Biochemical characterization and low-resolution SAXS structure of two-domain endoglucanase BlCel9 from Bacillus licheniformis

Lignocellulose feedstock constitutes the most abundant carbon source in the biosphere; however, its recalcitrance remains a challenge for microbial conversion into biofuel and bioproducts. Bacillus licheniformis is a microbial mesophilic bacterium capable of secreting a large number of glycoside hydrolase (GH) enzymes, including a glycoside hydrolase from GH family 9 (BlCel9). Here, we conducted biochemical and biophysical studies of recombinant BlCel9, and its low-resolution molecular shape was retrieved from small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data. BlCel9 is an endoglucanase exhibiting maximum catalytic efficiency at pH 7.0 and 60 °C. Furthermore, it retains 80% of catalytic activity within a broad range of pH values (5.5-8.5) and temperatures (up to 50 °C) for extended periods of time (over 48 h). It exhibits the highest hydrolytic activity against phosphoric acid swollen cellulose (PASC), followed by bacterial cellulose (BC), filter paper (FP), and to a lesser extent carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). The HPAEC-PAD analysis of the hydrolytic products demonstrated that the end product of the enzymatic hydrolysis is primarily cellobiose, and also small amounts of glucose, cellotriose, and cellotetraose are produced. SAXS data analysis revealed that the enzyme adopts a monomeric state in solution and has a molecular mass of 65.8 kDa as estimated from SAXS data. The BlCel9 has an elongated shape composed of an N-terminal family 3 carbohydrate-binding module (CBM3c) and a C-terminal GH9 catalytic domain joined together by 20 amino acid residue long linker peptides. The domains are closely juxtaposed in an extended conformation and form a relatively rigid structure in solution, indicating that the interactions between the CBM3c and GH9 catalytic domains might play a key role in cooperative cellulose biomass recognition and hydrolysis.

Topology of the maize mixed linkage (1->3),(1->4)-beta-d-glucan synthase at the Golgi membrane

Mixed-linkage (1-->3),(1-->4)-beta-d-glucan is a plant cell wall polysaccharide composed of cellotriosyl and cellotetraosyl units, with decreasingly smaller amounts of cellopentosyl, cellohexosyl, and higher cellodextrin units, each connected by single (1-->3)-beta-linkages. (1-->3),(1-->4)-beta-Glucan is synthesized in vitro with isolated maize (Zea mays) Golgi membranes and UDP-[(14)C]d-glucose. The (1-->3),(1-->4)-beta-glucan synthase is sensitive to proteinase K digestion, indicating that part of the catalytic domain is exposed to the cytoplasmic face of the Golgi membrane. The detergent [3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonic acid] (CHAPS) also lowers (1-->3),(1-->4)-beta-glucan synthase activity. In each instance, the treatments selectively inhibit formation of the cellotriosyl units, whereas synthesis of the cellotetraosyl units is essentially unaffected. Synthesis of the cellotriosyl units is recovered when a CHAPS-soluble factor is permitted to associate with Golgi membranes at synthesis-enhancing CHAPS concentrations but lost if the CHAPS-soluble fraction is replaced by fresh CHAPS buffer. In contrast to other known Golgi-associated synthases, (1-->3),(1-->4)-beta-glucan synthase behaves as a topologic equivalent of cellulose synthase, where the substrate UDP-glucose is consumed at the cytosolic side of the Golgi membrane, and the glucan product is extruded through the membrane into the lumen. We propose that a cellulose synthase-like core catalytic domain of the (1-->3),(1-->4)-beta-glucan synthase synthesizes cellotetraosyl units and higher even-numbered oligomeric units and that a separate glycosyl transferase, sensitive to proteinase digestion and detergent extraction, associates with it to add the glucosyl residues that complete the cellotriosyl and higher odd-numbered units, and this association is necessary to drive polymer elongation.

L-erythrulose production by oxidative fermentation is catalyzed by PQQ-containing membrane-bound dehydrogenase

Thermotolerant Gluconobacter frateurii CHM 43 was selected for L-erythrulose production from mesoerythritol at higher temperatures. Growing cells and the membrane fraction of the strain rapidly oxidized mesoerythritol to L-erythrulose irreversibly with almost 100% of recovery at 37 degrees C. L-Erythrulose was also produced efficiently by the resting cells at 37 degrees C with 85% recovery. The enzyme responsible for mesoerythritol oxidation was found to be located in the cytoplasmic membrane of the organism. The EDTA-resolved enzyme required PQQ and Ca2+ for L-erythrulose formation, suggesting that the enzyme catalyzing meso-erythritol oxidation was a quinoprotein. Quinoprotein membrane-bound mesoerythritol dehydrogenase (QMEDH) was solubilized and purified to homogeneity. The purified enzyme showed a single band in SDS-PAGE of which the molecular mass corresponded to 80 kDa. The optimum pH of QMEDH was found at pH 5.0. The Michaelis constant of the enzyme was found to be 25 mM for meso-erythritol as the substrate. QMEDH showed a broad substrate specificity toward C3-C6 sugar alcohols in which the erythro form of two hydroxy groups existed adjacent to a primary alcohol group. On the other hand, the cytosolic NAD-denpendent meso-erythritol dehydrogenase (CMEDH) of the same organism was purified to a crystalline state. CMEDH showed a molecular mass of 60 kDa composed of two identical subunits, and an apparent sedimentation constant was 3.6 s. CMEDH catalyzed oxidoreduction between mesoerythritol and L-erythrulose. The oxidation reaction was observed to be reversible in the presence of NAD at alkaline pHs such as 9.0-10.5. L-Erythrulose reduction was found at pH 6.0 with NADH as coenzyme. Judging from the catalytic properties, the NAD-dependent enzyme in the cytosolic fraction was regarded as a typical pentitol dehydrogenase of NAD-dependent and the enzyme was independent of the oxidative fermentation of L-erythrulose production.

Biosynthesis of 1-deoxy-1-imino-D-erythrose 4-phosphate: a defining metabolite in the aminoshikimate pathway

With respect to the source of the nitrogen atom incorporated into the aminoshikimate pathway, d-erythrose 4-phosphate has been proposed to undergo a transamination reaction resulting in formation of 1-deoxy-1-imino-d-erythrose 4-phosphate. Condensation of this metabolite with phosphoenolpyruvate catalyzed by aminoDAHP synthase would then hypothetically form the 4-amino-3,4-dideoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (aminoDAHP), which is the first committed intermediate of the aminoshikimate pathway. However, in vitro formation of aminoDAHP has not been observed. In this account, the possibility is examined that 3-amino-3-deoxy-d-fructose 6-phosphate is the source of the nitrogen atom of the aminoshikimate pathway. Transketolase-catalyzed ketol transfer from 3-amino-3-deoxy-d-fructose 6-phosphate to d-ribose 5-phosphate would hypothetically release 1-deoxy-1-imino-d-erythrose 4-phosphate. Along these lines, a chemoenzymatic synthesis of 3-amino-3-deoxy-d-fructose 6-phosphate was elaborated. Incubation of 3-amino-3-deoxy-d-fructose 6-phosphate in Amycolatopsis mediterranei crude cell lysate with d-ribose 5-phosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate resulted in the formation of aminoDAHP and 3-amino-5-hydroxybenzoic acid. 3-[15N]-Amino-3-deoxy-d-6,6-[2H2]-fructose 6-phosphate was also synthesized and similarly incubated in A. mediterranei crude cell lysate. Retention of both 15N and 2H2 labeling in product aminoDAHP indicates that 3-amino-3-deoxy-d-fructose 6-phosphate is serving as a sequestered form of 1-deoxy-1-imino-d-erythrose 4-phosphate.

One-substrate transketolase-catalyzed reaction

Apart from catalyzing the common two-substrate reaction with ketose as donor substrate and aldose as acceptor substrate, transketolase is also able to catalyze a one-substrate reaction utilizing only ketose (xylulose 5-phosphate) as substrate. The products of this one-substrate reaction were glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and erythrulose. No free glycolaldehyde (a product of xylulose 5-phosphate splitting in the transketolase reaction) was revealed.

Saccharide production from methanol by transposon 5 mutants derived from the extracellular polysaccharide-producing bacterium Methylobacillus sp. strain 12S

A CH3OH-utilizing bacterium that has the ability to produce extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) was isolated from a soil sample, and was identified as the obligate methylotroph Methylobacillus sp. strain 12S on the basis of its 16S rDNA sequence and growth-substrate specificity. The EPS produced by strain 12S was purified and the sugar composition was analysed by GC-MS and HPLC to reveal that the EPS was a heteropolymer composed of glucosyl, galactosyl, and mannosyl residues in the molar ratio 3:1:1. In order to produce mono- and/or oligosaccharides by single-step fermentation from CH3OH, stain 12S was mutagenized by transposon 5. Among eleven EPS-deficient mutants, three strains were found to accumulate significant amounts of reducing sugars in the media. The amounts of the reducing sugars produced by the mutants ( > ca. 700 mg glucose equivalent/l) were > 11-22 times higher than those produced by the wild-type strain (<ca. 60 mg glucose equivalent/l). The GC-MS analysis showed that all the mutants accumulated glucose, erythrose, threose and a disaccharide-like compound in the media.

Oxygenation mechanism of ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. Structure and origin of 2-carboxytetritol 1,4-bisphosphate, a novel O2-dependent side product generated by a site-directed mutant

Site-directed mutagenesis has implicated active-site Lys329 of Rhodospirillum rubrum ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) in promoting the reaction of CO2 with the 2,3-enediol of ribulose bisphosphate and in stabilizing carboxylation intermediates [Hartman, F. C., & Lee, E. H. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 11784-11789; Lorimer, G. H., Chen, Y.-R., & Hartman, F. C. (1993) Biochemistry 32, 9018-9024]. Although the K329A mutant is greatly impaired in carboxylation, it catalyzes formation of the enediol, which is misprocessed to an O2-dependent side product [Harpel, M. R., & Hartman, F. C. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 5553-5561]. We now identify this novel side product as 2-carboxytetritol 1,4-bisphosphate (CTBP) by mass spectrometry, 1H-, 13C-, and 31P-NMR spectroscopy, and periodate oxidation. H2O2 accumulates during formation of CTBP, which we show to be derived from a transient precursor, the dicarbonyl D-glycero-2,3-pentodiulose 1,5-bisphosphate. The isolated dicarbonyl bisphosphate is processed by K329A to CTBP. These results, combined with isotope-labeling studies, suggest that CTBP arises by H2O2 elimination from an improperly stabilized peroxy adduct of the enediol intermediate, followed by rearrangement of the resulting dicarbonyl. Therefore, normal oxygenation, as catalyzed by wild-type Rubisco, is not a spontaneous reaction but must involve stabilization of the peroxy intermediate to mitigate formation of the dicarbonyl bisphosphate and subsequently CTBP. CTBP formation verifies the identity of Rubisco's previously invoked oxygenase intermediate, provides additional mechanistic insight into the oxygenation reaction, and shows that Lys329 promotes oxygenation as well as carboxylation. These results may be relevant to other oxygenases, which also exploit substrate carbanions rather than organic cofactors or transition metals for biological oxygen utilization.