Biomedical subjects

Yuval Shoham

Publications and source records attributed to Yuval Shoham.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2004

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of family 39 beta-D-xylosidase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T-6.

beta-D-Xylosidases (EC 3.2.1.37) are hemicellulases that hydrolyze short xylooligosaccharides into single xylose units. In this study, the crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the beta-D-xylosidase (XynB1) from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T-6, a family 39 glycoside hydrolase, are described. XynB1 is a tetrameric protein consisting of four identical subunits of 503 amino acids and with a calculated molecular weight of 58 001 Da. Both the native and the selenomethionine-containing XynB1 were crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method and the crystals were found to belong to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 92.7, b = 165.7, c = 311.0 A. The native crystals diffracted X-rays to a resolution of 2.1 A.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed2004

Synthesis and evaluation of a mechanism-based inhibitor of KDO8P synthase.

The enzyme 3-deoxy-D-manno-2-octulosonate-8-phosphate (KDO8P) synthase catalyzes the condensation reaction between phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and D-arabinose 5-phosphate (A5P) to produce KDO8P and inorganic phosphate. In attempts to investigate the lack of antibacterial activity of the most potent inhibitor of KDO8P synthase, the amino phosphonophosphate 3, we have synthesized its hydrolytically stable isosteric phosphonate analogue 4 and tested it as an inhibitor of the enzyme. The synthesis of 4 was accomplished in a one step procedure by employing the direct reductive amination in aqueous media between unprotected sugar phosphonate and glyphosate. The analogue 4 proved to be a competitive inhibitor of KDO8P synthase with respect to both substrates A5P and PEP binding. In vitro antibacterial tests against a series of different Gram-negative organisms establish that both inhibitors (3 and 4) lack antibacterial activity probably due to their reduced ability to penetrate the bacterial cell membrane.

Aldehyde-Lyases↗

PubMed2004

A novel Acetivibrio cellulolyticus anchoring scaffoldin that bears divergent cohesins.

Sequencing of a cellulosome-integrating gene cluster in Acetivibrio cellulolyticus was completed. The cluster contains four tandem scaffoldin genes (scaA, scaB, scaC, and scaD) bounded upstream and downstream, respectively, by a presumed cellobiose phosphorylase and a nucleotide methylase. The sequences and properties of scaA, scaB, and scaC were reported previously, and those of scaD are reported here. The scaD gene encodes an 852-residue polypeptide that includes a signal peptide, three cohesins, and a C-terminal S-layer homology (SLH) module. The calculated molecular weight of the mature ScaD is 88,960; a 67-residue linker segment separates cohesins 1 and 2, and two approximately 30-residue linkers separate cohesin 2 from 3 and cohesin 3 from the SLH module. The presence of an SLH module in ScaD indicates its role as an anchoring protein. The first two ScaD cohesins can be classified as type II, similar to the four cohesins of ScaB. Surprisingly, the third ScaD cohesin belongs to the type I cohesins, like the seven ScaA cohesins. ScaD is the first scaffoldin to be described that contains divergent types of cohesins as integral parts of the polypeptide chain. The recognition properties among selected recombinant cohesins and dockerins from the different scaffoldins of the gene cluster were investigated by affinity blotting. The results indicated that the divergent types of ScaD cohesins also differ in their preference of dockerins. ScaD thus plays a dual role, both as a primary scaffoldin, capable of direct incorporation of a single dockerin-borne enzyme, and as a secondary scaffoldin that anchors the major primary scaffoldin, ScaA and its complement of enzymes to the cell surface.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed2004

Effect of dimer dissociation on activity and thermostability of the alpha-glucuronidase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus: dissecting the different oligomeric forms of family 67 glycoside hydrolases.

The oligomeric organization of enzymes plays an important role in many biological processes, such as allosteric regulation, conformational stability and thermal stability. alpha-Glucuronidases are family 67 glycosidases that cleave the alpha-1,2-glycosidic bond between 4-O-methyl-D-glucuronic acid and xylose units as part of an array of hemicellulose-hydrolyzing enzymes. Currently, two crystal structures of alpha-glucuronidases are available, those from Geobacillus stearothermophilus (AguA) and from Cellvibrio japonicus (GlcA67A). Both enzymes are homodimeric, but surprisingly their dimeric organization is different, raising questions regarding the significance of dimerization for the enzymes' activity and stability. Structural comparison of the two enzymes suggests several elements that are responsible for the different dimerization organization. Phylogenetic analysis shows that the alpha-glucuronidases AguA and GlcA67A can be classified into two distinct subfamilies of bacterial alpha-glucuronidases, where the dimer-forming residues of each enzyme are conserved only within its own subfamily. It seems that the different dimeric forms of AguA and GlcA67A represent the two alternative dimeric organizations of these subfamilies. To study the biological significance of the dimerization in alpha-glucuronidases, we have constructed a monomeric form of AguA by mutating three of its interface residues (W328E, R329T, and R665N). The activity of the monomer was significantly lower than the activity of the wild-type dimeric AguA, and the optimal temperature for activity of the monomer was around 35 degrees C, compared to 65 degrees C of the wild-type enzyme. Nevertheless, the melting temperature of the monomeric protein, 72.9 degrees C, was almost identical to that of the wild-type, 73.4 degrees C. It appears that the dimerization of AguA is essential for efficient catalysis and that the dissociation into monomers results in subtle conformational changes in the structure which indirectly influence the active site region and reduce the activity. Structural and mechanistic explanations for these effects are discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2004

Architecture of the Bacteroides cellulosolvens cellulosome: description of a cell surface-anchoring scaffoldin and a family 48 cellulase.

A large gene downstream of the primary Bacteroides cellulosolvens cellulosomal scaffoldin (cipBc, now renamed scaA) was sequenced. The gene, termed scaB, contained an N-terminal leader peptide followed by 10 type I cohesins, an "X" domain of unknown structure and function, and a C-terminal S-layer homology (SLH) surface-anchoring module. In addition, a previously identified gene in a different part of the genome, encoding for a dockerin-borne family 48 cellulosomal glycoside hydrolase (Cel48), was sequenced completely, and a putative cellulosome-related family 9 glycosyl hydrolase was detected. Recombinant fusion proteins, comprising dockerins derived from either the ScaA scaffoldin or Cel48, were overexpressed. Their interaction with ScaA and ScaB cohesins was examined by immunoassay. The results indicated that the ScaB type I cohesin of the new anchoring protein binds selectively to the ScaA dockerin, whereas the Cel48 dockerin binds specifically to the type II ScaA cohesin 5. Thus, by virtue of the 11 type II ScaA cohesins and the 10 type I ScaB cohesins, the relatively simple two-component cellulosome-integrating complex would potentially incorporate 110 enzyme molecules onto the cell surface via the ScaB SLH module. Compared to previously described cellulosome systems, the apparent roles of the B. cellulosolvens cohesins are reversed, in that the type II cohesins are located on the enzyme-binding primary scaffoldin, whereas the type I cohesins are located on the anchoring scaffoldin. The results underscore the extensive diversity in the supramolecular architecture of cellulosome systems in nature.

5' Flanking Region↗

PubMed2004

The cellulosomes: multienzyme machines for degradation of plant cell wall polysaccharides.

The discrete multicomponent, multienzyme cellulosome complex of anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria provides enhanced synergistic activity among the different resident enzymes to efficiently hydrolyze intractable cellulosic and hemicellulosic substrates of the plant cell wall. A pivotal noncatalytic subunit called scaffoldin secures the various enzymatic subunits into the complex via the cohesin-dockerin interaction. The specificity characteristics and tenacious binding between the scaffoldin-based cohesin modules and the enzyme-borne dockerin domains dictate the supramolecular architecture of the cellulosome. The diversity in cellulosome architecture among the known cellulosome-producing bacteria is manifest in the arrangement of their genes in either multiple-scaffoldin or enzyme-linked clusters on the genome. The recently described three-dimensional crystal structure of the cohesin-dockerin heterodimer sheds light on the critical amino acids that contribute to this high-affinity protein-protein interaction. In addition, new information regarding the regulation of cellulosome-related genes, budding genetic tools, and emerging genomics of cellulosome-producing bacteria promises new insight into the assembly and consequences of the multienzyme complex.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2003

Crystal structures of Geobacillus stearothermophilus alpha-glucuronidase complexed with its substrate and products: mechanistic implications.

Alpha-glucuronidases cleave the alpha-1,2-glycosidic bond between 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronic acid and short xylooligomers as part of the hemicellulose degradation system. To date, all of the alpha-glucuronidases are classified as family 67 glycosidases, which catalyze the hydrolysis via the investing mechanism. Here we describe several high resolution crystal structures of the alpha-glucuronidase (AguA) from Geobacillus stearothermophilus, in complex with its substrate and products. In the complex of AguA with the intact substrate, the 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronic acid sugar ring is distorted into a half-chair conformation, which is closer to the planar conformation required for the oxocarbenium ion-like transition state structure. In the active site, a water molecule is coordinated between two carboxylic acids, in an appropriate position to act as a nucleophile. From the structural data it is likely that two carboxylic acids, Asp(364) and Glu(392), activate together the nucleophilic water molecule. The loop carrying the catalytic general acid Glu(285) cannot be resolved in some of the structures but could be visualized in its "open" and "closed" (catalytic) conformations in other structures. The protonated state of Glu(285) is presumably stabilized by its proximity to the negative charge of the substrate, representing a new variation of substrate-assisted catalysis mechanism.

Geobacter↗

PubMed2003

Biotransformations of propenylbenzenes by an Arthrobacter sp. and its t-anethole blocked mutants.

Propenylbenzenes are often used as starting materials in the chemical synthesis of aroma compounds and fine chemicals. In the present study, we demonstrate the ability of an Arthrobacter sp. to transform various structures of propenylbenzenes derived from essential oils to flavor, fragrance, and fine chemicals. Arthrobacter strain TA13 and its t-anethole blocked mutants (incapable of growing on t-anethole) converted isoeugenol to vanillin and vanillic acid; and safrole to hydroxychavicol. High conversion efficiencies were achieved in the biotransformations of isosafrole to piperonylic acid, and eugenol to a mixture of ferulic acid and vanillic acid. In addition, anisic acid was produced in high yields from t-anethole, anisyl alcohol, or anisaldehyde. The accumulation of the corresponding aromatic acids from the tested propenylbenzenes is due to the lack of m-demethylase activity in strain TA13 that prevents further cleavage of the benzene ring. Interestingly, in the transformation of eugenol (a 2-propenylbenzene) the side chain was initially oxidized to the corresponding cinamic acid derivative (ferulic acid) while the 1-propenylbenzenes gave substituted benzoic acids, suggesting two different chain shortening mechanisms.

Allylbenzene Derivatives↗

PubMed2003

Crystal structure and snapshots along the reaction pathway of a family 51 alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase.

High-resolution crystal structures of alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T-6, a family 51 glycosidase, are described. The enzyme is a hexamer, and each monomer is organized into two domains: a (beta/alpha)8-barrel and a 12-stranded beta sandwich with jelly-roll topology. The structures of the Michaelis complexes with natural and synthetic substrates, and of the transient covalent arabinofuranosyl-enzyme intermediate represent two stable states in the double displacement mechanism, and allow thorough examination of the catalytic mechanism. The arabinofuranose sugar is tightly bound and distorted by an extensive network of hydrogen bonds. The two catalytic residues are 4.7 A apart, and together with other conserved residues contribute to the stabilization of the oxocarbenium ion-like transition state via charge delocalization and specific protein-substrate interactions. The enzyme is an anti-protonator, and a 1.7 A electrophilic migration of the anomeric carbon takes place during the hydrolysis.

Bacteria↗

PubMed2003

Detailed kinetic analysis of a family 52 glycoside hydrolase: a beta-xylosidase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus.

Geobacillus stearothermophilus T-6 encodes for a beta-xylosidase (XynB2) from family 52 of glycoside hydrolases that was previously shown to hydrolyze its substrate with net retention of the anomeric configuration. XynB2 significantly prefers substrates with xylose as the glycone moiety and exhibits a typical bell-shaped pH dependence curve. Binding properties of xylobiose and xylotriose to the active site were measured using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Binding reactions were enthalpy driven with xylobiose binding more tightly than xylotriose to the active site. The kinetic constants of XynB2 were measured for the hydrolysis of a variety of aryl beta-D-xylopyranoside substrates bearing different leaving groups. The Brønsted plot of log k(cat) versus the pK(a) value of the aglycon leaving group reveals a biphasic relationship, consistent with a double-displacement mechanism as expected for retaining glycoside hydrolases. Hydrolysis rates for substrates with poor leaving groups (pK(a) > 8) vary widely with the aglycon reactivity, indicating that, for these substrates, the bond cleavage is rate limiting. However, no such dependence is observed for more reactive substrates (pK(a) < 8), indicating that in this case hydrolysis of the xylosyl-enzyme intermediate is rate limiting. Secondary kinetic isotope effects suggest that the intermediate breakdown proceeds with modest oxocarbenium ion character at the transition state, and bond cleavage proceeds with even lower oxocarbenium ion character. Inhibition studies with several gluco analogue inhibitors could be measured since XynB2 has low, yet sufficient, activity toward 4-nitrophenyl beta-D-glucopyranose. As expected, inhibitors mimicking the proposed transition state structure, such as 1-deoxynojirimycin, bind with much higher affinity to XynB2 than ground state inhibitors.

Bacillaceae↗

PubMed2003

Cloning, expression, and biochemical characterization of 3-deoxy-D-manno-2-octulosonate-8-phosphate (KDO8P) synthase from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex pyrophilus.

3-deoxy-D-manno-2-octulosonate-8-phosphate (KDO8P) synthase, catalyzes the aldol-type condensation between phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and D-arabinose-5-phosphate (A5P) to produce the unusual 8-carbon sugar KDO8P, and inorganic phosphate. A 15.5-kb segment containing the kdsA gene from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex pyrophilus was cloned from a genomic library and sequenced. The native kdsA gene lacks a typical ribosome binding site, but contains a conserved U,A-rich sequence upstream to the start codon. The purified kdsA gene product catalyzes the formation of KDO8P from its natural substrates, PEP and A5P, as determined by (1)H NMR analysis. KDO8P synthase showed maximum activity at 80 degrees C and pH 5.5-6.0 at 10-min reaction assay. At temperatures of 70, 80, and 90 degrees C, the enzyme exhibited half-lives of 8.0, 2.25, and 0.5 h, respectively. The kinetic constants at 60 degrees C were K(m)(A5P)=70 microM, K(m)(PEP)=290 microM, and k(cat)=4 s(-1). The isolated enzyme contained 0.19 and 0.26 mol iron and zinc, respectively, per mole of enzyme subunit. Treatment with metal chelators eliminated enzyme activity, and by the addition of several divalent metal ions, the activity was restored and even exceeded the original activity. These results indicate that A. pyrophilus KDO8P synthase is a metal-dependent enzyme. A C11A mutant of KDO8P synthase from A. pyrophulis retained less than 1% of the wild-type activity and was shown to be incapable of metal binding.

Aldehyde-Lyases↗

PubMed2003

Identification of the catalytic residues in family 52 glycoside hydrolase, a beta-xylosidase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T-6.

beta-d-Xylosidases (EC 3.2.1.37) are exo-type glycoside hydrolases that hydrolyze short xylooligosaccharides to xylose units. The enzymatic hydrolysis of the glycosidic bond involves two carboxylic acid residues, and their identification, together with the stereochemistry of the reaction, provides crucial information on the catalytic mechanism. Two catalytic mutants of a beta-xylosidase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T-6 were subjected to detailed kinetic analysis to verify their role in catalysis. The activity of the E335G mutant decreased approximately 106-fold, and this activity was enhanced 103-fold in the presence of external nucleophiles such as formate and azide, resulting in a xylosyl-azide product with an opposite anomeric configuration. These results are consistent with Glu335 as the nucleophile in this retaining enzyme. The D495G mutant was subjected to detailed kinetic analysis using substrates bearing different leaving groups (pKa). The mutant exhibited 103-fold reduction in activity, and the Brønsted plot of log(kcat) versus pKa revealed that deglycosylation is the rate-limiting step, indicating that this step was reduced by 103-fold. The rates of the glycosylation step, as reflected by the specificity constant (kcat/Km), were similar to those of the wild type enzyme for hydrolysis of substrates requiring little protonic assistance (low pKa) but decreased 102-fold for those that require strong acid catalysis (high pKa). Furthermore, the pH dependence profile of the mutant enzyme revealed that acid catalysis is absent. Finally, the presence of azide significantly enhanced the mutant activity accompanied with the generation of a xylosyl-azide product with retained anomeric configuration. These results are consistent with Asp495 acting as the acid-base in XynB2.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

PubMed2003

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a family 51 glycoside hydrolase, the alpha-l-arabinofuranosidase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T-6.

Alpha-l-arabinofuranosidases (EC 3.2.1.55) are hemicellulases that cleave the glycosidic bond between l-arabinofuranoside side chains and various oligosaccharides. In this study, the first crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the alpha-l-arabinofuranosidase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus T-6 (AbfA T-6), a family 51 glycoside hydrolase, is described. AbfA T-6 is a hexameric protein consisting of six identical subunits of 502 amino acids and with a calculated molecular mass of 57 218 Da. Purified recombinant native and selenomethionine-containing AbfA T-6 were crystallized by the sitting-drop method in two different space groups, P2(1) (unit-cell parameters a = 100.8, b = 178.1, c = 196.2 A, beta = 96.1 degrees ) and R3 (unit-cell parameters a = b = 179.3, c = 100.4 A). The R3 crystals diffracted X-rays to a resolution of 1.8 A.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed2003

Inhibition mode of a bisubstrate inhibitor of KDO8P synthase: a frequency-selective REDOR solid-state and solution NMR characterization.

In this report the mode of inhibition of mechanism-based inhibitor (2, K(i) = 0.4 microM) of 3-deoxy-d-manno-2-octulosonate-8-phosphate synthase (KDO8PS), which was designed to mimic the combined key features of its natural substrates arabinose-5-phosphate (A5P) and phoshoenolpyruvate (PEP) into a single molecule, was investigated. Our earlier solid-state NMR observations identified the inhibitor to bind in a way that partly mimics A5P, while the phosphonate moiety of its PEP-mimicking part exhibits no interactions with enzyme residues. This result was apparently in disagreement with the competitive inhibition of 2 against PEP and with the later solved crystal structure of KDO8PS-2 binary complex identifying the interactions of its PEP-mimicking part with the enzyme residues that were not detected by solid-state NMR. To solve this discrepancy, further solid-state REDOR NMR and (31)P solution NMR experiments were applied to a variety of enzyme complexes with the substrates and inhibitor. In particular, a novel frequency-selective REDOR experiment was developed and applied. Integration of the solution and solid-state NMR data clearly demonstrates that under conditions of stoichiometric enzyme-ligand ratio at thermodynamic equilibrium (a) PEP binding is unperturbed by the presence of 2 and (b) both PEP and 2 can bind simultaneously to the synthase, i.e., form a ternary complex with PEP occupying its own subsite and 2 occupying A5P's subsite. The latter observation suggests that under the conditions used in our NMR measurements, the inhibition pattern of 2 against PEP should have a mixed type character. Furthermore, the NMR data directly demonstrate the distinction between the relative binding strength of the two moieties of 2: enzyme interactions with PEP-mimicking moiety are much weaker than those with the A5P moiety. This observation is in agreement with KDO8PS-2 crystal structure showing only remote contacts of the phosphonate due to large structural changes of binding site residues. It is concluded that these phosphonate-enzyme interactions evidenced by both (31)P solution NMR and X-ray are too weak to be preserved under the lyophilization of KDO8PS-2 binary complex and therefore are not evidenced by the solid-state REDOR spectra.

Aldehyde-Lyases↗

PubMed2003

Microbial hemicellulases.

Hemicellulases are a diverse group of enzymes that hydrolyze hemicelluloses--one of the most abundant groups of polysaccharide in nature. These enzymes have many biotechnological applications and their structure/function relationships are a subject of intense research. During the past year, new high-resolution structures of catalytic and non-catalytic domains of hemicellulases have been elucidated, and, together with biochemical studies, they reveal the principles of catalysis and specificity for these enzymes.

Bacteria↗

PubMed2003

Regulation of the cellulosomal CelS (cel48A) gene of Clostridium thermocellum is growth rate dependent.

Clostridium thermocellum produces an extracellular multienzyme complex, termed cellulosome, that allows efficient solubilization of crystalline cellulose. One of the major enzymes in this complex is the CelS (Cel48A) exoglucanase. The regulation of CelS at the protein and transcriptional levels was studied using batch and continuous cultures. The results of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analyses indicated that the amount of CelS in the supernatant fluids of cellobiose-grown cultures is lower than that of cellulose-grown cultures. The transcriptional level of celS mRNA was determined quantitatively by RNase protection assays with batch and continuous cultures under carbon and nitrogen limitation. The amount of celS mRNA transcripts per cell was about 180 for cells grown under carbon limitation at growth rates of 0.04 to 0.21 h(-1) and 80 and 30 transcripts per cell for batch cultures at growth rates of 0.23 and 0.35 h(-1), respectively. Under nitrogen limitation, the corresponding levels were 110, 40, and 30 transcripts/cell for growth rates of 0.07, 0.11, and 0.14 h(-1), respectively. Two major transcriptional start sites were detected at positions -140 and -145 bp, upstream of the translational start site of the celS gene. The potential promoters exhibited homology to known sigma factors (i.e., sigma(A) and sigma(B)) of Bacillus subtilis. The relative activity of the two promoters remained constant under the conditions studied and was in agreement with the results of the RNase protection assay, in which the observed transcriptional activity was inversely proportional to the growth rate.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed2003

The cellulosome system of Acetivibrio cellulolyticus includes a novel type of adaptor protein and a cell surface anchoring protein.

A scaffoldin gene cluster was identified in the mesophilic cellulolytic anaerobe Acetivibrio cellulolyticus. The previously described scaffoldin gene, cipV, encodes an N-terminal family 9 glycoside hydrolase, a family 3b cellulose-binding domain, seven cohesin domains, and a C-terminal dockerin. The gene immediately downstream of cipV was sequenced and designated scaB. The protein encoded by this gene has 942 amino acid residues and a calculated molecular weight of 100,358 and includes an N-terminal signal peptide, four type II cohesions, and a C-terminal dockerin. ScaB cohesins 1 and 2 are very closely linked. Similar, but not identical, 39-residue Thr-rich linker segments separate cohesin 2 from cohesin 3 and cohesin 3 from cohesin 4, and an 84-residue Thr-rich linker connects the fourth cohesin to a C-terminal dockerin. The scaC gene downstream of scaB codes for a 1,237-residue polypeptide that includes a signal peptide, three cohesins, and a C-terminal S-layer homology (SLH) module. A long, ca. 550-residue linker separates the third cohesin and the SLH module of ScaC and is characterized by an 18-residue Pro-Thr-Ala-Ser-rich segment that is repeated 27 times. The calculated molecular weight of the mature ScaC polypeptide (excluding the signal peptide) is 124,162. The presence of the cohesins and the conserved SLH module implies that ScaC acts as an anchoring protein. The ScaC cohesins are on a separate branch of the phylogenetic tree that is close to, but distinct from, the type I cohesins. Affinity blotting with representative recombinant probes revealed the following specific intermodular interactions: (i) an expressed CipV cohesin binds selectively to an enzyme-borne dockerin, (ii) a representative ScaB cohesin binds to the CipV band of the cell-free supernatant fraction, and (iii) a ScaC cohesin binds to the ScaB dockerin. The experimental evidence thus indicates that CipV acts as a primary (enzyme-recognizing) scaffoldin, and the protein was also designated ScaA. In addition, ScaB is thought to assume the role of an adaptor protein, which connects the primary scaffoldin (ScaA) to the cohesin-containing anchoring scaffoldin (ScaC). The cellulosome system of A. cellulolyticus thus appears to exhibit a special type of organization that reflects the function of the ScaB adaptor protein. The intercalation of three multiple cohesin-containing scaffoldins results in marked amplification of the number of enzyme subunits per cellulosome unit. At least 96 enzymes can apparently be incorporated into an individual A. cellulolyticus cellulosome. The role of such amplified enzyme incorporation and the resultant proximity of the enzymes within the cellulosome complex presumably contribute to the enhanced synergistic action and overall efficient digestion of recalcitrant forms of cellulose. Comparison of the emerging organization of the A. cellulolyticus cellulosome with the organizations in other cellulolytic bacteria revealed the diversity of the supramolecular architecture.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2003

Regulation of expression of scaffoldin-related genes in Clostridium thermocellum.

Clostridium thermocellum produces an extracellular multienzyme complex, termed the cellulosome, that allows efficient solubilization of crystalline cellulose. The complex is organized around a large noncatalytic protein subunit, termed CipA or scaffoldin, and is found either free in the supernatant or cell bound. The binding of the complex to the cell is mediated by three cell surface anchoring proteins, OlpB, Orf2p, and SdbA, that interact with the CipA scaffoldin. The transcriptional level of the olpB, orf2, sdbA, and cipA genes was determined quantitatively by RNase protection assays in batch and continuous cultures, under carbon and nitrogen limitation. The mRNA level of olpB, orf2, and cipA varied with growth rate, reaching 40 to 60 transcripts per cell under carbon limitation at a low growth rate of 0.04 h(-1) and 2 to 10 transcripts per cell at a growth rate of 0.35 h(-1) in batch culture. The mRNA level of sdbA was about three transcripts per cell and was not influenced by growth rate. Primer extension analysis revealed two major transcriptional start sites, at -81 and -50 bp, upstream of the translational start site of the cipA gene. The potential promoters exhibited homology to the known sigma factors sigma(A) and sigma(L) (sigma(54)) of Bacillus subtilis. Transcription from the sigma(L)-like promoter was found under all growth conditions, whereas transcription from the sigma(A)-like promoter was significant only under carbon limitation. The overall expression level obtained in the primer extension analysis was in good agreement with the results of the RNase-protection assays.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗