biostudies-literaturevan Munster JMBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council43117https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC5318901biostudies-literatureUnknown7Renewables-based biotechnology depends on enzymes to degrade plant lignocellulose to simple sugars that are converted to fuels or high-value products. Identification and characterization of such lignocellulose degradative enzymes could be fast-tracked by availability of an enzyme activity measurement method that is fast, label-free, uses minimal resources and allows direct identification of generated products. We developed such a method by applying carbohydrate arrays coupled with MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry to identify reaction products of carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. We describe the production and characterization of plant polysaccharide-derived oligosaccharides and their attachment to hydrophobic self-assembling monolayers on a gold Scientific reportsApplication of carbohydrate arrays coupled with mass spectrometry to detect activity of plant-polysaccharide degradative enzymes from the fungus Aspergillus niger.PMC5318901BB/M028836/1BB/K01434X/1BB/G01616X/1BB/M029034/1Flitsch SLvan Munster JMArcher DBThomas BGray CJDavis ALRiese MfalseApplication of carbohydrate arrays coupled with mass spectrometry to detect activity of plant-polysaccharide degradative enzymes from the fungus Aspergillus niger.Renewables-based biotechnology depends on enzymes to degrade plant lignocellulose to simple sugars that are converted to fuels or high-value products. Identification and characterization of such lignocellulose degradative enzymes could be fast-tracked by availability of an enzyme activity measurement method that is fast, label-free, uses minimal resources and allows direct identification of generated products. We developed such a method by applying carbohydrate arrays coupled with MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry to identify reaction products of carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. We describe the production and characterization of plant polysaccharide-derived oligosaccharides and their attachment to hydrophobic self-assembling monolayers on a gold 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z2017 Feb2026-05-30T14:26:35.932Z2019-03-27T02:37:00ZS-EPMC53189012822090310.1038/srep43117