Xyloglucan breakdown by endo-xyloglucanase family 74 from Aspergillus fumigatus.

Xyloglucan is the most abundant hemicellulose in primary walls of spermatophytes except for grasses. Xyloglucan-degrading enzymes are important in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysis because they remove xyloglucan, which is abundant in monocot-derived biomass. Fungal genomes encode numerous xyloglucanase genes, belonging to at least six glycoside hydrolase (GH) families. GH74 endo-xyloglucanases cleave xyloglucan backbones with unsubstituted glucose at the -1 subsite or prefer xylosyl-substituted residues in the -1 subsite. In this work, 137 GH74-related genes were detected by examining 293 Eurotiomycete genomes and Ascomycete fungi contained one or no GH74 xyloglucanase gene per genome. Another interesting feature is that the triad of tryptophan residues along the catalytic cleft was found to be widely conserved among Ascomycetes. The GH74 from Aspergillus fumigatus (AfXEG74) was chosen as an example to conduct comprehensive biochemical studies to determine the catalytic mechanism. AfXEG74 has no CBM and cleaves the xyloglucan backbone between the unsubstituted glucose and xylose-substituted glucose at specific positions, along the XX motif when linked to regions deprived of galactosyl branches. It resembles an endo-processive activity, which after initial random hydrolysis releases xyloglucan-oligosaccharides as major reaction products. This work provides insights on phylogenetic diversity and catalytic mechanism of GH74 xyloglucanases from Ascomycete fungi.

Molecular basis of substrate recognition and specificity revealed in family 12 glycoside hydrolases.

Fungal GH12 enzymes are classified as xyloglucanases when they specifically target xyloglucans, or promiscuous endoglucanases when they exhibit catalytic activity against xyloglucan and ß-glucan chains. Several structural and functional studies involving GH12 enzymes tried to explain the main patterns of xyloglucan activity, but what really determines xyloglucanase specificity remains elusive. Here, three fungal GH12 enzymes from Aspergillus clavatus (AclaXegA), A. zonatus (AspzoGH12), and A. terreus (AtEglD) were studied to unveil the molecular basis for substrate specificity. Using functional assays, site-directed mutagenesis, and molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrated that three main regions are responsible for substrate selectivity: (i) the YSG group in loop 1; (ii) the SST group in loop 2; and (iii) loop A3-B3 and neighboring residues. Functional assays and sequence alignment showed that while AclaXegA is specific to xyloglucan, AtEglD cleaves ß-glucan, and xyloglucan. However, AspzoGH12 was also shown to be promiscuous contrarily to a sequence alignment-based prediction. We find that residues Y111 and R93 in AtEglD harbor the substrate in an adequate orientation for hydrolysis in the catalytic cleft entrance and that residues Y19 in AclaXegA and Y30 in AspzoGH12 partially compensate the absence of the YSG segment, typically found in promiscuous enzymes. The results point out the multiple structural factors underlying the substrate specificity of GH12 enzymes. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 2577-2586. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Identification of a xyloglucan-specific endo-(1-4)-beta-D-glucanase inhibitor protein from apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) as a potential defense gene against Botryosphaeria dothidea.

Botryosphaeria dothidea is the causal agent of apple ring rot which is a highly destructive apple disease in China. Here, a putative xyloglucan-specific endo-(1-4)-beta-d-glucanase inhibitor protein from Malus×domestica (designated as MdXEGIP1) was found to be involved in defense against B. dothidea infection. MdXEGIP1 shares high amino acid sequence identity with other apple XEGIPs, but exhibited significantly different responses to B. dothidea infection. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that MdXEGIP1 expression was significantly induced in shoot bark of apple plant by B. dothidea and showed different expression pattern in resistant and susceptible apple cultivars. In resistant cultivar, MdXEGIP1 expression was elevated with larger amplitude than that in susceptible cultivar after B. dothidea infection. MdXEGIP1 expression was also significantly enhanced by treatment with exogenous methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid in apple plantlets. Further investigation revealed that recombinant MdXEGIP1 has significant inhibitor activity to XEGs from family 12 and 74 of glycoside hydrolase. More importantly, recombinant MdXEGIP1 inhibited crude enzyme solution of XEG from B. dothidea, suggesting that MdXEGIP1 might protect apple plant from B. dothidea infection by inhibiting XEG activity. Taken together, the results indicated that MdXEGIP1 is a potential defense gene against B. dothidea in apple.

Profiling the main cell wall polysaccharides of grapevine leaves using high-throughput and fractionation methods.

Vitis species include Vitis vinifera, the domesticated grapevine, used for wine and grape agricultural production and considered the world's most important fruit crop. A cell wall preparation, isolated from fully expanded photosynthetically active leaves, was fractionated via chemical and enzymatic reagents; and the various extracts obtained were assayed using high-throughput cell wall profiling tools according to a previously optimized and validated workflow. The bulk of the homogalacturonan-rich pectin present was efficiently extracted using CDTA treatment, whereas over half of the grapevine leaf cell wall consisted of vascular veins, comprised of xylans and cellulose. The main hemicellulose component was found to be xyloglucan and an enzymatic oligosaccharide fingerprinting approach was used to analyze the grapevine leaf xyloglucan fraction. When Paenibacillus sp. xyloglucanase was applied the main subunits released were XXFG and XLFG; whereas the less-specific Trichoderma reesei EGII was also able to release the XXXG motif as well as other oligomers likely of mannan and xylan origin. This latter enzyme would thus be useful to screen for xyloglucan, xylan and mannan-linked cell wall alterations in laboratory and field grapevine populations. This methodology is well-suited for high-throughput cell wall profiling of grapevine mutant and transgenic plants for investigating the range of biological processes, specifically plant disease studies and plant-pathogen interactions, where the cell wall plays a crucial role.