Proteomic Analysis of pH and Strains Dependent Protein Secretion of Trichoderma reesei

Bioenergy, particularly biofuel, from lignocellulosic biomass has been considered as one of the most promising renewable and sustainable energies. The industrial productivity and efficiency of microbial lignocellulolytic enzymes for cellulosic biofuel applications are significantly affected by pH of culture condition. This study established and compared hydrolytic protein expression profiles of Trichoderma reesei QM6a, QM9414, RUT C30 and QM9414MG5 strains at different pH in cellulosic culture media. Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) analysis of secretome of T. reesei cultured from pH 3.0–9.0 revealed significantly higher hydrolytic protein expressions at acidic pH. The Bray–Curtis similarity indices, clustering, and Shannon diversity index elucidated differences in protein secretion at different pHs in individuals and among the strains. This study demonstrated a comparative lignocellulolytic enzyme secretion profile of T. reesei and its mutants at different pHs and provides pH sensitive and resistance enzyme targets for industrial lignocellulose hydrolysis.