Improved bioethanol production in an engineered Kluyveromyces lactis strain shifted from respiratory to fermentative metabolism by deletion of NDI1

In this paper, we report the metabolic engineering of the respiratory yeast Kluyveromyces lactis by construction and characterization of a null mutant (Δklndi1) in the single gene encoding a mitochondrial alternative internal dehydrogenase. Isolated mitochondria of the Δklndi1 mutant show unaffected rate of oxidation of exogenous NADH, but no oxidation of matrix NADH; this confirms that KlNdi1p is the only internal NADH dehydrogenase in K. lactis mitochondria. Permeabilized cells of the Δklndi1 mutant do not show oxidation of matrix NADH, which suggests that shuttle systems to transfer the NADH from mitochondrial matrix to cytosol, for being oxidized by external dehydrogenases, are not functional. The Δklndi1 mutation decreases the chronological life span in absence of nutrients. The expression of KlNDI1 is increased by glutathione reductase depletion. The Δklndi1 mutation shifts the K. lactis metabolism from respiratory to fermentative: the Δklndi1 strain shows reduced respiration rate and increased ethanol production from glucose, while it does not grow in non-fermentable carbon sources such as lactate. The biotechnological benefit of the Δklndi1 mutant for bioethanol production from waste cheese whey lactose was proved.

Structural analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-galactosidase and its complexes with natural substrates reveals new insights into substrate specificity of GH27 glycosidases

Alpha-galactosidases catalyze the hydrolysis of terminal alpha-1,6-galactosyl units from galacto-oligosaccharides and polymeric galactomannans. The crystal structures of tetrameric Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-galactosidase and its complexes with the substrates melibiose and raffinose have been determined to 1.95, 2.40, and 2.70 A resolution. The monomer folds into a catalytic (alpha/beta)(8) barrel and a C-terminal beta-sandwich domain with unassigned function. This pattern is conserved with other family 27 glycosidases, but this enzyme presents a unique 45-residue insertion in the beta-sandwich domain that folds over the barrel protecting it from the solvent and likely explaining its high stability. The structure of the complexes and the mutational analysis show that oligomerization is a key factor in substrate binding, as the substrates are located in a deep cavity making direct interactions with the adjacent subunit. Furthermore, docking analysis suggests that the supplementary domain could be involved in binding sugar units distal from the scissile bond, therefore ascribing a role in fine-tuning substrate specificity to this domain. It may also have a role in promoting association with the polymeric substrate because of the ordered arrangement that the four domains present in one face of the tetramer. Our analysis extends to other family 27 glycosidases, where some traits regarding specificity and oligomerization can be formulated on the basis of their sequence and the structures available. These results improve our knowledge on the activity of this important family of enzymes and give a deeper insight into the structural features that rule modularity and protein-carbohydrate interactions.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of beta-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis

Beta-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis catalyses the hydrolysis of the beta-galactosidic linkage in lactose. Owing to its many industrial applications, the biotechnological potential of this enzyme is substantial. This protein has been expressed in yeast and purified for crystallization trials. However, optimization of the best crystallization conditions yielded crystals with poor diffraction quality that precluded further structural studies. Finally, the crystal quality was improved using the streak-seeding technique and a complete diffraction data set was collected at 2.8 A resolution.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction data of alpha-galactosidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-galactosidase is a highly glycosylated extracellular protein that catalyzes the hydrolysis of alpha-galactosidic linkages in various glucids. Its enzymatic activity is of interest in many food-related industries and has biotechnological applications. Glycosylated and in vitro deglycosylated protein samples were both assayed for crystallization, but only the latter gave good-quality crystals that were suitable for X-ray crystallography. The crystals belonged to space group P42(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 101.24, c = 111.52 A. A complete diffraction data set was collected to 1.95 A resolution using a synchrotron source.