruce wood provided spatial profiles of cell walls during hydrolysis with remarkable precision. A distinct cell wall autofluorescence distribution pattern marking enzymatic hydrolysis along with an asynchronous impact of hydrolysis on cell wall structure, with cell wall volume reduction preceding cell wall accessible surface area decrease, were revealed.

Novel insights into enzymatic deconstruction of cell wall at under-investigated cell scale have thus been brought together with a robust computational pipeline applicable to diverse biomass species and pretreatment types for assessing hydrolysis impact and efficiency, which opens new perspectives.

This work was part of the PhD project of Solmaz in collaboration with INRIA-Morpheme team in Sophia-Antipolis.

Read: Hossein Khani S, Amer KO, Remy N, Lebas B, Habrant A, Faraj A, Malandain G, Paës G, Refahi Y (2025) A distinct autofluorescence distribution pattern marks enzymatic deconstruction of plant cell wall. New Biotechnol. 88, 46-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2025.04.001

Contacts: Dr Gabriel Paës, gabriel.paes@inrae.fr & Dr Yassin Refahi, yassin.refahi@inrae.fr