Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains possess functional cellulases.

The genomes of various Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains encode proteins that do not appear to play a role in the growth or survival of the bacterium in its mammalian host, including some implicated in plant cell wall breakdown. Here we show that M. tuberculosis H37Rv does indeed possess a functional cellulase. The x-ray crystal structure of this enzyme, in ligand complex forms, from 1.9 to 1.1A resolution, reveals a highly conserved substrate-binding cleft, which affords similar, and unusual, distortion of the substrate at the catalytic center. The endoglucanase activity, together with the existence of a putative membrane-associated crystalline polysaccharide-binding protein, may reflect the ancestral soil origin of the Mycobacterium or hint at a previously unconsidered environmental niche.

Structure of a mannan-specific family 35 carbohydrate-binding module: evidence for significant conformational changes upon ligand binding.

Enzymes that digest plant cell wall polysaccharides generally contain non-catalytic, carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) that function by attaching the enzyme to the substrate, potentiating catalytic activity. Here, we present the first structure of a family 35 CBM, derived from the Cellvibrio japonicus beta-1,4-mannanase Man5C. The NMR structure has been determined for both the free protein and the protein bound to mannopentaose. The data show that the protein displays a typical beta-jelly-roll fold. Ligand binding is not located on the concave surface of the protein, as occurs in many CBMs that display the jelly-roll fold, but is formed by the loops that link the two beta-sheets of the protein, similar to family 6 CBMs. In contrast to the majority of CBMs, which are generally rigid proteins, CBM35 undergoes significant conformational change upon ligand binding. The curvature of the binding site and the narrow binding cleft are likely to be the main determinants of binding specificity. The predicted solvent exposure of O6 at several subsites provides an explanation for the observed accommodation of decorated mannans. Two of the key aromatic residues in Man5C-CBM35 that interact with mannopentaose are conserved in mannanase-derived CBM35s, which will guide specificity predictions based on the primary sequence of proteins in this CBM family.

The use of forced protein evolution to investigate and improve stability of family 10 xylanases. The production of Ca2+-independent stable xylanases.

Metal ions such as calcium often play a key role in protein thermostability. The inclusion of metal ions in industrial processes is, however, problematic. Thus, the evolution of enzymes that display enhanced stability, which is not reliant on divalent metals, is an important biotechnological goal. Here we have used forced protein evolution to interrogate whether the stabilizing effect of calcium in an industrially relevant enzyme can be replaced with amino acid substitutions. Our study has focused on the GH10 xylanase CjXyn10A from Cellvibrio japonicus, which contains an extended calcium binding loop that confers proteinase resistance and thermostability. Three rounds of error-prone PCR and selection identified a treble mutant, D262N/A80T/R347C, which in the absence of calcium is more thermostable than wild type CjXyn10A bound to the divalent metal. D262N influences the properties of the calcium binding site, A80T fills a cavity in the enzyme, increasing the number of hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions, and the R347C mutation introduces a disulfide bond that decreases the free energy of the unfolded enzyme. A derivative of CjXyn10A (CfCjXyn10A) in which the calcium binding loop has been replaced with a much shorter loop from Cellulomonas fimi CfXyn10A was also subjected to forced protein evolution to select for thermostablizing mutations. Two amino acid substitutions within the introduced loop and the A80T mutation increased the thermostability of the enzyme. This study demonstrates how forced protein evolution can be used to introduce enhanced stability into industrially relevant enzymes while removing calcium as a major stability determinant.

X4 modules represent a new family of carbohydrate-binding modules that display novel properties.

The hydrolysis of the plant cell wall by microbial glycoside hydrolases and esterases is the primary mechanism by which stored organic carbon is utilized in the biosphere, and thus these enzymes are of considerable biological and industrial importance. Plant cell wall-degrading enzymes in general display a modular architecture comprising catalytic and non-catalytic modules. The X4 modules in glycoside hydrolases represent a large family of non-catalytic modules whose function is unknown. Here we show that the X4 modules from a Cellvibrio japonicus mannanase (Man5C) and arabinofuranosidase (Abf62A) bind to polysaccharides, and thus these proteins comprise a new family of carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs), designated CBM35. The Man5C-CBM35 binds to galactomannan, insoluble amorphous mannan, glucomannan, and manno-oligosaccharides but does not interact with crystalline mannan, cellulose, cello-oligosaccharides, or other polysaccharides derived from the plant cell wall. Man5C-CBM35 also potentiates mannanase activity against insoluble amorphous mannan. Abf62A-CBM35 interacts with unsubstituted oat-spelt xylan but not substituted forms of the hemicellulose or xylo-oligosaccharides, and requires calcium for binding. This is in sharp contrast to other xylan-binding CBMs, which interact in a calcium-independent manner with both xylo-oligosaccharides and decorated xylans.

Insights into the molecular determinants of substrate specificity in glycoside hydrolase family 5 revealed by the crystal structure and kinetics of Cellvibrio mixtus mannosidase 5A.

The enzymatic hydrolysis of the glycosidic bond is central to numerous biological processes. Glycoside hydrolases, which catalyze these reactions, are grouped into families based on primary sequence similarities. One of the largest glycoside hydrolase families is glycoside hydrolase family 5 (GH5), which contains primarily endo-acting enzymes that hydrolyze beta-mannans and beta-glucans. Here we report the cloning, characterization, and three-dimensional structure of the Cellvibrio mixtus GH5 beta-mannosidase (CmMan5A). This enzyme releases mannose from the nonreducing end of mannooligosaccharides and polysaccharides, an activity not previously observed in this enzyme family. CmMan5A contains a single glycone (-1) and two aglycone (+1 and +2) sugar-binding subsites. The -1 subsite displays absolute specificity for mannose, whereas the +1 subsite does not accommodate galactosyl side chains but will bind weakly to glucose. The +2 subsite is able to bind to decorated mannose residues. CmMan5A displays similar activity against crystalline and amorphous mannans, a property rarely attributed to glycoside hydrolases. The 1.5 A crystal structure reveals that CmMan5A adopts a (beta/alpha)(8) barrel fold, and superimposition with GH5 endo-mannanases shows that dramatic differences in the length of three loops modify the active center accessibility and thus modulate the specificity from endo to exo. The most striking and significant difference is the extended loop between strand beta8 and helix alpha8 comprising residues 378-412. This insertion forms a "double" steric barrier, formed by two short beta-strands that function to "block" the substrate binding cleft at the edge of the -1 subsite forming the "exo" active center topology of CmMan5A.

The mechanisms by which family 10 glycoside hydrolases bind decorated substrates.

Endo-beta-1,4-xylanases (xylanases), which cleave beta-1,4 glycosidic bonds in the xylan backbone, are important components of the repertoire of enzymes that catalyze plant cell wall degradation. The mechanism by which these enzymes are able to hydrolyze a range of decorated xylans remains unclear. Here we reveal the three-dimensional structure, determined by x-ray crystallography, and the catalytic properties of the Cellvibrio mixtus enzyme Xyn10B (CmXyn10B), the most active GH10 xylanase described to date. The crystal structure of the enzyme in complex with xylopentaose reveals that at the +1 subsite the xylose moiety is sandwiched between hydrophobic residues, which is likely to mediate tighter binding than in other GH10 xylanases. The crystal structure of the xylanase in complex with a range of decorated xylooligosaccharides reveals how this enzyme is able to hydrolyze substituted xylan. Solvent exposure of the O-2 groups of xylose at the +4, +3, +1, and -3 subsites may allow accommodation of the alpha-1,2-linked 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronic acid side chain in glucuronoxylan at these locations. Furthermore, the uronic acid makes hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions with the enzyme at the +1 subsite, indicating that the sugar decorations in glucuronoxylan are targeted to this proximal aglycone binding site. Accommodation of 3'-linked l-arabinofuranoside decorations is observed in the -2 subsite and could, most likely, be tolerated when bound to xylosides in -3 and +4. A notable feature of the binding mode of decorated substrates is the way in which the subsite specificities are tailored both to prevent the formation of "dead-end" reaction products and to facilitate synergy with the xylan degradation-accessory enzymes such as alpha-glucuronidase. The data described in this report and in the accompanying paper indicate that the complementarity in the binding of decorated substrates between the glycone and aglycone regions appears to be a conserved feature of GH10 xylanases.

Structural and biochemical analysis of Cellvibrio japonicus xylanase 10C: how variation in substrate-binding cleft influences the catalytic profile of family GH-10 xylanases.

Microbial degradation of the plant cell wall is the primary mechanism by which carbon is utilized in the biosphere. The hydrolysis of xylan, by endo-beta-1,4-xylanases (xylanases), is one of the key reactions in this process. Although amino acid sequence variations are evident in the substrate binding cleft of "family GH10" xylanases (see afmb.cnrs-mrs.fr/CAZY/), their biochemical significance is unclear. The Cellvibrio japonicus GH10 xylanase CjXyn10C is a bi-modular enzyme comprising a GH10 catalytic module and a family 15 carbohydrate-binding module. The three-dimensional structure at 1.85 A, presented here, shows that the sequence joining the two modules is disordered, confirming that linker sequences in modular glycoside hydrolases are highly flexible. CjXyn10C hydrolyzes xylan at a rate similar to other previously described GH10 enzymes but displays very low activity against xylooligosaccharides. The poor activity on short substrates reflects weak binding at the -2 subsite of the enzyme. Comparison of CjXyn10C with other family GH10 enzymes reveals "polymorphisms" in the substrate binding cleft including a glutamate/glycine substitution at the -2 subsite and a tyrosine insertion in the -2/-3 glycone region of the substrate binding cleft, both of which contribute to the unusual properties of the enzyme. The CjXyn10C-substrate complex shows that Tyr-340 stacks against the xylose residue located at the -3 subsite, and the properties of Y340A support the view that this tyrosine plays a pivotal role in substrate binding at this location. The generic importance of using CjXyn10C as a template in predicting the biochemical properties of GH10 xylanases is discussed.

Importance of hydrophobic and polar residues in ligand binding in the family 15 carbohydrate-binding module from Cellvibrio japonicus Xyn10C.

Modular glycoside hydrolases that degrade the plant cell wall often contain noncatalytic carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) that interact with specific polysaccharides within this complex macromolecule. CBMs, by bringing the appended catalytic module into intimate and prolonged association with the substrate, increase the rate at which these enzymes are able to hydrolyze glycosidic bonds. Recently, the crystal structure of the family 15 CBM (CBM15) from Cellvibrio japonicus (formerly Pseudomonas cellulosa) Xyn10C was determined in complex with the ligand xylopentaose. In this report we have used a rational design approach, informed by the crystal structure of the CBM15-ligand complex, to probe the importance of hydrophobic stacking interactions and both direct and water-mediated hydrogen bonds in the binding of this protein to xylan and xylohexaose. The data show that replacing either Trp 171 or Trp 186, which stack against xylose residues n and n + 2 in xylopentaose, with alanine abolished ligand binding. Similarly, replacing Asn 106, Gln 171, and Gln 217, which make direct hydrogen bonds with xylopentaose, with alanine greatly reduced the affinity of the protein for its saccharide ligands. By contrast, disrupting water-mediated hydrogen bonds between CBM15 and xylopentaose by introducing the mutations S108A, Q167A, Q221A, and K223A had little effect on the affinity of the protein for xylan or xylohexaose. These data indicate that CBM15 binds xylan and xylooligosaccharides via the same interactions and provide clear evidence that direct hydrogen bonds are a key determinant of affinity in a type B CBM. The generic importance of these data is discussed.

Multifunctional xylooligosaccharide/cephalosporin C deacetylase revealed by the hexameric structure of the Bacillus subtilis enzyme at 1.9A resolution.

Esterases and deacetylases active on carbohydrate ligands have been classified into 14 families based upon amino acid sequence similarities. Enzymes from carbohydrate esterase family seven (CE-7) are unusual in that they display activity towards both acetylated xylooligosaccharides and the antibiotic, cephalosporin C. The 1.9A structure of the multifunctional CE-7 esterase (hereinafter CAH) from Bacillus subtilis 168 reveals a classical alpha/beta hydrolase fold encased within a 32 hexamer. This is the first example of a hexameric alpha/beta hydrolase and is further evidence of the versatility of this particular fold, which is used in a wide variety of biological contexts. A narrow entrance tunnel leads to the centre of the molecule, where the six active-centre catalytic triads point towards the tunnel interior and thus are sequestered away from cytoplasmic contents. By analogy to self-compartmentalising proteases, the tunnel entrance may function to hinder access of large substrates to the poly-specific active centre. This would explain the observation that the enzyme is active on a variety of small, acetylated molecules. The structure of an active site mutant in complex with the reaction product, acetate, reveals details of the putative oxyanion binding site, and suggests that substrates bind predominantly through non-specific contacts with protein hydrophobic residues. Protein residues involved in catalysis are tethered by interactions with protein excursions from the canonical alpha/beta hydrolase fold. These excursions also mediate quaternary structure maintenance, so it would appear that catalytic competence is only achieved on protein multimerisation. We suggest that the acetyl xylan esterase (EC 3.1.1.72) and cephalosporin C deacetylase (EC 3.1.1.41) enzymes of the CE-7 family represent a single class of proteins with a multifunctional deacetylase activity against a range of small substrates.

Distortion of a cellobio-derived isofagomine highlights the potential conformational itinerary of inverting beta-glucosidases.

A cellobio-derived isofagomine glycosidase inhibitor (Ki approximately 400 nM) displays an unusual distorted 2,5B (boat) conformation upon binding to cellobiohydrolase Cel6A from Humicola insolens, highlighting the different conformational itineraries used by various glycosidases, with consequences for the design of therapeutic agents.

The modular architecture of Cellvibrio japonicus mannanases in glycoside hydrolase families 5 and 26 points to differences in their role in mannan degradation.

beta-1,4-Mannanases (mannanases), which hydrolyse mannans and glucomannans, are located in glycoside hydrolase families (GHs) 5 and 26. To investigate whether there are fundamental differences in the molecular architecture and biochemical properties of GH5 and GH26 mannanases, four genes encoding these enzymes were isolated from Cellvibrio japonicus and the encoded glycoside hydrolases were characterized. The four genes, man5A, man5B, man5C and man26B, encode the mannanases Man5A, Man5B, Man5C and Man26B, respectively. Man26B consists of an N-terminal signal peptide linked via an extended serine-rich region to a GH26 catalytic domain. Man5A, Man5B and Man5C contain GH5 catalytic domains and non-catalytic carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) belonging to families 2a, 5 and 10; Man5C in addition contains a module defined as X4 of unknown function. The family 10 and 2a CBMs bound to crystalline cellulose and ivory nut crystalline mannan, displaying very similar properties to the corresponding family 10 and 2a CBMs from Cellvibrio cellulases and xylanases. CBM5 bound weakly to these crystalline polysaccharides. The catalytic domains of Man5A, Man5B and Man26B hydrolysed galactomannan and glucomannan, but displayed no activity against crystalline mannan or cellulosic substrates. Although Man5C was less active against glucomannan and galactomannan than the other mannanases, it did attack crystalline ivory nut mannan. All the enzymes exhibited classic endo-activity producing a mixture of oligosaccharides during the initial phase of the reaction, although their mode of action against manno-oligosaccharides and glucomannan indicated differences in the topology of the respective substrate-binding sites. This report points to a different role for GH5 and GH26 mannanases from C. japonicus. We propose that as the GH5 enzymes contain CBMs that bind crystalline polysaccharides, these enzymes are likely to target mannans that are integral to the plant cell wall, while GH26 mannanases, which lack CBMs and rapidly release mannose from polysaccharides and oligosaccharides, target the storage polysaccharide galactomannan and manno-oligosaccharides.