Significance of glycans in cellulolytic enzymes for lignocellulosic biorefinery-A review

Lignocellulosic (LC) biomass is the most abundant renewable resource for mankind gravitating society towards sustainable solution for energy that can reduce the carbon footprint. The economic feasibility of 'biomass biorefinery' depends upon the efficiency cellulolytic enzymes which is the main crux. Its high production cost and low efficiencies are the major limitations, that need to be resolved. As the complexity of the genome increases, so does the complexity of the proteome, further facilitated by protein post-translational modifications (PTMs). Glycosylation is regarded the major PTMs and hardly any recent work is focused on importance of glycosylation in cellulase. By modifying protein side chains and glycans, superior cellulases with improved stability and efficiency can be obtained. Functional proteomics relies heavily on PTMs because they regulate activity, localization, and interactions with protein, lipid, nucleic acid, and cofactor molecules. O- and N- glycosylation in cellulases influences its characteristics adding positive attributes to the enzymes.