Cofactor engineering in Thermoanaerobacterium aotearoense SCUT27 for maximizing ethanol yield and revealing an enzyme complex with high ferredoxin-NAD+ reductase activity.

Thermoanaerobacterium aotearoense SCUT27 is a prominent producer of biofuels from lignocellulosic materials. To provide sufficient NAD(P)H for ethanol production, redox-related genes, including lactate dehydrogenase (ldh), redox-sensing transcriptional repressor (rex), and hydrogenase (hfsB), were knocked out. However, the growth of strain PRH (Δldh/Δrex/ΔhfsB) was suppressed due to the intracellular redox state imbalance with the increased NADH concentration. Coincidentally, when the Bcd-EtfAB (BCD) complex was overexpressed, the resulting strain PRH-B3 (Δldh/Δrex/ΔhfsB::BCD) grew rapidly and produced ethanol with a high yield. With lignocellulosic hydrolysates, PRH-BA (Δldh/Δrex/ΔhfsB::BCD::adhE) demonstrated high ethanol productivity and yield, reaching levels of 0.45-0.51 g/L/h and 0.46-0.53 g/g sugars, respectively. The study results shed light on the cofactor balance for cell stability and the high ferredoxin-NAD+ reductase activity of the BCD complex under an intracellular low redox state. They also provide an essential reference for developing strains for improved biofuel production.

Biochemical and Structural Analysis of a Glucose-Tolerant ß-Glucosidase from the Hemicellulose-Degrading Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum.

ß-Glucosidases (Bgls) convert cellobiose and other soluble cello-oligomers into glucose and play important roles in fundamental biological processes, providing energy sources in living organisms. Bgls are essential terminal enzymes of cellulose degradation systems and attractive targets for lignocellulose-based biotechnological applications. Characterization of novel Bgls is important for broadening our knowledge of this enzyme class and can provide insights into its further applications. In this study, we report the biochemical and structural analysis of a Bgl from the hemicellulose-degrading thermophilic anaerobe Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum (TsaBgl). TsaBgl exhibited its maximum hydrolase activity on p-nitrophenyl-ß-d-glucopyranoside at pH 6.0 and 55 °C. The crystal structure of TsaBgl showed a single (ß/α)8 TIM-barrel fold, and a ß8-α14 loop, which is located around the substrate-binding pocket entrance, showing a unique conformation compared with other structurally known Bgls. A Tris molecule inhibited enzyme activity and was bound to the active site of TsaBgl coordinated by the catalytic residues Glu163 (proton donor) and Glu351 (nucleophile). Titration experiments showed that TsaBgl belongs to the glucose-tolerant Bgl family. The gatekeeper site of TsaBgl is similar to those of other glucose-tolerant Bgls, whereas Trp323 and Leu170, which are involved in glucose tolerance, show a unique configuration. Our results therefore improve our knowledge about the Tris-mediated inhibition and glucose tolerance of Bgl family members, which is essential for their industrial application.

Structural basis for transglycosylation in glycoside hydrolase family GH116 glycosynthases.

Glycosynthases are glycoside hydrolase mutants that can synthesize oligosaccharides or glycosides from an inverted donor without hydrolysis of the products. Although glycosynthases have been characterized from a variety of glycoside hydrolase (GH) families, family GH116 glycosynthases have yet to be reported. We produced the Thermoanaerobacterium xylanolyticum TxGH116 nucleophile mutants E441D, E441G, E441Q and E441S and compared their glycosynthase activities to the previously generated E441A mutant. The TxGH116 E441G and E441S mutants exhibited highest glycosynthase activity to transfer glucose from α-fluoroglucoside (α-GlcF) to cellobiose acceptor, while E441D had low but significant activity as well. The E441G, E441S and E441A variants showed broad specificity for α-glycosyl fluoride donors and p-nitrophenyl glycoside acceptors. The structure of the TxGH116 E441A mutant with α-GlcF provided the donor substrate complex, while soaking of the TxGH116 E441G mutant with α-GlcF resulted in cellooligosaccharides extending from the +1 subsite out of the active site, with glycerol in the -1 subsite. Soaking of E441A or E441G with cellobiose or cellotriose gave similar acceptor substrate complexes with the nonreducing glucosyl residue in the +1 subsite. Combining structures with the ligands from the TxGH116 E441A with α-GlcF crystals with that of E441A or E441G with cellobiose provides a plausible structure of the catalytic ternary complex, which places the nonreducing glucosyl residue O4 2.5 Å from the anomeric carbon of α-GlcF, thereby explaining its apparent preference for production of ß-1,4-linked oligosaccharides. This functional and structural characterization provides the background for development of GH116 glycosynthases for synthesis of oligosaccharides and glycosides of interest.

Isolation and characterization of thermophilic cellulose and hemicellulose degrading bacterium, Thermoanaerobacterium sp. R63 from tropical dry deciduous forest soil.

Thermophilic microorganisms and their enzymes have been utilized in various industrial applications. In this work, we isolated and characterized thermophilic anaerobic bacteria with the cellulose and hemicellulose degrading activities from a tropical dry deciduous forest in northern Thailand. Out of 502 isolated thermophilic anaerobic soil bacteria, 6 isolates, identified as Thermoanaerobacterium sp., displayed an ability to utilize a wide range of oligosaccharides and lignocellulosic substrates. The isolates exhibited significant cellulase and xylanase activities at high temperature (65°C). Among all isolates, Thermoanaerobacterium sp. strain R63 exhibited remarkable hydrolytic properties with the highest cellulase and xylanase activities at 1.15 U/mg and 6.17 U/mg, respectively. Extracellular extract of Thermoanaerobacterium sp. strain R63 was thermostable with an optimal temperature at 65°C and could exhibit enzymatic activities on pH range 5.0-9.0. Our findings suggest promising applications of these thermoanaerobic bacteria and their potent enzymes for industrial purposes.

A Recombinant ß-Mannanase from Thermoanaerobacterium aotearoense SCUT27: Biochemical Characterization and Its Thermostability Improvement.

ß-Mannanase was expressed in Thermoanaerobacterium aotearoense SCUT27 induced by locust bean gum (LBG). The open reading frame encoding a GH26 ß-mannanase was identified and encoded a preprotein of 515 amino acids with a putative signal peptide. The enzyme without a signal sequence (Man25) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli with a specific activity of 1286.2 U/mg. Moreover, a facile method for ß-mannanase activity screening was established based on agar plates. The optimum temperature for the purified Man25 using LBG as a substrate was 55 °C. The catalytic activity and thermostability of Man25 displayed a strong dependence on calcium ions. Through saturation mutagenesis at the putative Ca2+ binding sites in Man25, the best mutant ManM3-3 (D143A) presented improvements in thermostability with 3.6-fold extended half-life at 55 °C compared with that of the wild-type. The results suggest that mutagenesis at metal binding sites could be an efficient approach to increase enzyme thermostability.

Structural Comparison of a Promiscuous and a Highly Specific Sucrose 6F-Phosphate Phosphorylase.

In family GH13 of the carbohydrate-active enzyme database, subfamily 18 contains glycoside phosphorylases that act on α-sugars and glucosides. Because their phosphorolysis reactions are effectively reversible, these enzymes are of interest for the biocatalytic synthesis of various glycosidic compounds. Sucrose 6F-phosphate phosphorylases (SPPs) constitute one of the known substrate specificities. Here, we report the characterization of an SPP from Ilumatobacter coccineus with a far stricter specificity than the previously described promiscuous SPP from Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum. Crystal structures of both SPPs were determined to provide insight into their similarities and differences. The residues responsible for binding the fructose 6-phosphate group in subsite +1 were found to differ considerably between the two enzymes. Furthermore, several variants that introduce a higher degree of substrate promiscuity in the strict SPP from I. coccineus were designed. These results contribute to an expanded structural knowledge of enzymes in subfamily GH13_18 and facilitate their rational engineering.

Heterologous co-expression of two ß-glucanases and a cellobiose phosphorylase resulted in a significant increase in the cellulolytic activity of the Caldicellulosiruptor bescii exoproteome.

The ability to deconstruct plant biomass without conventional pretreatment has made members of the genus Caldicellulosiruptor the target of investigation for the consolidated processing of plant lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels and bioproducts. To investigate the synergy of enzymes involved and to further improve the ability of C. bescii to degrade cellulose, we introduced CAZymes that act synergistically with the C. bescii exoproteome in vivo and in vitro. We recently demonstrated that the Acidothermus cellulolyticus E1 endo-1,4-ß-D-glucanase (GH5) with a family 2 carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) increased the activity of C. bescii exoproteome on biomass, presumably acting in concert with CelA. The ß-glucanase, GuxA, from A. cellulolyticus is a multi-domain enzyme with strong processive exoglucanase activity, and the cellobiose phosphorylase from Thermotoga maritima catalyzes cellulose degradation acting synergistically with cellobiohydrolases and endoglucanases. We identified new chromosomal insertion sites to co-express these enzymes and the resulting strain showed a significant increase in the enzymatic activity of the exoproteome.

Discovering novel hydrolases from hot environments.

Novel hydrolases from hot and other extreme environments showing appropriate performance and/or novel functionalities and new approaches for their systematic screening are of great interest for developing new processes, for improving safety, health and environment issues. Existing processes could benefit as well from their properties. The workflow, based on the HotZyme project, describes a multitude of technologies and their integration from discovery to application, providing new tools for discovering, identifying and characterizing more novel thermostable hydrolases with desired functions from hot terrestrial and marine environments. To this end, hot springs worldwide were mined, resulting in hundreds of environmental samples and thousands of enrichment cultures growing on polymeric substrates of industrial interest. Using high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics, 15 hot spring metagenomes, as well as several sequenced isolate genomes and transcriptomes were obtained. To facilitate the discovery of novel hydrolases, the annotation platform Anastasia and a whole-cell bioreporter-based functional screening method were developed. Sequence-based screening and functional screening together resulted in about 100 potentially new hydrolases of which more than a dozen have been characterized comprehensively from a biochemical and structural perspective. The characterized hydrolases include thermostable carboxylesterases, enol lactonases, quorum sensing lactonases, gluconolactonases, epoxide hydrolases, and cellulases. Apart from these novel thermostable hydrolases, the project generated an enormous amount of samples and data, thereby allowing the future discovery of even more novel enzymes.

Characterization of two novel thermostable esterases from Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum.

This paper first describes characterization of two thermostable esterases (ThLip1 and ThLip2) from the thermophilic bacterium Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum DSM 571. The recombinant esterase ThLip1 was active at 80 °C, pH 6.5 and maintained approx. 85% of original activity after 2 h incubation at 75 °C. Kinetic parameters, Km, Vmax and kcat/Km for 4-Nitrophenyl caprylate (pNPC) were 3.52 ±â€¯0.47 mM, 191.18 ±â€¯1.82 µmol min-1 mg-1 and 20.80 ±â€¯0.07 mM-1 s-1, respectively. The purified recombinant esterase ThLip2 was optimally active at pH 6.5 and 75 °C and it was stable against a pH range of 6.0-8.0 possessing 2 h half-life at 80 °C. Kinetic experiments at 75 °C with pNPC as a substrate gave a Km of 3.37 mM, Vmax of 578.14 µmol min-1 mg-1and kcat of 231.2 s-1. The hydrolysis of linalyl acetate were carried out using ThLip1 and ThLip2 as catalyst, affording linalool yields over 140 mg/l in 10 h.

Enhanced Purification Efficiency and Thermal Tolerance of Thermoanaerobacterium aotearoense ß-Xylosidase through Aggregation Triggered by Short Peptides.

To simplify purification and improve heat tolerance of a thermostable ß-xylosidase (ThXylC), a short ELK16 peptide was attached to its C-terminus, which is designated as ThXylC-ELK. Wild-type ThXylC was normally expressed in soluble form. However, ThXylC-ELK assembled into aggregates with 98.6% of total ß-xylosidase activity. After simple centrifugation and buffer washing, the ThXylC-ELK particles were collected with 92.57% activity recovery and 95% purity, respectively. Meanwhile, the wild-type ThXylC recovery yield was less than 55% after heat inactivation, affinity and desalting chromatography followed by HRV 3C protease cleavage purification. Catalytic efficiency ( Kcat/ Km) was increased from 21.31 mM-1 s-1 for ThXylC to 32.19 mM-1 s-1 for ThXylC-ELK accompanied by a small increase in Km value. Heat tolerance of ThXylC-ELK at high temperatures was also increased. The ELK16 peptide attachment resulted in 6.2-fold increase of half-life at 65 °C. Released reducing sugars were raised 1.3-fold during sugar cane bagasse hydrolysis when ThXylC-ELK was supplemented into the combination of XynAΔSLH and Cellic CTec2.

Construction of an enzymatic route using a food-grade recombinant Bacillus subtilis for the production and purification of epilactose from lactose.

Lactose is a main by-product in the cheese industry. Many attempts have been made to convert the lactose to high value-added products, including epilactose. Epilactose is a valuable prebiotic and can be epimerized from lactose with cellobiose 2-epimerase (CEase). The objective of the present work was to construct a food-grade recombinant Bacillus subtilis that produces CEase from Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum. The CEase was expressed in B. subtilis without antibiotic resistance genes. After fermentation, the maximum volumetric activity of the fermented broth was more than 7 U/mL. The activity of the recombinant B. subtilis was increased by up to 3.7 fold after ethanol permeabilization. Then, 66.9 ± 0.7 g/L of epilactose was produced from 300 g/L of whey powder solution in 1 h with 13.3 U/mL of permeabilized biocatalyst. In addition, an enzymatic route including degradation of the lactose, yeast fermentation, and cation exchange chromatography was described to further purify the produced epilactose from lactose. Finally, epilactose with a purity >98% was produced from 300 g/L of lactose with a yield of 24.0%. In conclusion, neither antibiotics nor pathogenic bacteria were used throughout the epilactose production and purification procedure.

Enzymatic Mechanism for Arabinan Degradation and Transport in the Thermophilic Bacterium Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus.

The plant cell wall polysaccharide arabinan provides an important supply of arabinose, and unraveling arabinan-degrading strategies by microbes is important for understanding its use as a source of energy. Here, we explored the arabinan-degrading enzymes in the thermophilic bacterium Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus and identified a gene cluster encoding two glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 51 α-l-arabinofuranosidases (CpAbf51A, CpAbf51B), a GH43 endoarabinanase (CpAbn43A), a GH27 ß-l-arabinopyranosidase (CpAbp27A), and two GH127 ß-l-arabinofuranosidases (CpAbf127A, CpAbf127B). The genes were expressed as recombinant proteins, and the functions of the purified proteins were determined with para-nitrophenyl (pNP)-linked sugars and naturally occurring pectin structural elements as the substrates. The results demonstrated that CpAbn43A is an endoarabinanase while CpAbf51A and CpAbf51B are α-l-arabinofuranosidases that exhibit diverse substrate specificities, cleaving α-1,2, α-1,3, and α-1,5 linkages of purified arabinan-oligosaccharides. Furthermore, both CpAbf127A and CpAbf127B cleaved ß-arabinofuranose residues in complex arabinan side chains, thus providing evidence of the function of this family of enzymes on such polysaccharides. The optimal temperatures of the enzymes ranged between 60°C and 75°C, and CpAbf43A and CpAbf51A worked synergistically to release arabinose from branched and debranched arabinan. Furthermore, the hydrolytic activity on branched arabinan oligosaccharides and degradation of pectic substrates by the endoarabinanase and l-arabinofuranosidases suggested a microbe equipped with diverse activities to degrade complex arabinan in the environment. Based on our functional analyses of the genes in the arabinan degradation cluster and the substrate-binding studies on a component of the cognate transporter system, we propose a model for arabinan degradation and transport by C. polysaccharolyticusIMPORTANCE Genomic DNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis allowed the identification of a gene cluster encoding several proteins predicted to function in arabinan degradation and transport in C. polysaccharolyticus The analysis of the recombinant proteins yielded detailed insights into the putative arabinan metabolism of this thermophilic bacterium. The use of various branched arabinan oligosaccharides provided a detailed understanding of the substrate specificities of the enzymes and allowed assignment of two new GH127 polypeptides as ß-l-arabinofuranosidases able to degrade pectic substrates, thus expanding our knowledge of this rare group of glycoside hydrolases. In addition, the enzymes showed synergistic effects for the degradation of arabinans at elevated temperatures. The enzymes characterized from the gene cluster are, therefore, of utility for arabinose production in both the biofuel and food industries.

The ethanol pathway from Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum improves ethanol production in Clostridium thermocellum.

Clostridium thermocellum ferments cellulose, is a promising candidate for ethanol production from cellulosic biomass, and has been the focus of studies aimed at improving ethanol yield. Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum ferments hemicellulose, but not cellulose, and has been engineered to produce ethanol at high yield and titer. Recent research has led to the identification of four genes in T. saccharolyticum involved in ethanol production: adhE, nfnA, nfnB and adhA. We introduced these genes into C. thermocellum and observed significant improvements to ethanol yield, titer, and productivity. The four genes alone, however, were insufficient to achieve in C. thermocellum the ethanol yields and titers observed in engineered T. saccharolyticum strains, even when combined with gene deletions targeting hydrogen production. This suggests that other parts of T. saccharolyticum metabolism may also be necessary to reproduce the high ethanol yield and titer phenotype in C. thermocellum.

SGNH hydrolase-type esterase domain containing Cbes-AcXE2: a novel and thermostable acetyl xylan esterase from Caldicellulosiruptor bescii.

Caldicellulosiruptor bescii, the most thermophilic cellulolytic bacterium, is rich in hydrolytic and accessory enzymes that can degrade untreated biomass, but the precise role of many these enzymes is unknown. One of such enzymes is a predicted GDSL lipase or esterase encoded by the locus Athe_0553. In this study, this probable esterase named as Cbes-AcXE2 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The Ni-NTA affinity purified enzyme exhibited an optimum pH of 7.5 at an optimum temperature of 70 °C. Cbes-AcXE2 hydrolyzed p-nitrophenyl (pNP) acetate, pNP-butyrate, and phenyl acetate with approximately equal efficiency. The specific activity and K M for the most preferred substrate, phenyl acetate, were 142 U/mg and 0.85 mM, respectively. Cbes-AcXE2 removed the acetyl group of xylobiose hexaacetate and glucose pentaacetate like an acetyl xylan esterase (AcXE). Bioinformatics analyses suggested that Cbes-AcXE2, which carries an SGNH hydrolase-type esterase domain, is a member of an unclassified carbohydrate esterase (CE) family. Moreover, Cbes-AcXE2 is evolutionarily and biochemically similar to an unclassified AcXE, Axe2, of Geobacillus stearothermophilus. Thus, we proposed a novel family of carbohydrate esterase for both Cbes-AcXE2 and Axe2.

Properties of a novel thermostable glucose isomerase mined from Thermus oshimai and its application to preparation of high fructose corn syrup.

Glucose isomerase (GI) is used in vitro to convert d-glucose to d-fructose, which is capable of commercial producing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). To manufacture HFCS at elevated temperature and reduce the cost of enriching syrups, novel refractory GIs from Thermoanaerobacterium xylanolyticum (TxGI), Thermus oshimai (ToGI), Geobacillus thermocatenulatus (GtGI) and Thermoanaerobacter siderophilus (TsGI) were screened via genome mining approach. The enzymatic characteristics research showed that ToGI had higher catalytic efficiency and superior thermostability toward d-glucose among the screened GIs. Its optimum temperature reached 95°C and could retain more than 80% of initial activity in the presence of 20mM Mn2+ at 85°C for 48h. The Km and kcat/Km values for ToGI were 81.46mM and 21.77min-1mM-1, respectively. Furthermore, the maximum conversion yield of 400g/L d-glucose to d-fructose at 85°C was 52.16%. Considering its excellent high thermostability and ameliorable application performance, ToGI might be promising for realization of future industrial production of HFCS at elevated temperature.

Enhancing functional expression of codon-optimized heterologous enzymes in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) by selective introduction of synonymous rare codons.

Rare codon in a heterologous gene may cause premature termination of protein synthesis, misincorporation of amino acids, and/or slow translation of mRNA, decreasing the heterologous protein expression. However, its hypothetical function pertaining to functional protein folding has been barely reported. Here, we investigated the effects of selective introduction of synonymous rare codons (SRCs) to two codon-optimized (i.e., rare codon-free) genes sucrose phosphorylase (SP) gene from Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum and amidohydrolase gene from Streptomyces caatingaensis on their expression levels in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). We investigated the introduction of a single SRC to the coding regions of alpha-helix, beta-strand, or linker in the first half of rare codon-free sp and ah gene. The introduction of a single SRC in the beginning of the coding regions of beta-strand greatly enhanced their soluble expression levels as compared to the other regions. Also, we applied directed evolution to test multi-SRC-containing sp gene mutants for enhanced soluble SP expression levels. To easily identify the soluble SP expression level of colonies growing on Petri dishes, mCherry fluorescent protein was used as a SP-folding reporter when it was fused to the 3' end of the sp gene mutant libraries. After three rounds of screening, the best sp gene mutant containing nine SRCs exhibited an approximately six-fold enhancement in soluble protein expression level as compared to the wild-type and rare codon-free sp control. This study suggests that the selective introduction of SRCs can attenuate translation at specific points and such discontinuous attenuation can temporally separate the translation of segments of the peptide chains and actively coordinates their co-translational folding, resulting in enhanced functional protein expression. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 1054-1064. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Contributing factors in the improvement of cellulosic H2 production in Clostridium thermocellum/Thermoanaerobacterium co-cultures.

Lignocellulosic biohydrogen is a promising renewable energy source that could be a potential alternative to the unsustainable fossil fuel-based energy. Biohydrogen production could be performed by Clostridium thermocellum that is the fastest known cellulose-degrading bacterium. Previous investigations have shown that the co-culture of C. thermocellum JN4 and a non-cellulolytic bacterium Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum GD17 produces more hydrogen than the C. thermocellum JN4 mono-culture, but the mechanism of this improvement is unknown. In this work, we carried out genomic and evolutionary analysis of hydrogenase-coding genes in C. thermocellum and T. thermosaccharolyticum, identifying one Ech-type [NiFe] hydrogenase complex in each species, and, respectively, five and four monomeric or multimeric [FeFe] hydrogenases in the two species. Further transcriptional analysis showed hydrogenase-coding genes in C. thermocellum are regulated by carbon sources, while hydrogenase-coding genes in T. thermosaccharolyticum are not. However, comparison between transcriptional abundance of hydrogenase-coding genes in mono- and co-cultures showed the co-culturing condition leads to transcriptional changes of hydrogenase-coding genes in T. thermosaccharolyticum but not C. thermocellum. Further metabolic analysis showed T. thermosaccharolyticum produces H2 at a rate 4-12-fold higher than C. thermocellum. These findings lead to the suggestion that the improvement of H2 production in the co-culture over mono-culture should be attributed to changes in T. thermosaccharolyticum but not C. thermocellum. Further suggestions can be made that C. thermocellum and T. thermosaccharolyticum perform highly specialized tasks in the co-culture, and optimization of the co-culture for more lignocellulosic biohydrogen production should be focused on the improvement of the non-cellulolytic bacterium.

Bacterial ß-Glucosidase Reveals the Structural and Functional Basis of Genetic Defects in Human Glucocerebrosidase 2 (GBA2).

Human glucosylcerebrosidase 2 (GBA2) of the CAZy family GH116 is responsible for the breakdown of glycosphingolipids on the cytoplasmic face of the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. Genetic defects in GBA2 result in spastic paraplegia and cerebellar ataxia, while cross-talk between GBA2 and GBA1 glucosylceramidases may affect Gaucher disease. Here, we report the first three-dimensional structure for any GH116 enzyme, Thermoanaerobacterium xylanolyticum TxGH116 ß-glucosidase, alone and in complex with diverse ligands. These structures allow identification of the glucoside binding and active site residues, which are shown to be conserved with GBA2. Mutagenic analysis of TxGH116 and structural modeling of GBA2 provide a detailed structural and functional rationale for pathogenic missense mutations of GBA2.

Characterization of Glycerol Dehydrogenase from Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum DSM 571 and GGG Motif Identification.

Glycerol dehydrogenases (GlyDHs) are essential for glycerol metabolism in vivo, catalyzing its reversible reduction to 1,3-dihydroxypropranone (DHA). The gldA gene encoding a putative GlyDH was cloned from Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum DSM 571 (TtGlyDH) and expressed in Escherichia coli. The presence of Mn(2+) enhanced its enzymatic activity by 79.5%. Three highly conserved residues (Asp(171), His(254), and His(271)) in TtGlyDH were associated with metal ion binding. Based on an investigation of glycerol oxidation and DHA reduction, TtGlyDH showed maximum activity towards glycerol at 60°C and pH 8.0 and towards DHA at 60°C and pH 6.0. DHA reduction was the dominant reaction, with a lower Km(DHA) of 1.08 ± 0.13 mM and Vmax of 0.0053 ± 0.0001 mM/s, compared with glycerol oxidation, with a Km(glycerol) of 30.29 ± 3.42 mM and Vmax of 0.042 ± 0.002 mM/s. TtGlyDH had an apparent activation energy of 312.94 kJ/mol. The recombinant TtGlyDH was thermostable, maintaining 65% of its activity after a 2-h incubation at 60°C. Molecular modeling and site-directed mutagenesis analyses demonstrated that TtGlyDH had an atypical dinucleotide binding motif (GGG motif) and a basic residue Arg(43), both related to dinucleotide binding.

Characterization of a thermostable endo-1,3(4)-ß-glucanase from Caldicellulosiruptor sp. strain F32 and its application for yeast lysis.

ß-1,3-Glucans, important structural components of cell wall or nutritional components of the endosperm, are extensively found in bacteria, fungi, yeast, algae, and plants. The structural complexity of ß-1,3-glucans implies that the enzymatic depolymerization of polysaccharides needs combined activities of distinct enzymes. In this study, Lam16A-GH, the catalytic module of a putative glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 16 laminarinase/lichenase from thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor sp. F32, was purified and characterized through heterologous expression in Escherichia coli. Lam16A-GH can hydrolyze both ß-1,3-glucan (laminarin) and ß-1,3-1,4-glucan (barley ß-glucan) revealed by analysis of the products of polysaccharide degradation using thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The time required for the loss of 50 % of its activity is 45 h under the optimal condition of 75 °C and pH 6.5. Oligosaccharides degradation assay indicated that Lam16A-GH can catalyze endo-hydrolysis of the ß-1,4 glycosidic linkage adjacent to a 3-O-substituted glucosyl residue in the mixed linked ß-glucans, as well as the ß-1,3 linkage. The survival rate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells depends on the addition of Lam16A-GH, and the cytoplasm protein was released from the apparently deconstructed yeast cells. These results indicate that the bi-functional thermostable Lam16A-GH exhibits unique enzymatic properties and potential for yeast lysis.