RESUMEN
Microorganisms in the human gut outnumber human cells by a factor of 10. These microbes have been shown to have relevance to the human immune, nutrition and metabolic systems. A dominant symbiont of this environment is Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron which is characterized as being involved in degrading non-digestible plant polysaccharides. This organism's genome is highly enriched in genes predicted to be involved in the hydrolysis of various glycans. Presented here is a comparative functional analysis of two α-glucosidases (designated BT_0339 and BT_3299), Family 31 Glycoside Hydrolases from B. thetaiotaomicron. The purpose of this research is to explore the contributions these enzymes may have to human nutrition and specifically starch digestion. Expression of both α-glucosidases in pET-29a expression vector resulted in high levels of expressed protein in the soluble fraction. Two-step purification allowed for the isolation of the enzymes of interest in significant yield and fractions were observed to be homogenous. Both enzymes demonstrated activity on maltose, isomaltose and malto-oligosaccharide substrates and low level of activity on lactose and sucrose. Enzymatic kinetics revealed these enzymes both preferentially cleave the α1-6 linkage in comparison to the expected α1-4 and specifically favor maltose-derived substrates of longer length. The flexible hydrolytic capabilities of BT_0339 and BT_3299 reveal the ability of this bacterium to maintain its dominant position in its environment by utilizing an array of substrates. Specifically, these enzymes demonstrate an important aspect of this organism's contribution to starch digestion in the distal gut and the overall energy intake of humans.
