High-cell-density culture for recombinant xylanase production and its application in hydrolysis of mild alkaline pretreated rice straw for xylooligosaccharide production

Abstract

Rice straw is an abundant lignocellulosic residue whose effective utilization requires coordinated enzyme performance and pretreatment conditions. In this study, recombinant xylanase production was integrated with mild alkaline pretreatment to enable efficient conversion of rice straw into xylooligosaccharides (XOS). Recombinant xylanase was produced by Escherichia coli using high-cell-density fed-batch cultivation, achieving a maximum activity of 207.95 U/mL in an enriched synthetic medium. Alkaline pretreatment was optimized using response surface methodology, identifying 6.75% (w/v) biomass loading, 193.17 mM NaOH, and 20 min as conditions that balanced solid recovery with sugar release during subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. Hydrolysis of the pretreated rice straw yielded 6.13 mg/mL total XOS, mainly xylotriose (X3, 2.73 mg/mL; 44.56%), xylobiose (X2, 2.00 mg/mL; 32.62%), and xylotetraose (X4, 1.02 mg/mL; 16.57%), with only minor amounts of xylose and xylopentaose detected. The combined X2 and X3 fractions accounted for 77.18% of the total XOS. XOS with degrees of polymerization of 2–4 are recognized as effective prebiotics, particularly for beneficial intestinal bacteria such as Bifidobacterium spp. Overall, linking recombinant enzyme production with alkaline pretreatment improved conversion consistency and supported efficient XOS production from rice straw.