Review Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) producing microbes: A novel approach for rapid recycling of agricultural wastes Mahapatra Smruthi Sagarika a,b , Chidambaranathan Parameswaran a , Ansuman Senapati a , Jatiprasd Barala a , Debasis Mitra a , S.R. Prabhukarthikeyan a , Anjani Kumar a , Amaresh Kumar Nayak a , Periyasamy Panneerselvam a, ⁎ a ICAR - National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha 753006, India b Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492012, India HIGHLIGHTS • Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are powerful oxidative en- zymes for degradation. • Applications and mechanism of LPMOs in lignocellulose degradation are discussed. • AA9 LPMOs play a special role in ligno- cellulose degradation. • Recycling of agricultural wastes using LPMO producing microbes is described. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT abstract article info Article history: Received 1 July 2021 Received in revised form 12 September 2021 Accepted 15 September 2021 Available online 21 September 2021 Editor: Jay Gan Out of the huge quantity of agricultural wastes produced globally, rice straw is one of the most abundant ligno- cellulosic waste. For efficient utilization of these wastes, several cost-effective biological processes are available. The practice of field level in-situ or ex-situ decomposition of rice straw is having less degree of adoption due to its poor decomposition ability within a short time span between rice harvest and sowing of the next crop. Agricul- tural wastes including rice straw are in general utilized by using lignocellulose degrading microbes for industrial metabolite or compost production. However, bioconversion of crystalline cellulose and lignin present in the waste, into simple molecules is a challenging task. To resolve this issue, researchers have identified a novel new generation microbial enzyme i.e., lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) and reported that the combination of LPMOs with other glycolytic enzymes are found efficient. This review explains the progress made in LPMOs and their role in lignocellulose bioconversion and the possibility of exploring LPMOs producers for rapid decomposition of agricultural wastes. Also, it provides insights to identify the knowledge gaps in im- proving the potential of the existing ligno-cellulolytic microbial consortium for efficient utilization of agricultural wastes at industrial and field levels. © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: LPMO Agricultural wastes Rice straw Microorganisms Bioconversion Rapid decomposition Science of the Total Environment 806 (2022) 150451 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Crop Production Division, ICAR – National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack 753006, Odisha, India. E-mail address: panneerselvam.p@icar.gov.in (P. Panneerselvam). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150451 0048-9697/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv