Identification of D-arabinan-degrading enzymes in mycobacteria.

Bacterial cell growth and division require the coordinated action of enzymes that synthesize and degrade cell wall polymers. Here, we identify enzymes that cleave the D-arabinan core of arabinogalactan, an unusual component of the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other mycobacteria. We screened 14 human gut-derived Bacteroidetes for arabinogalactan-degrading activities and identified four families of glycoside hydrolases with activity against the D-arabinan or D-galactan components of arabinogalactan. Using one of these isolates with exo-D-galactofuranosidase activity, we generated enriched D-arabinan and used it to identify a strain of Dysgonomonas gadei as a D-arabinan degrader. This enabled the discovery of endo- and exo-acting enzymes that cleave D-arabinan, including members of the DUF2961 family (GH172) and a family of glycoside hydrolases (DUF4185/GH183) that display endo-D-arabinofuranase activity and are conserved in mycobacteria and other microbes. Mycobacterial genomes encode two conserved endo-D-arabinanases with different preferences for the D-arabinan-containing cell wall components arabinogalactan and lipoarabinomannan, suggesting they are important for cell wall modification and/or degradation. The discovery of these enzymes will support future studies into the structure and function of the mycobacterial cell wall.

Functions and specificity of bacterial carbohydrate sulfatases targeting host glycans.

Sulfated host glycans (mucin O-glycans and glycosaminoglycans [GAGs]) are critical nutrient sources and colonisation factors for Bacteroidetes of the human gut microbiota (HGM); a complex ecosystem comprising essential microorganisms that coevolved with humans to serve important roles in pathogen protection, immune signalling, and host nutrition. Carbohydrate sulfatases are essential enzymes to access sulfated host glycans and are capable of exquisite regio- and stereo-selective substrate recognition. In these enzymes, the common recognition features of each subfamily are correlated with their genomic and environmental context. The exo-acting carbohydrate sulfatases are attractive drug targets amenable to small-molecule screening and subsequent engineering, and their high specificity will help elucidate the role of glycan sulfation in health and disease. Inhibition of carbohydrate sulfatases provides potential routes to control Bacteroidetes growth and to explore the influence of host glycan metabolism by Bacteroidetes on the HGM ecosystem. The roles of carbohydrate sulfatases from the HGM organism Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and the soil isolated Pedobacter heparinus (P. heparinus) in sulfated host glycan metabolism are examined and contrasted, and the structural features underpinning glycan recognition and specificity explored.

Sulfated glycan recognition by carbohydrate sulfatases of the human gut microbiota.

Sulfated glycans are ubiquitous nutrient sources for microbial communities that have coevolved with eukaryotic hosts. Bacteria metabolize sulfated glycans by deploying carbohydrate sulfatases that remove sulfate esters. Despite the biological importance of sulfatases, the mechanisms underlying their ability to recognize their glycan substrate remain poorly understood. Here, we use structural biology to determine how sulfatases from the human gut microbiota recognize sulfated glycans. We reveal seven new carbohydrate sulfatase structures spanning four S1 sulfatase subfamilies. Structures of S1_16 and S1_46 represent novel structures of these subfamilies. Structures of S1_11 and S1_15 demonstrate how non-conserved regions of the protein drive specificity toward related but distinct glycan targets. Collectively, these data reveal that carbohydrate sulfatases are highly selective for the glycan component of their substrate. These data provide new approaches for probing sulfated glycan metabolism while revealing the roles carbohydrate sulfatases play in host glycan catabolism.

Exploration of expanded carbohydrate chemical space to access biological activity using microwave-induced acid condensation of simple sugars.

Complex glycans are ubiquitous in nature and essential to life. Despite their diverse roles, however, only a fraction of their potential chemical space has been explored. New regions of this chemical space can, nevertheless, be accessed by generating structures that do not occur in nature or by modifying naturally-occurring polysaccharide structures - collectively, termed new polysaccharides (NPs). Two synthetic routes to NPs are described; the de novo route, directly from monosaccharide starting materials and the functionalization route, involving glycosylation of existing polysaccharides. The reaction involves a simple condensation step under microwave heating, catalysed by environmentally benign organic acids and is illustrated by the generation of structures with biological activities ranging from cell signalling and inhibition of bacterial growth, to mimicking carbohydrate antigens of pathogenic microorganisms. The method is as applicable to fine chemicals as it is to industrial waste, for example, biotechnologically-derived d-allulose (d-psicose), or the waste products of biofermentation. Accessing this chemical space unlocks new functionalities, generating complex glycans with applications in the biological, medical, biotechnological and materials science arenas.

A single sulfatase is required to access colonic mucin by a gut bacterium.

Humans have co-evolved with a dense community of microbial symbionts that inhabit the lower intestine. In the colon, secreted mucus creates a barrier that separates these microorganisms from the intestinal epithelium1. Some gut bacteria are able to utilize mucin glycoproteins, the main mucus component, as a nutrient source. However, it remains unclear which bacterial enzymes initiate degradation of the complex O-glycans found in mucins. In the distal colon, these glycans are heavily sulfated, but specific sulfatases that are active on colonic mucins have not been identified. Here we show that sulfatases are essential to the utilization of distal colonic mucin O-glycans by the human gut symbiont Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. We characterized the activity of 12 different sulfatases produced by this species, showing that they are collectively active on all known sulfate linkages in O-glycans. Crystal structures of three enzymes provide mechanistic insight into the molecular basis of substrate specificity. Unexpectedly, we found that a single sulfatase is essential for utilization of sulfated O-glycans in vitro and also has a major role in vivo. Our results provide insight into the mechanisms of mucin degradation by a prominent group of gut bacteria, an important process for both normal microbial gut colonization2 and diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease3.

Mobility shift-based electrophoresis coupled with fluorescent detection enables real-time enzyme analysis of carbohydrate sulfatase activity.

Sulfated carbohydrate metabolism is a fundamental process, which occurs in all domains of life. Carbohydrate sulfatases are enzymes that remove sulfate groups from carbohydrates and are essential to the depolymerisation of complex polysaccharides. Despite their biological importance, carbohydrate sulfatases are poorly studied and challenges remain in accurately assessing the enzymatic activity, specificity and kinetic parameters. Most notably, the separation of desulfated products from sulfated substrates is currently a time-consuming process. In this paper, we describe the development of rapid capillary electrophoresis coupled to substrate fluorescence detection as a high-throughput and facile means of analysing carbohydrate sulfatase activity. The approach has utility for the determination of both kinetic and inhibition parameters and is based on existing microfluidic technology coupled to a new synthetic fluorescent 6S-GlcNAc carbohydrate substrate. Furthermore, we compare this technique, in terms of both time and resources, to high-performance anion exchange chromatography and NMR-based methods, which are the two current 'gold standards' for enzymatic carbohydrate sulfation analysis. Our study clearly demonstrates the advantages of mobility shift assays for the quantification of near real-time carbohydrate desulfation by purified sulfatases, and will support the search for small molecule inhibitors of these disease-associated enzymes.

Insights into SusCD-mediated glycan import by a prominent gut symbiont.

In Bacteroidetes, one of the dominant phyla of the mammalian gut, active uptake of large nutrients across the outer membrane is mediated by SusCD protein complexes via a "pedal bin" transport mechanism. However, many features of SusCD function in glycan uptake remain unclear, including ligand binding, the role of the SusD lid and the size limit for substrate transport. Here we characterise the ß2,6 fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) importing SusCD from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt1762-Bt1763) to shed light on SusCD function. Co-crystal structures reveal residues involved in glycan recognition and suggest that the large binding cavity can accommodate several substrate molecules, each up to ~2.5 kDa in size, a finding supported by native mass spectrometry and isothermal titration calorimetry. Mutational studies in vivo provide functional insights into the key structural features of the SusCD apparatus and cryo-EM of the intact dimeric SusCD complex reveals several distinct states of the transporter, directly visualising the dynamics of the pedal bin transport mechanism.

Author Correction: Metabolism of multiple glycosaminoglycans by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron is orchestrated by a versatile core genetic locus.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Metabolism of multiple glycosaminoglycans by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron is orchestrated by a versatile core genetic locus.

The human gut microbiota (HGM), which is critical to human health, utilises complex glycans as its major carbon source. Glycosaminoglycans represent an important, high priority, nutrient source for the HGM. Pathways for the metabolism of various glycosaminoglycan substrates remain ill-defined. Here we perform a biochemical, genetic and structural dissection of the genetic loci that orchestrates glycosaminoglycan metabolism in the organism Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Here, we report: the discovery of two previously unknown surface glycan binding proteins which facilitate glycosaminoglycan import into the periplasm; distinct kinetic and genetic specificities of various periplasmic lyases which dictate glycosaminoglycan metabolic pathways; understanding of endo sulfatase activity questioning the paradigm of how the 'sulfation problem' is handled by the HGM; and 3D crystal structures of the polysaccharide utilisation loci encoded sulfatases. Together with comparative genomic studies, our study fills major gaps in our knowledge of glycosaminoglycan metabolism by the HGM.

Author Correction: A surface endogalactanase in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron confers keystone status for arabinogalactan degradation.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Structural and functional analyses of glycoside hydrolase 138 enzymes targeting chain A galacturonic acid in the complex pectin rhamnogalacturonan II.

The metabolism of carbohydrate polymers drives microbial diversity in the human gut microbiome. The selection pressures in this environment have spurred the evolution of a complex reservoir of microbial genes encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes). Previously, we have shown that the human gut bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt) can depolymerize the most structurally complex glycan, the plant pectin rhamnogalacturonan II (RGII), commonly found in the human diet. Previous investigation of the RGII-degrading apparatus in Bt identified BT0997 as a new CAZyme family, classified as glycoside hydrolase 138 (GH138). The mechanism of substrate recognition by GH138, however, remains unclear. Here, using synthetic substrates and biochemical assays, we show that BT0997 targets the d-galacturonic acid-α-1,2-l-rhamnose linkage in chain A of RGII and that it absolutely requires the presence of a second d-galacturonic acid side chain (linked ß-1,3 to l-rhamnose) for activity. NMR analysis revealed that BT0997 operates through a double displacement retaining mechanism. We also report the crystal structure of a BT0997 homolog, BPA0997 from Bacteroides paurosaccharolyticus, in complex with ligands at 1.6 Å resolution. The structure disclosed that the enzyme comprises four domains, including a catalytic TIM (α/ß)8 barrel. Characterization of several BT0997 variants identified Glu-294 and Glu-361 as the catalytic acid/base and nucleophile, respectively, and we observed a chloride ion close to the active site. The three-dimensional structure and bioinformatic analysis revealed that two arginines, Arg-332 and Arg-521, are key specificity determinants of BT0997 in targeting d-galacturonic acid residues. In summary, our study reports the first structural and mechanistic analyses of GH138 enzymes.

A surface endogalactanase in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron confers keystone status for arabinogalactan degradation.

Glycans are major nutrients for the human gut microbiota (HGM). Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) comprise a heterogenous group of plant glycans in which a ß1,3-galactan backbone and ß1,6-galactan side chains are conserved. Diversity is provided by the variable nature of the sugars that decorate the galactans. The mechanisms by which nutritionally relevant AGPs are degraded in the HGM are poorly understood. Here we explore how the HGM organism Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron metabolizes AGPs. We propose a sequential degradative model in which exo-acting glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 43 ß1,3-galactanases release the side chains. These oligosaccharide side chains are depolymerized by the synergistic action of exo-acting enzymes in which catalytic interactions are dependent on whether degradation is initiated by a lyase or GH. We identified two GHs that establish two previously undiscovered GH families. The crystal structures of the exo-ß1,3-galactanases identified a key specificity determinant and departure from the canonical catalytic apparatus of GH43 enzymes. Growth studies of Bacteroidetes spp. on complex AGP revealed 3 keystone organisms that facilitated utilization of the glycan by 17 recipient bacteria, which included B. thetaiotaomicron. A surface endo-ß1,3-galactanase, when engineered into B. thetaiotaomicron, enabled the bacterium to utilize complex AGPs and act as a keystone organism.

The human gut microbe Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron encodes the founding member of a novel glycosaminoglycan-degrading polysaccharide lyase family PL29.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and GAG-degrading enzymes have wide-ranging applications in the medical and biotechnological industries. The former are also an important nutrient source for select species of the human gut microbiota (HGM), a key player in host-microbial interactions. How GAGs are metabolized by the HGM is therefore of interest and has been extensively investigated in the model human gut microbe Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. The presence of as-yet uncharacterized GAG-inducible genes in its genome and of related species, however, is testament to our incomplete understanding of this process. Nevertheless, it presents a potential opportunity for the discovery of additional GAG-degrading enzymes. Here, we investigated a gene of unknown function (BT_3328) from the chondroitin sulfate (CS) utilization locus of B. thetaiotaomicron NMR and UV spectroscopic assays revealed that it encodes a novel polysaccharide lyase (PL), hereafter referred to as BtCDH, reflecting its source (B. thetaiotaomicron (Bt)) and its ability to degrade the GAGs CS, dermatan sulfate (DS), and hyaluronic acid (HA). When incubated with HA, BtCDH generated a series of unsaturated HA sugars, including Δ4,5UA-GlcNAc, Δ4,5UA-GlcNAc-GlcA-GlcNac, Δ4,5UA-[GlcNAc-GlcA]2-GlcNac, and Δ4,5UA-[GlcNAc-GlcA]3-GlcNac, as end products and hence was classed as endo-acting. A combination of genetic and biochemical assays revealed that BtCDH localizes to the cell surface of B. thetaiotaomicron where it enables extracellular GAG degradation. BtCDH homologs were also detected in several other HGM species, and we therefore propose that it represents the founding member of a new polysaccharide lyase family (PL29). The current discovery also contributes new insights into CS metabolism by the HGM.

Structural studies of the unusual metal-ion site of the GH124 endoglucanase from Ruminiclostridium thermocellum.

The recent discovery of `lytic' polysaccharide monooxygenases, copper-dependent enzymes for biomass degradation, has provided new impetus for the analysis of unusual metal-ion sites in carbohydrate-active enzymes. In this context, the CAZY family GH124 endoglucanase from Ruminiclostridium thermocellum contains an unusual metal-ion site, which was originally modelled as a Ca2+ site but features aspartic acid, asparagine and two histidine imidazoles as coordinating residues, which are more consistent with a transition-metal binding environment. It was sought to analyse whether the GH124 metal-ion site might accommodate other metals. It is demonstrated through thermal unfolding experiments that this metal-ion site can accommodate a range of transition metals (Fe2+, Cu2+, Mn2+ and Ni2+), whilst the three-dimensional structure and mass spectrometry show that one of the histidines is partially covalently modified and is present as a 2-oxohistidine residue; a feature that is rarely observed but that is believed to be involved in an `off-switch' to transition-metal binding. Atomic resolution (<1.1 Å) complexes define the metal-ion site and also reveal the binding of an unusual fructosylated oligosaccharide, which was presumably present as a contaminant in the cellohexaose used for crystallization. Although it has not been possible to detect a biological role for the unusual metal-ion site, this work highlights the need to study some of the many metal-ion sites in carbohydrate-active enzymes that have long been overlooked or previously mis-assigned.

Dietary pectic glycans are degraded by coordinated enzyme pathways in human colonic Bacteroides.

The major nutrients available to human colonic Bacteroides species are glycans, exemplified by pectins, a network of covalently linked plant cell wall polysaccharides containing galacturonic acid (GalA). Metabolism of complex carbohydrates by the Bacteroides genus is orchestrated by polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs). In Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a human colonic bacterium, the PULs activated by different pectin domains have been identified; however, the mechanism by which these loci contribute to the degradation of these GalA-containing polysaccharides is poorly understood. Here we show that each PUL orchestrates the metabolism of specific pectin molecules, recruiting enzymes from two previously unknown glycoside hydrolase families. The apparatus that depolymerizes the backbone of rhamnogalacturonan-I is particularly complex. This system contains several glycoside hydrolases that trim the remnants of other pectin domains attached to rhamnogalacturonan-I, and nine enzymes that contribute to the degradation of the backbone that makes up a rhamnose-GalA repeating unit. The catalytic properties of the pectin-degrading enzymes are optimized to protect the glycan cues that activate the specific PULs ensuring a continuous supply of inducing molecules throughout growth. The contribution of Bacteroides spp. to metabolism of the pectic network is illustrated by cross-feeding between organisms.

An evolutionarily distinct family of polysaccharide lyases removes rhamnose capping of complex arabinogalactan proteins.

The human gut microbiota utilizes complex carbohydrates as major nutrients. The requirement for efficient glycan degrading systems exerts a major selection pressure on this microbial community. Thus, we propose that this microbial ecosystem represents a substantial resource for discovering novel carbohydrate active enzymes. To test this hypothesis we screened the potential enzymatic functions of hypothetical proteins encoded by genes of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron that were up-regulated by arabinogalactan proteins or AGPs. Although AGPs are ubiquitous in plants, there is a paucity of information on their detailed structure, the function of these glycans in planta, and the mechanisms by which they are depolymerized in microbial ecosystems. Here we have discovered a new polysaccharide lyase family that is specific for the l-rhamnose-α1,4-d-glucuronic acid linkage that caps the side chains of complex AGPs. The reaction product generated by the lyase, Δ4,5-unsaturated uronic acid, is removed from AGP by a glycoside hydrolase located in family GH105, producing the final product 4-deoxy-ß-l-threo-hex-4-enepyranosyl-uronic acid. The crystal structure of a member of the novel lyase family revealed a catalytic domain that displays an (α/α)6 barrel-fold. In the center of the barrel is a deep pocket, which, based on mutagenesis data and amino acid conservation, comprises the active site of the lyase. A tyrosine is the proposed catalytic base in the ß-elimination reaction. This study illustrates how highly complex glycans can be used as a scaffold to discover new enzyme families within microbial ecosystems where carbohydrate metabolism is a major evolutionary driver.

How members of the human gut microbiota overcome the sulfation problem posed by glycosaminoglycans.

The human microbiota, which plays an important role in health and disease, uses complex carbohydrates as a major source of nutrients. Utilization hierarchy indicates that the host glycosaminoglycans heparin (Hep) and heparan sulfate (HS) are high-priority carbohydrates for Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a prominent member of the human microbiota. The sulfation patterns of these glycosaminoglycans are highly variable, which presents a significant enzymatic challenge to the polysaccharide lyases and sulfatases that mediate degradation. It is possible that the bacterium recruits lyases with highly plastic specificities and expresses a repertoire of enzymes that target substructures of the glycosaminoglycans with variable sulfation or that the glycans are desulfated before cleavage by the lyases. To distinguish between these mechanisms, the components of the B. thetaiotaomicron Hep/HS degrading apparatus were analyzed. The data showed that the bacterium expressed a single-surface endo-acting lyase that cleaved HS, reflecting its higher molecular weight compared with Hep. Both Hep and HS oligosaccharides imported into the periplasm were degraded by a repertoire of lyases, with each enzyme displaying specificity for substructures within these glycosaminoglycans that display a different degree of sulfation. Furthermore, the crystal structures of a key surface glycan binding protein, which is able to bind both Hep and HS, and periplasmic sulfatases reveal the major specificity determinants for these proteins. The locus described here is highly conserved within the human gut Bacteroides, indicating that the model developed is of generic relevance to this important microbial community.

Unusual active site location and catalytic apparatus in a glycoside hydrolase family.

The human gut microbiota use complex carbohydrates as major nutrients. The requirement for an efficient glycan degrading systems exerts a major selection pressure on this microbial community. Thus, we propose that these bacteria represent a substantial resource for discovering novel carbohydrate active enzymes. To test this hypothesis, we focused on enzymes that hydrolyze rhamnosidic bonds, as cleavage of these linkages is chemically challenging and there is a paucity of information on l-rhamnosidases. Here we screened the activity of enzymes derived from the human gut microbiota bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, which are up-regulated in response to rhamnose-containing glycans. We identified an α-l-rhamnosidase, BT3686, which is the founding member of a glycoside hydrolase (GH) family, GH145. In contrast to other rhamnosidases, BT3686 cleaved l-Rha-α1,4-d-GlcA linkages through a retaining double-displacement mechanism. The crystal structure of BT3686 showed that the enzyme displayed a type A seven-bladed ß-propeller fold. Mutagenesis and crystallographic studies, including the structure of BT3686 in complex with the reaction product GlcA, revealed a location for the active site among ß-propeller enzymes cited on the posterior surface of the rhamnosidase. In contrast to the vast majority of GH, the catalytic apparatus of BT3686 does not comprise a pair of carboxylic acid residues but, uniquely, a single histidine functions as the only discernable catalytic amino acid. Intriguingly, the histidine, His48, is not invariant in GH145; however, when engineered into structural homologs lacking the imidazole residue, α-l-rhamnosidase activity was established. The potential contribution of His48 to the catalytic activity of BT3686 is discussed.