The molecular structure and multifunctionality of the cryptic plant polymer suberin

V. G. Correia, A. Bento, J. Pais, R. Rodrigues, P. Haliński, M. Frydrych, A. Greenhalgh, P. Stepnowski, F. Vollrath, A. W.T. King, C. S. Pereira*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Suberin, a plant polyester, consists of polyfunctional long-chain fatty acids and glycerol and is an intriguing candidate as a novel antimicrobial material. We purified suberin from cork using ionic-liquid catalysis during which the glycerol bonds that ensure the polymeric nature of suberin remained intact or were only partially cleaved—yielding the closest to a native configuration reported to date. The chemistry of suberin, both in situ (in cryogenically ground cork) and ex situ (ionic-liquid extracted), was elucidated using high-resolution one- and two-dimensional solution-state NMR analyses. Centrifugation was used to isolate suberin particles of distinct densities and their monomeric composition, assembly, and bactericidal effect, inter alia, were assessed. Analysis of the molecular structure of suberin revealed the relative abundance of linear aliphatic vs. acylglycerol esters, comprising all acylglycerol configurations and the amounts of total carbonyls (C[dbnd]O), free acid end groups (COOH), OH aliphatics, and OH aromatics. Suberin centrifuged fractions revealed generic physiochemical properties and monomeric composition ​and self-assemble into polygonal structures that display distinct degrees of compactness when lyophilized. Suberin particles—suberinsomes—display bactericidal activity against major human pathogenic bacteria. Fingerprinting the multifunctionality of complex (plant) polyesters such as suberin allows for the identification of novel polymer assemblies with significant value-added properties.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100039
JournalMaterials Today Bio
Volume5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

We acknowledge funding from the European Research Council through grant ERC 2014-CoG-647928, from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program within the project 713475 ? FLIPT ? H2020-FETOPEN-2014-2015 and from Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e Tecnologia (FCT) through the grant UID/Multi/04551/2019 (Research unit GREEN-it ?Bioresources 4 Sustainability?) and the project AAC 01/SAICT/2016 (CERMAX, ITQB-NOVA, Oeiras, Portugal). RR is grateful to FCT for the fellowship SFRH/BD/110467/2015. The authors would like to acknowledge the kind support in the framework of the COST Action EXIL ? Exchange on Ionic Liquids (CM1206). We acknowledge funding from the European Research Council through grant ERC 2014-CoG-647928 , from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program within the project 713475 – FLIPT – H2020-FETOPEN-2014-2015 and from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through the grant UID/Multi/04551/2019 (Research unit GREEN-it “Bioresources 4 Sustainability”) and the project AAC 01/SAICT/2016 (CERMAX, ITQB- NOVA , Oeiras, Portugal). RR is grateful to FCT for the fellowship SFRH/BD/110467/2015. The authors would like to acknowledge the kind support in the framework of the COST Action EXIL – Exchange on Ionic Liquids ( CM1206 ).

Keywords

  • Antimicrobial biopolymers
  • Cryogenic milling of plant polymers
  • Plant polyesters
  • Polymer self-assembly
  • Solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance
  • Suberin
  • Suberin particles

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The molecular structure and multifunctionality of the cryptic plant polymer suberin'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this