Effect of the L499M mutation of the ascomycetous Botrytis aclada laccase on redox potential and catalytic properties.

Laccases are members of a large family of multicopper oxidases that catalyze the oxidation of a wide range of organic and inorganic substrates accompanied by the reduction of dioxygen to water. These enzymes contain four Cu atoms per molecule organized into three sites: T1, T2 and T3. In all laccases, the T1 copper ion is coordinated by two histidines and one cysteine in the equatorial plane and is covered by the side chains of hydrophobic residues in the axial positions. The redox potential of the T1 copper ion influences the enzymatic reaction and is determined by the nature of the axial ligands and the structure of the second coordination sphere. In this work, the laccase from the ascomycete Botrytis aclada was studied, which contains conserved Ile491 and nonconserved Leu499 residues in the axial positions. The three-dimensional structures of the wild-type enzyme and the L499M mutant were determined by X-ray crystallography at 1.7 Šresolution. Crystals suitable for X-ray analysis could only be grown after deglycosylation. Both structures did not contain the T2 copper ion. The catalytic properties of the enzyme were characterized and the redox potentials of both enzyme forms were determined: E0 = 720 and 580 mV for the wild-type enzyme and the mutant, respectively. Since the structures of the wild-type and mutant forms are very similar, the change in the redox potential can be related to the L499M mutation in the T1 site of the enzyme.

Characterization of pyranose dehydrogenase from Agaricus meleagris and its application in the C-2 specific conversion of D-galactose.

Pyranose dehydrogenase (PDH) of the mushroom Agaricus meleagris was purified from mycelial culture media to substantial homogeneity using ion-exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The native enzyme is a monomeric polypeptide with a molecular mass of 66,547Da as determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry containing approximately 7% carbohydrate and covalently bound flavin adenine dinucleotide. The enzyme exhibited a broad sugar substrate tolerance, oxidizing different aldopyranoses to the corresponding C-2 or C-2,3 (di)dehydro sugars. Preferred electron donors with the highest k(cat)/K(m) values were major sugar constituents of cellulose and hemicellulose, namely d-glucose, D-galactose, l-arabinose, D-xylose and cellobiose. This indicates a possible physiological role of the enzyme in lignocellulose breakdown. PDH showed no detectable activity with oxygen, and its reactivity towards electron acceptors was limited to various substituted benzoquinones and complexed metal ions, with the ferricenium ion and the benzoquinone imine 2,6-dichloroindophenole displaying the highest k(cat)/K(m). The enzyme catalyzed in up to 95% yields the regiospecific conversion of D-galactose to 2-dehydro-D-galactose, an intermediate in a possible biotechnologically interesting process for redox isomerization of D-galactose to the prebiotic sugar D-tagatose.

Molecular cloning of three pyranose dehydrogenase-encoding genes from Agaricus meleagris and analysis of their expression by real-time RT-PCR.

Sugar oxidoreductases such as cellobiose dehydrogenase or pyranose oxidase are widespread enzymes among fungi, whose biological function is largely speculative. We investigated a similar gene family in the mushroom Agaricus meleagris and its expression under various conditions. Three genes (named pdh1, pdh2 and pdh3) putatively encoding pyranose dehydrogenases were isolated. All three genes displayed a conserved structure and organization, and the respective cDNAs contained ORFs translating into polypeptides of 602 or 600 amino acids. The N-terminal sections of all three genes encode putative signal peptides consistent with the enzymes extracellular secretion. We cultivated the fungus on different carbon sources and analyzed the mRNA levels of all three genes over a period of several weeks using real-time RT-PCR. The glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene from A. meleagris was also isolated and served as reference gene. pdh2 and pdh3 are essentially transcribed constitutively, whereas pdh1 expression is upregulated upon exhaustion of the carbon source; pdh1 appears to be additionally regulated under conditions of oxygen limitation. These data are consistent with an assumed role in lignocellulose degradation.