Xylitol binding to the M1 site of glucose isomerase induces a conformational change in the substrate binding channel

Glucose isomerase (GI) is extensively used in the food industry for production of high-fructose corn syrup and for the production of biofuels and other renewable chemicals. Structure-based studies on GI inhibitors are important for improving its efficiency in industrial applications. Here, we report the subatomic crystal structure of Streptomyces rubiginosus GI (SruGI) complexed with its inhibitor, xylitol, at 0.99 Å resolution. Electron density map and temperature factor analysis showed partial binding of xylitol to the M1 metal binding site of SruGI, providing two different conformations of the metal binding site and the substrate binding channel. The xylitol molecule induced a conformational change in the M2 metal ion-interacting Asp255 residue, which subsequently led to a conformational change in the side chain of Asp181 residue. This led to the positional shift of Pro25 by 1.71 Å and side chain rotation of Phe26 by 21°, where located on the neighboring protomer in tetrameric SruGI. The conformation change of these two residues affect the size of the substrate-binding channel of GI. Therefore, xylitol binding to M1 site of SruGI induces not only a conformational changes of the metal-binding site, but also conformational change of substrate-binding channel of the tetrameric SruGI. These results expand our knowledge about the mechanism underlying the inhibitory effect of xylitol on GI.

Impact of xylose epimerase on sugar assimilation and sensing in recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae carrying different xylose-utilization pathways

BACKGROUND

Over the last decades, many strategies to procure and improve xylose consumption in Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been reported. This includes the introduction of efficient xylose-assimilating enzymes, the improvement of xylose transport, or the alteration of the sugar signaling response. However, different strain backgrounds are often used, making it difficult to determine if the findings are transferrable both to other xylose-consuming strains and to other xylose-assimilation pathways. For example, the influence of anomerization rates between α- and β-xylopyranose in pathway optimization and sugar sensing is relatively unexplored.

RESULTS

In this study, we tested the effect of expressing a xylose epimerase in S. cerevisiae strains carrying different xylose-consuming routes. First, XIs originating from three different species in isogenic S. cerevisiae strains were tested and the XI from Lachnoclostridium phytofermentans was found to give the best performance. The benefit of increasing the anomerization rate of xylose by adding a xylose epimerase to the XI strains was confirmed, as higher biomass formation and faster xylose consumption were obtained. However, the impact of xylose epimerase was XI-dependent, indicating that anomer preference may differ from enzyme to enzyme. The addition of the xylose epimerase in xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase (XR/XDH)-carrying strains gave no improvement in xylose assimilation, suggesting that the XR from Spathaspora passalidarum had no anomer preference, in contrast to other reported XRs. The reduction in accumulated xylitol that was observed when the xylose epimerase was added may be associated with the upregulation of genes encoding endogenous aldose reductases which could be affected by the anomerization rate. Finally, xylose epimerase addition did not affect the sugar signaling, whereas the type of xylose pathway (XI vs. XR/XDH) did.

CONCLUSIONS

Although xylose anomer specificity is often overlooked, the addition of xylose epimerase should be considered as a key engineering step, especially when using the best-performing XI enzyme from L. phytofermentans. Additional research into the binding mechanism of xylose is needed to elucidate the enzyme-specific effect and decrease in xylitol accumulation. Finally, the differences in sugar signaling responses between XI and XR/XDH strains indicate that either the redox balance or the growth rate impacts the SNF1/Mig1p sensing pathway.

Crystal structure of a novel putative sugar isomerase from the psychrophilic bacterium Paenibacillus sp. R4

Sugar isomerases (SIs) catalyze the reversible conversion of aldoses to ketoses. A novel putative SI gene has been identified from the genome sequence information on the psychrophilic bacterium Paenibacillus sp. R4. Here, we report the crystal structure of the putative SI from Paenibacillus sp. R4 (PbSI) at 2.98 Å resolution. It was found that the overall structure of PbSI adopts the triose-phosphate isomerase (TIM) barrel fold. PbSI was also identified to have two heterogeneous metal ions as its cofactors at the active site in the TIM barrel, one of which was confirmed as a Zn ion through X-ray anomalous scattering and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis. Structural comparison with homologous SI proteins from mesophiles, hyperthermophiles, and a psychrophile revealed that key residues in the active site are well conserved and that dimeric PbSI is devoid of the extended C-terminal region, which tetrameric SIs commonly have. Our results provide novel structural information on the cold-adaptable SI, including information on the metal composition in the active site.

Directed evolution and secretory expression of xylose isomerase for improved utilisation of xylose in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

BACKGROUND

Xylose contained in lignocellulosic biomass is an attractive carbon substrate for economically viable conversion to bioethanol. Extensive research has been conducted on xylose fermentation using recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing xylose isomerase (XI) and xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase (XR/XDH) pathways along with the introduction of a xylose transporter and amplification of the downstream pathway. However, the low utilization of xylose in the presence of glucose, due to the varying preference for cellular uptake, is a lingering challenge. Studies so far have mainly focused on xylose utilization inside the cells, but there have been little trials on the conversion of xylose to xylulose by cell before uptake. We hypothesized that the extracellular conversion of xylose to xylulose before uptake would facilitate better utilization of xylose even in the presence of glucose. To verify this, XI from Piromyces sp. was engineered and hyper-secreted in S. cerevisiae for the extracellular conversion of xylose to xylulose.

RESULTS

The optimal pH of XI was lowered from 7.0 to 5.0 by directed evolution to ensure its high activity under the acidic conditions used for yeast fermentation, and hyper-secretion of an engineered XI-76 mutant (E56A and I252M) was accomplished by employing target protein-specific translational fusion partners. The purified XI-76 showed twofold higher activity than that of the wild type at pH 5. The secretory expression of XI-76 in the previously developed xylose utilizing yeast strain, SR8 increased xylose consumption and ethanol production by approximately 7-20% and 15-20% in xylose fermentation and glucose and xylose co-fermentation, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Isomerisation of xylose to xylulose before uptake using extracellular XI was found to be effective in xylose fermentation or glucose/xylose co-fermentation. This suggested that glucose competed less with xylulose than with xylose for uptake by the cell. Consequently, the engineered XI secretion system constructed in this study can pave the way for simultaneous utilization of C5/C6 sugars from the sustainable lignocellulosic biomass.

Paradigm shift in xylose isomerase usage: a novel scenario with distinct applications

Isomerases are enzymes that induce physical changes in a molecule without affecting the original molecular formula. Among this class of enzymes, xylose isomerases (XIs) are the most studied to date, partly due to their extensive application in industrial processes to produce high-fructose corn sirups. In recent years, the need for sustainable initiatives has triggered efforts to improve the biobased economy through the use of renewable raw materials. In this context, D-xylose usage is crucial as it is the second-most abundant sugar in nature. The application of XIs in biotransforming xylose, enabling downstream metabolism in several microorganisms, is a smart strategy for ensuring a low-carbon footprint and producing several value-added biochemicals with broad industrial applications such as in the food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and polymer industries. Considering recent advancements that have expanded the range of applications of XIs, this review provides a comprehensive and concise overview of XIs, from their primary sources to the biochemical and structural features that influence their mechanisms of action. This comprehensive review may help address the challenges involved in XI applications in different industries and facilitate the exploitation of xylose bioprocesses.

Improved glucose and xylose co-utilization by overexpression of xylose isomerase and/or xylulokinase genes in oleaginous fungus Mucor circinelloides

Most of the oleaginous microorganisms cannot assimilate xylose in the presence of glucose, which is the major bottleneck in the bioconversion of lignocellulose to biodiesel. Our present study revealed that overexpression of xylose isomerase (XI) gene xylA or xylulokinase (XK) gene xks1 increased the xylose consumption by 25 to 37% and enhanced the lipid content by 8 to 28% during co-fermentation of glucose and xylose. In xylA overexpressing strain Mc-XI, the activity of XI was 1.8-fold higher and the mRNA level of xylA at 24 h and 48 h was 11- and 13-fold higher than that of the control, respectively. In xks1 overexpressing strain Mc-XK, the mRNA level of xks1 was 4- to 11-fold of that of the control strain and the highest XK activity of 950 nmol min^-1 mg^-1 at 72 h which was 2-fold higher than that of the control. Additionally, expression of a translational fusion of xylA and xks1 further enhanced the xylose utilization rate by 45%. Our results indicated that overexpression of xylA and/or xks1 is a promising strategy to improve the xylose and glucose co-utilization, alleviate the glucose repression, and produce lipid from lignocellulosic biomass in the oleaginous fungus M. circinelloides. KEY POINTS: • Overexpressing xylA or xks1 increased the xylose consumption and the lipid content. • The xylose isomerase activity and the xylA mRNA level were enhanced in strain Mc-XI. • Co-expression of xylA and xks1 further enhanced the xylose utilization rate by 45%.

Crystal structure of the metal-free state of glucose isomerase reveals its minimal open configuration for metal binding

Glucose/xylose isomerase catalyzes the reversible isomerization of d-glucose and d-xylose to d-fructose and d-xylulose, respectively. This enzyme is not only involved in sugar metabolism but also has industrial applications, such as in the production of high fructose corn syrup and bioethanol. Various crystal structures of glucose isomerase have shown the binding configuration of the substrate and its molecular mechanism; however, the metal binding mechanism required for the isomerization reaction has not been fully elucidated. To better understand the functional metal binding, the crystal structures of the metal-bound and metal-free states of Streptomyces rubiginosus glucose isomerase (SruGI) were determined at 1.4 Å and 1.5 Å resolution, respectively. In the meal-bound state of SruGI, Mg²⁺ is bound at the M1 and M2 sites, while in the metal-free state, these sites are occupied by water molecules. Structural comparison between the metal binding sites of the metal-bound and metal-free states of SruGI revealed that residues Glu217 and Asp257 exhibit a rigid configuration at the bottom of the metal binding site, suggesting that they serve as a metal-binding platform that defined the location of the metal. In contrast, the side chains of Glu218, His220, Asp255, Asp257, and Asp287 showed configuration changes such as shifts and rotations. Notably, in the metal-free state, the side chains of these amino acids are shifted away from the metal binding site, indicating that the metal-binding residues exhibit a minimal open configuration, which allows metal binding without large conformational changes.

Pentose degradation in archaea: Halorhabdus species degrade D-xylose, L-arabinose and D-ribose via bacterial-type pathways

The degradation of the pentoses D-xylose, L-arabinose and D-ribose in the domain of archaea, in Haloferax volcanii and in Haloarcula and Sulfolobus species, has been shown to proceed via oxidative pathways to generate α-ketoglutarate. Here, we report that the haloarchaeal Halorhabdus species utilize the bacterial-type non-oxidative degradation pathways for pentoses generating xylulose-5-phosphate. The genes of these pathways are each clustered and were constitutively expressed. Selected enzymes involved in D-xylose degradation, xylose isomerase and xylulokinase, and those involved in L-arabinose degradation, arabinose isomerase and ribulokinase, were characterized. Further, D-ribose degradation in Halorhabdus species involves ribokinase, ribose-5-phosphate isomerase and D-ribulose-5-phosphate-3-epimerase. Ribokinase of Halorhabdus tiamatea and ribose-5-phosphate isomerase of Halorhabdus utahensis were characterized. This is the first report of pentose degradation via the bacterial-type pathways in archaea, in Halorhabdus species that likely acquired these pathways from bacteria. The utilization of bacterial-type pathways of pentose degradation rather than the archaeal oxidative pathways generating α-ketoglutarate might be explained by an incomplete gluconeogenesis in Halorhabdus species preventing the utilization of α-ketoglutarate in the anabolism.

Structure-based directed evolution improves S. cerevisiae growth on xylose by influencing in vivo enzyme performance

BACKGROUND

Efficient bioethanol production from hemicellulose feedstocks by Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires xylose utilization. Whereas S. cerevisiae does not metabolize xylose, engineered strains that express xylose isomerase can metabolize xylose by converting it to xylulose. For this, the type II xylose isomerase from Piromyces (PirXI) is used but the in vivo activity is rather low and very high levels of the enzyme are needed for xylose metabolism. In this study, we explore the use of protein engineering and in vivo selection to improve the performance of PirXI. Recently solved crystal structures were used to focus mutagenesis efforts.

RESULTS

We constructed focused mutant libraries of Piromyces xylose isomerase by substitution of second shell residues around the substrate- and metal-binding sites. Following library transfer to S. cerevisiae and selection for enhanced xylose-supported growth under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, two novel xylose isomerase mutants were obtained, which were purified and subjected to biochemical and structural analysis. Apart from a small difference in response to metal availability, neither the new mutants nor mutants described earlier showed significant changes in catalytic performance under various in vitro assay conditions. Yet, in vivo performance was clearly improved. The enzymes appeared to function suboptimally in vivo due to enzyme loading with calcium, which gives poor xylose conversion kinetics. The results show that better in vivo enzyme performance is poorly reflected in kinetic parameters for xylose isomerization determined in vitro with a single type of added metal.

CONCLUSION

This study shows that in vivo selection can identify xylose isomerase mutants with only minor changes in catalytic properties measured under standard conditions. Metal loading of xylose isomerase expressed in yeast is suboptimal and strongly influences kinetic properties. Metal uptake, distribution and binding to xylose isomerase are highly relevant for rapid xylose conversion and may be an important target for optimizing yeast xylose metabolism.

Improved simultaneous co-fermentation of glucose and xylose by Saccharomyces cerevisiae for efficient lignocellulosic biorefinery

BACKGROUND

Lignocellulosic biorefinery offers economical and sustainable production of fuels and chemicals. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a promising industrial host for biorefinery, has been intensively developed to expand its product profile. However, the sequential and slow conversion of xylose into target products remains one of the main challenges for realizing efficient industrial lignocellulosic biorefinery.

RESULTS

In this study, we developed a powerful mixed-sugar co-fermenting strain of S. cerevisiae, XUSEA, with improved xylose conversion capacity during simultaneous glucose/xylose co-fermentation. To reinforce xylose catabolism, the overexpression target in the pentose phosphate pathway was selected using a DNA assembler method and overexpressed increasing xylose consumption and ethanol production by twofold. The performance of the newly engineered strain with improved xylose catabolism was further boosted by elevating fermentation temperature and thus significantly reduced the co-fermentation time by half. Through combined efforts of reinforcing the pathway of xylose catabolism and elevating the fermentation temperature, XUSEA achieved simultaneous co-fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates, composed of 39.6 g L^-1 glucose and 23.1 g L^-1 xylose, within 24 h producing 30.1 g L^-1 ethanol with a yield of 0.48 g g^-1.

CONCLUSIONS

Owing to its superior co-fermentation performance and ability for further engineering, XUSEA has potential as a platform in a lignocellulosic biorefinery toward realizing a more economical and sustainable process for large-scale bioethanol production.

Molecular evolutionary engineering of xylose isomerase to improve its catalytic activity and performance of micro-aerobic glucose/xylose co-fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

BACKGROUND

Expression of d-xylose isomerase having high catalytic activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) is a prerequisite for efficient and economical production of bioethanol from cellulosic biomass. Although previous studies demonstrated functional expression of several xylose isomerases (XI) in S. cerevisiae, identification of XIs having higher catalytic activity is needed. Here, we report a new strategy to improve xylose fermentation in the S. cerevisiae strain IR-2 that involves an evolutionary engineering to select top-performing XIs from eight previously reported XIs derived from various species.

RESULTS

Eight XI genes shown to have good expression in S. cerevisiae were introduced into the strain IR-2 having a deletion of GRE3 and XKS1 overexpression that allows use of d-xylose as a carbon source. Each transformant was evaluated under aerobic and micro-aerobic culture conditions. The strain expressing XI from Lachnoclostridium phytofermentans ISDg (LpXI) had the highest d-xylose consumption rate after 72 h of micro-aerobic fermentation on d-glucose and d-xylose mixed medium. To enhance LpXI catalytic activity, we performed random mutagenesis using error-prone polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which yielded two LpXI candidates, SS82 and SS92, that showed markedly improved fermentation performance. The LpXI genes in these clones carried either T63I or V162A/N303T point mutations. The SS120 strain expressing LpXI with the double mutation of T63I/V162A assimilated nearly 85 g/L d-glucose and 35 g/L d-xylose to produce 53.3 g/L ethanol in 72 h with an ethanol yield of approximately 0.44 (g/g-input sugars). An in vitro enzyme assay showed that, compared to wild-type, the LpXI double mutant in SS120 had a considerably higher V _max (0.107 µmol/mg protein/min) and lower K _m (37.1 mM).

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that LpXI has the highest d-xylose consumption rate among the XIs expressed in IR-2 under micro-aerobic co-fermentation conditions. A combination of novel mutations (T63I and V162A) significantly improved the enzymatic activity of LpXI, indicating that LpXI-T63I/V162A would be a potential construct for highly efficient production of cellulosic ethanol.

Understanding xylose isomerase from Burkholderia cenocepacia: insights into structure and functionality for ethanol production

The inability of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce ethanol from xylose has hampered the biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass. However, prior studies reveal that functional expression of xylose isomerase (XI) from Burkholderia cenocepacia (XylA_Bc) in S. cerevisiae has remarkably improved xylose consumption and ethanol productivity. Yet, little is known about kinetic and structural properties of this enzyme. Hereby, a purified recombinant XylA was assayed in vitro, showing optimal enzyme activity at 37 °C and pH 7.2. The K_m of XylA for d-xylose was at least threefold lower than the K_m results for any XI published to date (e.g. XylA from Piromyces sp.). In addition, oligomerization behavior as a tetramer was observed for XylA in solution. Functional and structural comparative analyses amongst three microbial XIs were further performed as theoretical models, showing that xylose orientation at the active site was highly conserved among the XIs. Mg²⁺ ions anchor the sugar and guide its pyranoside oxygen towards a histidine residue present at the active site, allowing an acid–base reaction, linearizing xylose. Electrostatic surface analyses showed that small variations in the net charge distribution and dipole moment could directly affect the way the substrate interacts with the protein, thus altering its kinetic properties. Accordingly, in silico modeling suggested the tetramer may be the major functional form. These analyses and the resulting model promote a better understanding of this protein family and pave the way to further protein engineering and application of XylA in the ethanol industry.

Xylose fermentation efficiency of industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast with separate or combined xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase and xylose isomerase pathways

BACKGROUND

Xylose isomerase (XI) and xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase (XR/XDH) pathways have been extensively used to confer xylose assimilation capacity to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and tackle one of the major bottlenecks in the attainment of economically viable lignocellulosic ethanol production. Nevertheless, there is a lack of studies comparing the efficiency of those pathways both separately and combined. In this work, the XI and/or XR/XDH pathways were introduced into two robust industrial S. cerevisiae strains, evaluated in synthetic media and corn cob hemicellulosic hydrolysate and the results were correlated with the differential enzyme activities found in the xylose-pathway engineered strains.

RESULTS

The sole expression of XI was found to increase the fermentative capacity of both strains in synthetic media at 30 °C and 40 °C: decreasing xylitol accumulation and improving xylose consumption and ethanol production. Similar results were observed in fermentations of detoxified hydrolysate. However, in the presence of lignocellulosic-derived inhibitors, a positive synergistic effect resulted from the expression of both XI and XR/XDH, possibly caused by a cofactor equilibrium between the XDH and furan detoxifying enzymes, increasing the ethanol yield by more than 38%.

CONCLUSIONS

This study clearly shows an advantage of using the XI from Clostridium phytofermentans to attain high ethanol productivities and yields from xylose. Furthermore, and for the first time, the simultaneous utilization of XR/XDH and XI pathways was compared to the single expression of XR/XDH or XI and was found to improve ethanol production from non-detoxified hemicellulosic hydrolysates. These results extend the knowledge regarding S. cerevisiae xylose assimilation metabolism and pave the way for the construction of more efficient strains for use in lignocellulosic industrial processes.

Engineering xylose metabolism in thraustochytrid T18

BACKGROUND

Thraustochytrids are heterotrophic, oleaginous, marine protists with a significant potential for biofuel production. High-value co-products can off-set production costs; however, the cost of raw materials, and in particular carbon, is a major challenge to developing an economical viable production process. The use of hemicellulosic carbon derived from agricultural waste, which is rich in xylose and glucose, has been proposed as a sustainable and low-cost approach. Thraustochytrid strain T18 is a commercialized environmental isolate that readily consumes glucose, attaining impressive biomass, and oil production levels. However, neither thraustochytrid growth capabilities in the presence of xylose nor a xylose metabolic pathway has been described. The aims of this study were to identify and characterize the xylose metabolism pathway of T18 and, through genetic engineering, develop a strain capable of growth on hemicellulosic sugars.

RESULTS

Characterization of T18 performance in glucose/xylose media revealed diauxic growth and copious extracellular xylitol production. Furthermore, T18 did not grow in media containing xylose as the only carbon source. We identified, cloned, and functionally characterized a xylose isomerase. Transcriptomics indicated that this xylose isomerase gene is upregulated when xylose is consumed by the cells. Over-expression of the native xylose isomerase in T18, creating strain XI 16, increased xylose consumption from 5.2 to 7.6 g/L and reduced extracellular xylitol from almost 100% to 68%. Xylose utilization efficiency of this strain was further enhanced by over-expressing a heterologous xylulose kinase to reduce extracellular xylitol to 20%. Moreover, the ability to grow in media containing xylose as a sole sugar was dependent on the copy number of both xylose isomerase and xylulose kinase present. In fed-batch fermentations, the best xylose metabolizing isolate, XI-XK 7, used 137 g of xylose versus 39 g by wild type and produced more biomass and fatty acid.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of a typically prokaryotic xylose isomerase and xylitol production through a typically eukaryotic xylose reductase pathway in T18 is the first report of an organism naturally encoding enzymes from two native xylose metabolic pathways. Our newly engineered strains pave the way for the growth of T18 on waste hemicellulosic feedstocks for biofuel production.

Systematic optimization of gene expression of pentose phosphate pathway enhances ethanol production from a glucose/xylose mixed medium in a recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) plays an important role in the synthesis of ribonucleotides and aromatic amino acids. During bioethanol production from cellulosic biomass composed mainly of d-glucose and d-xylose, the PPP is also involved in xylose metabolism by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although the activities and thermostabilities of the four PPP enzymes (transaldolase: TAL1, transketolase: TKL1, ribose-5-phosphate ketol-isomerase: RKI1 and d-ribulose-5-phosphate 3-epimerase: RPE1) can affect the efficiency of cellulosic ethanol production at high temperatures, little is known about the suitable expression levels of these PPP genes. Here, we overexpressed PPP genes from S. cerevisiae and the thermotolerant yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus either singly or in combination in recombinant yeast strains harboring a mutant of xylose isomerase (XI) and evaluated xylose consumption and ethanol production of these yeast transformants in glucose/xylose mixed media at 36 °C. Among the PPP genes examined, we found that: (1) strains that overexpressed S. cerevisiae TKL1 exhibited the highest rate of xylose consumption relative to strains that overexpressed other PPP genes alone; (2) overexpression of RKI1 and TAL1 derived from K. marxianus with S. cerevisiae TKL1 increased the xylose consumption rate by 1.87-fold at 24 h relative to the control strain (from 0.55 to 1.03 g/L/h); (3) the strains with XI showed higher ethanol yield than strains with xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase and (4) PHO13 disruption did not improve xylose assimilation under the experimental conditions. Together these results indicated that optimization of PPP activity improves xylose metabolism in genetically engineered yeast strains, which could be useful for commercial production of ethanol from cellulosic material.

Structural analysis of substrate recognition by glucose isomerase in Mn2+ binding mode at M2 site in S. rubiginosus

Glucose isomerase (GI) catalyzes the reversible enzymatic isomerization of d-glucose and d-xylose to d-fructose and d-xylulose, respectively. This is one of the most important enzymes in the production of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and biofuel. We recently determined the crystal structure of GI from S. rubiginosus (SruGI) complexed with a xylitol inhibitor in one metal binding mode. Although we assessed inhibitor binding at the M1 site, the metal binding at the M2 site and the substrate recognition mechanism for SruGI remains the unclear. Here, we report the crystal structure of the two metal binding modes of SruGI and its complex with glucose. This study provides a snapshot of metal binding at the SruGI M2 site in the presence of Mn²⁺, but not in the presence of Mg²⁺. Metal binding at the M2 site elicits a configuration change at the M1 site. Glucose molecule can only bind to the M1 site in presence of Mn²⁺ at the M2 site. Glucose and Mn²⁺ at the M2 site were bridged by water molecules using a hydrogen bonding network. The metal binding geometry of the M2 site indicates a distorted octahedral coordination with an angle of 55-110°, whereas the M1 site has a relatively stable octahedral coordination with an angle of 85-95°. We suggest a two-step sequential process for SruGI substrate recognition, in Mn²⁺ binding mode, at the M2 site. Our results provide a better understanding of the molecular role of the M2 site in GI substrate recognition.

Conversion of an inactive xylose isomerase into a functional enzyme by co-expression of GroEL-GroES chaperonins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

BACKGROUND

Second-generation ethanol production is a clean bioenergy source with potential to mitigate fossil fuel emissions. The engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for xylose utilization is an essential step towards the production of this biofuel. Though xylose isomerase (XI) is the key enzyme for xylose conversion, almost half of the XI genes are not functional when expressed in S. cerevisiae. To date, protein misfolding is the most plausible hypothesis to explain this phenomenon.

RESULTS

This study demonstrated that XI from the bacterium Propionibacterium acidipropionici becomes functional in S. cerevisiae when co-expressed with GroEL-GroES chaperonin complex from Escherichia coli. The developed strain BTY34, harboring the chaperonin complex, is able to efficiently convert xylose to ethanol with a yield of 0.44 g ethanol/g xylose. Furthermore, the BTY34 strain presents a xylose consumption rate similar to those observed for strains carrying the widely used XI from the fungus Orpinomyces sp. In addition, the tetrameric XI structure from P. acidipropionici showed an elevated number of hydrophobic amino acid residues on the surface of protein when compared to XI commonly expressed in S. cerevisiae.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our results, we elaborate an extensive discussion concerning the uncertainties that surround heterologous expression of xylose isomerases in S. cerevisiae. Probably, a correct folding promoted by GroEL-GroES could solve some issues regarding a limited or absent XI activity in S. cerevisiae. The strains developed in this work have promising industrial characteristics, and the designed strategy could be an interesting approach to overcome the non-functionality of bacterial protein expression in yeasts.

Quantitative metabolomics of a xylose-utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain expressing the Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron xylose isomerase on glucose and xylose

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae cannot utilize xylose, but the introduction of a xylose isomerase that functions well in yeast will help overcome the limitations of the fungal oxido-reductive pathway. In this study, a diploid S. cerevisiae S288c[2n YMX12] strain was constructed expressing the Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron xylA (XI) and the Scheffersomyces stipitis xyl3 (XK) and the changes in the metabolite pools monitored over time. Cultivation on xylose generally resulted in gradual changes in metabolite pool size over time, whereas more dramatic fluctuations were observed with cultivation on glucose due to the diauxic growth pattern. The low G6P and F1,6P levels observed with cultivation on xylose resulted in the incomplete activation of the Crabtree effect, whereas the high PEP levels is indicative of carbon starvation. The high UDP-D-glucose levels with cultivation on xylose indicated that the carbon was channeled toward biomass production. The adenylate and guanylate energy charges were tightly regulated by the cultures, while the catabolic and anabolic reduction charges fluctuated between metabolic states. This study helped elucidate the metabolite distribution that takes place under Crabtree-positive and Crabtree-negative conditions when cultivating S. cerevisiae on glucose and xylose, respectively.

Screening and evolution of a novel protist xylose isomerase from the termite Reticulitermes speratus for efficient xylose fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

BACKGROUND

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a promising host for lignocellulosic bioethanol production, is unable to metabolize xylose. In attempts to confer xylose utilization ability in S. cerevisiae, a number of xylose isomerase (XI) genes have been expressed heterologously in this yeast. Although several of these XI encoding genes were functionally expressed in S. cerevisiae, the need still exists for a S. cerevisiae strain with improved xylose utilization ability for use in the commercial production of bioethanol. Although currently much effort has been devoted to achieve the objective, one of the solutions is to search for a new XI gene that would confer superior xylose utilization in S. cerevisiae. Here, we searched for novel XI genes from the protists residing in the hindgut of the termite Reticulitermes speratus.

RESULTS

Eight novel XI genes were obtained from a cDNA library, prepared from the protists of the R. speratus hindgut, by PCR amplification using degenerated primers based on highly conserved regions of amino acid sequences of different XIs. Phylogenetic analysis classified these cloned XIs into two groups, one showed relatively high similarities to Bacteroidetes and the other was comparatively similar to Firmicutes. The growth rate and the xylose consumption rate of the S. cerevisiae strain expressing the novel XI, which exhibited highest XI activity among the eight XIs, were superior to those exhibited by the strain expressing the XI gene from Piromyces sp. E2. Substitution of the asparagine residue at position 337 of the novel XI with a cysteine further improved the xylose utilization ability of the yeast strain. Interestingly, introducing point mutations in the corresponding asparagine residues in XIs originated from other organisms, such as Piromyces sp. E2 or Clostridium phytofermentans, similarly improved xylose utilization in S. cerevisiae.

CONCLUSIONS

A novel XI gene conferring superior xylose utilization in S. cerevisiae was successfully isolated from the protists in the termite hindgut. Isolation of this XI gene and identification of the point mutation described in this study might contribute to improving the productivity of industrial bioethanol.

Effect of manganese ions on ethanol fermentation by xylose isomerase expressing Saccharomyces cerevisiae under acetic acid stress

The efficient fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates in the presence of inhibitors is highly desirable for bioethanol production. Among the inhibitors, acetic acid released during the pretreatment of lignocellulose negatively affects the fermentation performance of biofuel producing organisms. In this study, we evaluated the inhibitory effects of acetic acid on glucose and xylose fermentation by a high performance engineered strain of xylose utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae, SXA-R2P-E, harboring a xylose isomerase based pathway. The presence of acetic acid severely decreased the xylose fermentation performance of this strain. However, the acetic acid stress was alleviated by metal ion supplementation resulting in a 52% increased ethanol production rate under 2g/L of acetic acid stress. This study shows the inhibitory effect of acetic acid on an engineered isomerase-based xylose utilizing strain and suggests a simple but effective method to improve the co-fermentation performance under acetic acid stress for efficient bioethanol production.

Engineering a wild-type diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain for second-generation bioethanol production

Background

The cost-effective production of second-generation bioethanol, which is made from lignocellulosic materials, has to face the following two problems: co-fermenting xylose with glucose and enhancing the strain’s tolerance to lignocellulosic inhibitors. Based on our previous study, the wild-type diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain BSIF with robustness and good xylose metabolism genetic background was used as a chassis for constructing efficient xylose-fermenting industrial strains. The performance of the resulting strains in the fermentation of media with sugars and hydrolysates was investigated.

Results

The following two novel heterologous genes were integrated into the genome of the chassis cell: the mutant MGT05196^N360F, which encodes a xylose-specific, glucose-insensitive transporter and is derived from the Meyerozyma guilliermondii transporter gene MGT05196, and Ru-xylA (where Ru represents the rumen), which encodes a xylose isomerase (XI) with higher activity in S. cerevisiae. Additionally, endogenous modifications were also performed, including the overproduction of the xylulokinase Xks1p and the non-oxidative PPP (pentose phosphate pathway), and the inactivation of the aldose reductase Gre3p and the alkaline phosphatase Pho13p. These rationally designed genetic modifications, combined with alternating adaptive evolutions in xylose and SECS liquor (the leach liquor of steam-exploding corn stover), resulted in a final strain, LF1, with excellent xylose fermentation and enhanced inhibitor resistance. The specific xylose consumption rate of LF1 reached as high as 1.089 g g⁻¹ h⁻¹ with xylose as the sole carbon source. Moreover, its highly synchronized utilization of xylose and glucose was particularly significant; 77.6% of xylose was consumed along with glucose within 12 h, and the ethanol yield was 0.475 g g⁻¹, which is more than 93% of the theoretical yield. Additionally, LF1 performed well in fermentations with two different lignocellulosic hydrolysates.

Conclusion

The strain LF1 co-ferments glucose and xylose efficiently and synchronously. This result highlights the great potential of LF1 for the practical production of second-generation bioethanol.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40643-016-0126-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Ethanol production from lignocellulosic hydrolysates using engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae harboring xylose isomerase-based pathway

The efficient co-fermentation of glucose and xylose is necessary for the economically feasible bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Even with xylose utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the efficiency of the lignocellulosic ethanol production remains suboptimal mainly due to the low conversion yield of xylose to ethanol. In this study, we evaluated the co-fermentation performances of SXA-R2P-E, a recently engineered isomerase-based xylose utilizing strain, in mixed sugars and in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. In a high-sugar fermentation with 70g/L of glucose and 40g/L of xylose, SXA-R2P-E produced 50g/L of ethanol with an yield of 0.43gethanol/gsugars at 72h. From dilute acid-pretreated hydrolysates of rice straw and hardwood (oak), the strain produced 18-21g/L of ethanol with among the highest yield of 0.43-0.46gethanol/gsugars ever reported. This study shows a highly promising potential of a xylose isomerase-expressing strain as an industrially relevant ethanol producer from lignocellulosic hydrolysates.

Genomic analysis of a xylose operon and characterization of novel xylose isomerase and xylulokinase from Bacillus coagulans NL01

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the xylose operon and properties of xylose isomerase and xylulokinase in Bacillus coagulans that can effectively ferment xylose to lactic acid.

RESULTS

The xylose operon is widely present in B. coagulans. It is composed of four putative ORFs. Novel xylA and xylB from B. coagulans NL01 were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Sequence of xylose isomerase was more conserved than that of xylulokinase. Both the enzymes exhibited maximum activities at pH 7-8 but with a high temperature maximum of 80-85 °C, divalent metal ion was prerequisite for their activation. Xylose isomerase and xylulokinase were most effectively activated by Ni(2+) and Co(2+), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Genomic analysis of xylose operon has contributed to understanding xylose metabolism in B. coagulans and the novel xylose isomerase and xylulokinase might provide new alternatives for metabolic engineering of other strains to improve their fermentation performance on xylose.

Disruption of PHO13 improves ethanol production via the xylose isomerase pathway

Xylose is the second most abundant sugar in lignocellulosic materials and can be converted to ethanol by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains expressing heterologous genes involved in xylose assimilation pathways. Recent research demonstrated that disruption of the alkaline phosphatase gene, PHO13, enhances ethanol production from xylose by a strain expressing the xylose reductase (XR) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) genes; however, the yield of ethanol is poor. In this study, PHO13 was disrupted in a recombinant strain harboring multiple copies of the xylose isomerase (XI) gene derived from Orpinomyces sp., coupled with overexpression of the endogenous xylulokinase (XK) gene and disruption of GRE3, which encodes aldose reductase. The resulting YΔGP/XK/XI strain consumed 2.08 g/L/h of xylose and produced 0.88 g/L/h of volumetric ethanol, for an 86.8 % theoretical ethanol yield, and only YΔGP/XK/XI demonstrated increase in cell concentration. Transcriptome analysis indicated that expression of genes involved in the pentose phosphate pathway (GND1, SOL3, TAL1, RKI1, and TKL1) and TCA cycle and respiratory chain (NDE1, ACO1, ACO2, SDH2, IDH1, IDH2, ATP7, ATP19, SDH4, SDH3, CMC2, and ATP15) was upregulated in the YΔGP/XK/XI strain. And the expression levels of 125 cell cycle genes were changed by deletion of PHO13.

Comparison of xylose fermentation by two high-performance engineered strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Economical biofuel production from plant biomass requires the conversion of both cellulose and hemicellulose in the plant cell wall. The best industrial fermentation organism, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been developed to utilize xylose by heterologously expressing either a xylose reductase/xylitol dehydrogenase (XR/XDH) pathway or a xylose isomerase (XI) pathway. Although it has been proposed that the optimal means for fermenting xylose into biofuels would use XI instead of the XR/XDH pathway, no clear comparison of the best publicly-available yeast strains engineered to use XR/XDH or XI has been published. We therefore compared two of the best-performing engineered yeast strains in the public domain-one using the XR/XDH pathway and another using XI-in anaerobic xylose fermentations. We find that, regardless of conditions, the strain using XR/XDH has substantially higher productivity compared to the XI strain. By contrast, the XI strain has better yields in nearly all conditions tested.

Engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to utilize xylan as a sole carbohydrate source by co-expression of an endoxylanase, xylosidase and a bacterial xylose isomerase

Xylan represents a major component of lignocellulosic biomass, and its utilization by Saccharomyces cerevisiae is crucial for the cost effective production of ethanol from plant biomass. A recombinant xylan-degrading and xylose-assimilating Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain was engineered by co-expression of the xylanase (xyn2) of Trichoderma reesei, the xylosidase (xlnD) of Aspergillus niger, the Scheffersomyces stipitis xylulose kinase (xyl3) together with the codon-optimized xylose isomerase (xylA) from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Under aerobic conditions, the recombinant strain displayed a complete respiratory mode, resulting in higher yeast biomass production and consequently higher enzyme production during growth on xylose as carbohydrate source. Under oxygen limitation, the strain produced ethanol from xylose at a maximum theoretical yield of ~90 %. This study is one of only a few that demonstrates the construction of a S. cerevisiae strain capable of growth on xylan as sole carbohydrate source by means of recombinant enzymes.

Genome sequence of carboxylesterase, carboxylase and xylose isomerase producing alkaliphilic haloarchaeon Haloterrigena turkmenica WANU15

We report draft genome sequence of Haloterrigena turkmenica strain WANU15, isolated from Soda Lake. The draft genome size is 2,950,899 bp with a G + C content of 64% and contains 49 RNA sequence. The genome sequence can be accessed at DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank under the accession no. LKCV00000000.

Functional expression of xylose isomerase in flocculating industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain for bioethanol production

Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains with xylose isomerase (XI) pathway were constructed using a flocculating industrial strain (YC-8) as the host. Both strains expressing wild-type xylA (coding XI) from the fungus Orpinomyces sp. and the bacterium Prevotella ruminicola, respectively, showed better growth ability and fermentation capacity when using xylose as the sole sugar than most of the reported strains expressing XI. Codon optimization of both XIs did not improve the xylose fermentation ability of the strains. Adaption significantly increased XI activity resulting in improved growth and fermentation. The strains expressing codon-optimized XI showed a higher increase in xylose consumption and ethanol production compared to strains expressing wild XI. Among all strains, the adapted strain YCPA2E expressing XI from P. ruminicola showed the best performance in the fermentation of xylose to ethanol. After 48 h of fermentation, YCPA2E assimilated 16.95 g/L xylose and produced 6.98 g/L ethanol. These results indicate that YC-8 is a suitable host strain for XI expression, especially for the codon-optimized XI originating from P. ruminicola.

Enhanced xylose fermentation and ethanol production by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain

We have recently demonstrated that heterologous expression of a bacterial xylose isomerase gene (xylA) of Burkholderia cenocepacia enabled a laboratorial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain to ferment xylose anaerobically, without xylitol accumulation. However, the recombinant yeast fermented xylose slowly. In this study, an evolutionary engineering strategy was applied to improve xylose fermentation by the xylA-expressing yeast strain, which involved sequential batch cultivation on xylose. The resulting yeast strain co-fermented glucose and xylose rapidly and almost simultaneously, exhibiting improved ethanol production and productivity. It was also observed that when cells were grown in a medium containing higher glucose concentrations before being transferred to fermentation medium, higher rates of xylose consumption and ethanol production were obtained, demonstrating that xylose utilization was not regulated by catabolic repression. Results obtained by qPCR demonstrate that the efficiency in xylose fermentation showed by the evolved strain is associated, to the increase in the expression of genes HXT2 and TAL1, which code for a low-affinity hexose transporter and transaldolase, respectively. The ethanol productivity obtained after the introduction of only one genetic modification and the submission to a one-stage process of evolutionary engineering was equivalent to those of strains submitted to extensive metabolic and evolutionary engineering, providing solid basis for future applications of this strategy in industrial strains.

Analysis of bacterial xylose isomerase gene diversity using gene-targeted metagenomics

Bacterial xylose isomerases (XI) are promising resources for efficient biofuel production from xylose in lignocellulosic biomass. Here, we investigated xylose isomerase gene (xylA) diversity in three soil metagenomes differing in plant vegetation and geographical location, using an amplicon pyrosequencing approach and two newly-designed primer sets. A total of 158,555 reads from three metagenomic DNA replicates for each soil sample were classified into 1127 phylotypes, detected in triplicate and defined by 90% amino acid identity. The phylotype coverage was estimated to be within the range of 84.0-92.7%. The xylA gene phylotypes obtained were phylogenetically distributed across the two known xylA groups. They shared 49-100% identities with their closest-related XI sequences in GenBank. Phylotypes demonstrating <90% identity with known XIs in the database accounted for 89% of the total xylA phylotypes. The differences among xylA members and compositions within each soil sample were significantly smaller than they were between different soils based on a UniFrac distance analysis, suggesting soil-specific xylA genotypes and taxonomic compositions. The differences among xylA members and their compositions in the soil were strongly correlated with 16S rRNA variation between soil samples, also assessed by amplicon pyrosequencing. This is the first report of xylA diversity in environmental samples assessed by amplicon pyrosequencing. Our data provide information regarding xylA diversity in nature, and can be a basis for the screening of novel xylA genotypes for practical applications.

Systematic and evolutionary engineering of a xylose isomerase-based pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for efficient conversion yields

BACKGROUND

Efficient xylose fermentation by yeast would improve the economical and sustainable nature of biofuels production from lignocellulosic biomass. However, the efficiency of xylose fermentation by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is suboptimal, especially in conversion yield, despite decades of research. Here, we present an improved performance of S. cerevisiae in xylose fermentation through systematic and evolutionary engineering approaches.

RESULTS

The engineering of S. cerevisiae harboring xylose isomerase-based pathway significantly improved the xylose fermentation performance without the need for intensive downstream pathway engineering. This strain contained two integrated copies of a mutant xylose isomerase, gre3 and pho13 deletion and XKS1 and S. stipitis tal1 overexpression. This strain was subjected to rapid adaptive evolution to yield the final, evolved strain (SXA-R2P-E) which could efficiently convert xylose to ethanol with a yield of 0.45 g ethanol/g xylose, the highest yield reported to date. The xylose consumption and ethanol production rates, 0.98 g xylose g cell(-1) h(-1) and 0.44 g ethanol g cell(-1) h(-1), respectively, were also among the highest reported. During this process, the positive effect of a pho13 deletion was identified for a xylose isomerase-containing strain and resulted in up to an 8.2-fold increase in aerobic growth rate on xylose. Moreover, these results demonstrated that low inoculum size and the cell transfer at exponential phase was found to be the most effective adaptation strategy during a batch culture adaptation process.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the xylose isomerase pathway should be the pathway of choice for efficient xylose fermentation in S. cerevisiae as it can outperform strains with the oxidoreductase pathway in terms of yield and ethanol production and xylose consumption rates. Consequently, the strain developed in this study could significantly improve the prospect of biofuels production from lignocellulosic biomass.

Evaluation of glycosyl hydrolases from thermophilic fungi for their potential in bioconversion of alkali and biologically treated Parthenium hysterophorus weed and rice straw into ethanol

The aim of this work was to evaluate glycosyl hydrolases produced by diverse thermophilic fungal strains for saccharification of alkali and biologically (Trametes hirusita/Myrothecium roridum) treated Parthenium hysterophorus and rice straw. The compositional analysis of hydrolysates by HPLC showed distinct profiles of hexose, pentose and oligomeric sugars. Malbranchea cinnamomea was most efficient source of glycosyl hydrolases producing 283.8, 35.9, 129.6, 27,193, 4.66, 7.26(units/gds) of endoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase, β-glucosidase, xylanase, α-αrabinofuranosidase and β xylosidase, respectively. The saccharification of alkali and biologically treated carrot grass by culture extract of M. cinnamomea was further enhanced by supplementation of β-glucosidase produced by Aspergillus sp. mutant "O". The resultant hydrolysates containing glucose/xylose were fermented efficiently to ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae owing to presence of xylose isomerase (0.8 units/gds) activity in culture extract of M. cinnamomea resulting in production of 16.5 and 15.0 g/l of ethanol from alkali treated rice straw and carrot grass, respectively.