Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 10, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12979-9
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Funding
- BBSRC [BB/M015432/1, BB/J014540/1, PR140003]
- Novozymes [BB/M015432/1]
- Leverhulme Trust Natural Material Innovation Centre
- EPSRC [PR140003]
- University of Warwick via Birmingham Science City Advanced Materials Project 1 - Advantage West Midlands (AWM)
- University of Warwick via Birmingham Science City Advanced Materials Project 2 - Advantage West Midlands (AWM)
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
- BBSRC [BB/R018308/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Economically important softwood from conifers is mainly composed of the polysaccharides cellulose, galactoglucomannan and xylan, and the phenolic polymer, lignin. The interactions between these polymers lead to wood mechanical strength and must be overcome in biorefining. Here, we use C-13 multidimensional solid-state NMR to analyse the polymer interactions in never-dried cell walls of the softwood, spruce. In contrast to some earlier softwood cell wall models, most of the xylan binds to cellulose in the two-fold screw conformation. Moreover, galactoglucomannan alters its conformation by intimately binding to the surface of cellulose microfibrils in a semi-crystalline fashion. Some galactoglucomannan and xylan bind to the same cellulose microfibrils, and lignin is associated with both of these cellulose-bound polysaccharides. We propose a model of softwood molecular architecture which explains the origin of the different cellulose environments observed in the NMR experiments. Our model will assist strategies for improving wood usage in a sustainable bioeconomy.
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