Lignin-protein interactions in plant cell walls are not well understood. This research aims to identify short peptide sequences that show high affinity to lignin using the phage display technique. A phage-display library is a mixture of phage clones that display different amino acid sequences on their protein coat. Since these phages replicate upon infecting the bacterial cells, a library consists of a heterogeneous population of multiple peptides displayed on the surface of these phages, free to interact with other molecules. Methodology was developed to use synthetic lignin or dehydrogenative polymers (DHPs) substrates with phage display to identify seven amino acid long sequences that non-covalently interact with lignin. These peptides can provide useful information about protein domains that show high non-covalent affinity to lignin hence improving our understanding of lignin-protein interactions in the cell wall. Strongly interacting peptides can also be used to functionalize AFM tips or localize other tags for lignin visualization.

Identification of lignin binding peptides using phage display

245th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.