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The evolution of putative starch-binding domains.

The present bioinformatics analysis was focused on the starch-binding domains (SBDs) and SBD-like motifs sequentially related to carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) families CBM20 and CBM21. Originally, these SBDs were known from microbial amylases only. At present homologous starch- and glycogen-binding domains (or putative SBD sequences) have been recognised in various plant and animal proteins. The sequence comparison clearly showed that the SBD-like sequences in genethonin-1, starch synthase III and glucan branching enzyme should possess the real SBD function since the two tryptophans (or at least two aromatics) of the typical starch-binding site 1 are conserved in their sequences. The same should apply also for the sequences corresponding with the so-called KIS-domain of plant AKINbetagamma protein that is a homologue of the animal AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). The evolutionary tree classified the compared SBDs into three distinct groups: (i) the family CBM20 (the motifs from genethonins, laforins, starch excess 4 protein, beta-subunits of the animal AMPK and all plant and yeast homologues, and eventually from amylopullulanases); (ii) the family CBM21 (the motifs from regulatory subunits of protein phosphatase 1 together with those from starch synthase III); and (iii) the (CBM20+CBM21)-related group (the motifs from the pullulanase subfamily consisting of pullulanase, branching enzyme, isoamylase and maltooligosyl trehalohydrolase).

Animals↗

The debranching enzyme complex missing in glycogen accumulating mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii displays an isoamylase-type specificity.

To investigate the functions of debranching enzymes in starch biosynthesis, we have partially purified and characterized these activities from wild type and mutant sta7 Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Mutants of the STA7 locus substitute synthesis of insoluble granular starch by that of small amounts of glycogen-like material. The mutants were previously shown to lack an 88 kDa debranching enzyme. Two distinct debranching activities were detected in wild-type strains. The 88 kDa debranching enzyme subunit missing in glycogen-producing mutants (CIS1) is shown to be part of a multimeric enzyme complex. A monomeric 95 kDa debranching enzyme (CLD1) cleaved alpha-1,6 linkages separated by as few as three glucose residues while the multimeric complex was unable to do so. Both enzymes were able to debranch amylopectin while the alpha-1,6 linkages of glycogen were completely debranched by the multimeric complex only. Therefore CLD1 and the multimeric debranching enzyme display respectively the limit-dextrinase (pullulanase) and isoamylase-type specificities. Various mutations in the STA7 locus caused the loss of both CIS1 and of the multimeric isoamylase complex. In contrast to rice and maize mutants that accumulate phytoglycogen owing to mutation of an isoamylase-type DBE, isoamylase depletion in Chlamydomonas did not result in any qualitative or quantitative difference in pullulanase activity.

Journal Article↗

Which morphological forms of the fungus Aureobasidium pullulans are responsible for pullulan production?

Attempts were made to clarify the precise location and possible site of production of the alpha-glucan pullulan in different morphological forms of the fungus Aureobasidium pullulans. Gold-conjugated pullulanase was used as the specific probe for this purpose. No cell wall pullulan-like material was detected by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in any morphological form of this fungus, although intracellular electron transparent material bound this probe. When silver enhancement of this gold-conjugated pullulanase probe was used, the data strongly suggested that only swollen cells and chlamydospores, and neither hyphae nor unicellular blastospores, often held responsible for pullulan formation, appeared to produce pullulan-like material.

Ascomycota↗

Starch-hydrolyzing enzymes from thermophilic archaea and bacteria.

Extremophlic microorganisms have developed a variety of molecular strategies in order to survive in harsh conditions. For the utilization of natural polymeric substrates such as starch, a number of extremophiles, belonging to different taxonomic groups, produce amylolytic enzymes. This class of enzyme is important not only for the study of biocatalysis and protein stability at extreme conditions but also for the many biotechnological opportunities they offer. In this review, we report on the different molecular properties of thermostable archaeal and bacterial enzymes including alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, glucoamylase, pullulanase, and cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase. Comparison of the primary sequence of the pyrococcal pullulanase with other members of the glucosyl hydrolase family revealed that significant differences are responsible for the mode of action of these enzymes.

Archaea↗

Alpha-glucan recognition by a new family of carbohydrate-binding modules found primarily in bacterial pathogens.

TmPul13, a family 13 glycoside hydrolase from Thermotoga maritima, is a four-module protein having pullulanase activity; the three N-terminal modules are of unknown function while the large C-terminal module is likely the catalytic module. Dissection of the functions of the three unknown modules revealed that the 100 amino acid module at the extreme N-terminus of TmPul13 comprises a new family of carbohydrate-binding modules (CBM) that a bioinformatic analysis shows are most frequently found in pullulanase-like sequences from bacterial pathogens. Detailed binding studies of this isolated CBM, here called TmCBM41, reveals a preference for alpha-(1,4)-linked glucans, but occasional alpha-(1,6)-linked glucose residues, such as those found in pullulan, are tolerated. UV difference, isothermal titration calorimetry, and analytical ultracentrifugation binding studies suggest that maltooligosaccharides longer than four glucose residues are able to bind two TmCBM41 molecules per oligosaccharide when sugar concentrations are below the CBM concentration. This is explained in terms of an equilibrium expression involving the formation of both a 1 to 1 sugar to CBM complex and a 1 to 2 sugar to CBM complex (i.e., a CBM dimer ligated by an oligosaccharide). The presence of an alpha-(1-6) linkage in the oligosaccharide appears to prevent this phenomenon.

Amino Acid Motifs↗

Diversity of moderately halophilic bacteria producing extracellular hydrolytic enzymes.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine the diversity of moderately halophilic bacteria with hydrolase activities. METHODS AND RESULTS: Screening bacteria from different hypersaline environments in South Spain led to the isolation of a total of 122 moderately halophilic bacteria able to produce different hydrolases (amylases, DNases, lipases, proteases and pullulanases). These bacteria are able to grow optimally in media with 5-15% salts and in most cases up to 20-25% salts. In contrast to strains belonging to previously described species, that showed very little hydrolase activities, environmental isolates produced a great variety of hydrolases. These strains were identified as members of the genera: Salinivibrio (55 strains), Halomonas (25 strains), Chromohalobacter (two strains), Bacillus-Salibacillus (29 strains), Salinicoccus (two strains) and Marinococcus (one strain), as well as eight non-identified isolates. CONCLUSIONS: Moderately halophilic bacteria are a source of hydrolytic enzymes such as amylases, DNases, lipases, proteases and pullulanases. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Although most culture collection strains are not able to produce hydrolases, it has been shown that environmental isolates can produce these potentially biotechnological important enzymes.

Amylases↗

Secretin PulD: association with pilot PulS, structure, and ion-conducting channel formation.

The outer membrane protein PulD (secretin) of Klebsiella oxytoca is required for transport of pullulanase across this membrane. We have purified a multimeric PulD complex from an Escherichia coli strain expressing all the proteins involved in pullulanase secretion. The outer membrane-anchored lipoprotein PulS was found to copurify with PulD. The molar ratio of the two proteins is close to 1:1, and the size of the complex is approximately 1 MDa. Scanning transmission electron and cryo-electron microscopy analyses showed that the purified complex is a cylindrical structure having a central cavity of approximately 7.6 nm and peripheral radial spokes. Fusion of proteoliposomes containing the purified complex with a planar lipid bilayer resulted in the appearance of small, voltage-activated, ion-conducting channels. We conclude that the central cavity seen in the electron microscope is part of a large gated channel and propose that the observed current fluctuations correspond to voltage-induced, relatively minor displacements of domains in the purified complex rather than to a complete opening of the secretin channel.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗

Amino acid sequence and molecular structure of an alkaline amylopullulanase from Bacillus that hydrolyzes alpha-1,4 and alpha-1,6 linkages in polysaccharides at different active sites.

An amylopullulanase from alkalophilic Bacillus sp. KSM-1378 hydrolyzes both alpha-1,6 linkages in pullulan and alpha-1,4 linkages in other polysaccharides, with maximum activity in each case at an alkaline pH, to generate oligosaccharides (Ara, K., Saeki, K., Igarashi, K., Takaiwa, M., Uemura, T., Hagihara, H., Kawai, S., and Ito, S. (1995) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1243, 315-324). Here, we report the molecular cloning and sequencing of the gene for and the structure of this enzyme and show that its dual hydrolytic activities are associated with two independent active sites. The structural gene contained a single, long open reading frame of 5,814 base pairs, corresponding to 1,938 amino acids that included a signal peptide of 32 amino acids. The molecular mass of the extracellular mature enzyme (Glu33 through Leu1938) was calculated to be 211,450 Da, a value close to the 210 kDa determined for the amylopullulanase produced by Bacillus sp. KSM-1378. The amylase and the pullulanase domains were located in the amino-terminal half and in the carboxyl-terminal half of the enzyme, respectively, being separated by a tandem repeat of a sequence of 35 amino acids. Four regions, designated I, II, III, and IV, were highly conserved in each catalytic domain, and they included a putative catalytic triad Asp550-Glu579-Asp645 for the amylase activity and Asp1464-Glu1493-Asp1581 for the pullulanase activity. The purified enzyme was rotary shadowed at a low angle and observed by transmission electron microscopy; it appeared to be a "castanet-like" or "bent dumbbell-like" molecule with a diameter of approximately 25 nm.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Cloning and sequencing of a gene encoding acidophilic amylase from Bacillus acidocaldarius.

Two starch-degrading enzymes produced by Bacillus acidocaldarius (renamed as Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius) were identified. According to SDS-PAGE, the apparent molecular masses of the enzymes were 90 and 160 kDa. Eight peptide fragments and the N-terminal end of the 90 kDa polypeptide were sequenced. An oligonucleotide, based on the amino acid sequence of a peptide fragment of the 90 kDa protein, was used to screen a lambda gt10 bank of B. acidocaldarius, and the region encoding the 90 kDa protein was cloned. Unexpectedly, the ORF continued upstream of the N terminus of the 90 kDa protein. The entire ORF was 1301 amino acids (aa) long (calculated molecular mass 140 kDa) and it was preceded by a putative ribosomal binding site and a promoter. Computer analysis showed that the 1301 aa protein was closely related to an alpha-amylase-pullulanase of Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum. We suggest that the starch-degrading 160 kDa protein of B. acidocaldarius is an alpha-amylase-pullulanase, and the 90 kDa protein is a cleavage product of the 160 kDa protein. Another ORF, apparently in the same transcription unit, was found downstream from the amylase gene. It encoded a protein that was closely related to the maltose-binding protein of Escherichia coli.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗

An enzyme with type IV prepilin peptidase activity is required to process components of the general extracellular protein secretion pathway of Klebsiella oxytoca.

The last gene (pulO) of the pulC-O pullulanase secretion gene operon of Klebsiella oxytoca codes for a protein that is 52% identical to the product of the pilD/xcpA gene required for extracellular protein secretion and type IV pilus biogenesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The PilD/XcpA protein is known to remove the first six amino acids of the signal sequence of the type IV pilin precursor by cleaving after the glycine residue in the conserved sequence GF(M)XXXE (where X represents hydrophobic amino acids). This prepilin peptidase cleavage site is present in the products of four genes in the pulC-O operon (PulG, PulH, Pull and PulJ proteins). It is shown here that PulO processes the pulG gene product in vivo. Processing was maximal within 15 seconds, but experiments in which the expression of pulO was uncoupled from that of the other genes in the secretion operon suggest that processing can also occur post-translationally. The products of two pulG derivatives with internal inframe deletions were also processed by PulO, but the three PulG-PhoA hybrids, two PulJ-PhoA hybrids and the single PulH-PhoA hybrid tested did not appear to be processed. Sucrose gradient fraction experiments showed that both precursor and mature forms of PulG appear to be associated with low-density, outer membrane vesicles prepared by osmotic lysis of sphaeroplasts. Neither the xcpA gene nor the Bacillus subtilis gene comC, which is also homologous to pulO and codes for a protein with type IV prepilin peptidase activity, can correct the pullulanase secretion defect in an Escherichia coli strain carrying all of the genes required for secretion except pulO. Furthermore, neither XcpA nor ComC is able to process prePulG protein in vivo.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The general secretory pathway of Klebsiella oxytoca: no evidence for relocalization or assembly of pilin-like PulG protein into a multiprotein complex.

It has been proposed that the four type IV pilin-like proteins that are required for extracellular protein secretion by the general secretory pathway (GSP) might assemble into a trans-periplasm complex resembling a type IV pilus. To test this idea, we examined the subcellular distribution and oligomeric state of PulG, one of the type IV pilin-like proteins required for pullulanase secretion in Klebsiella oxytoca. Fractionation of Escherichia coli cells carrying a single copy of each pul gene showed that PulG protein was located in two distinct envelope fractions corresponding to the outer and cytoplasmic membranes. The protein was partially released by treating the membranes with Triton X-100 + EDTA or at high pH, but not by Triton X-100 alone or by 8 M urea, 6 M guanidine hydrochloride or 1 M NaCl. Like type IV pilins, non-sedimentable PulG that had been released from the membranes at high pH could be sedimented by centrifugation when the pH was lowered. Treatment of whole cells, sphaeroplasts or isolated membranes with a cleavable cross-linking agent produced mainly PulG homodimers. Previous studies showed that both PulO, which cleaves and N-methylates the PulG precursor, and PulE, a putative ATP-binding protein, share extensive sequence identity with proteins known to be required for type IV pilus processing and assembly. However, mutations which disrupted either pulE or pulO, or indeed the complete absence of all other components of the pullulanase secretion apparatus, had little or no effect on any of the properties of PulG protein described above. We conclude that there is no evidence that PulG protein assembles into a stable multiprotein complex or that processing of the PulG precursor causes a detectable change in its subcellular distribution.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Screening for and identification of starch-, amylopectin-, and pullulan-degrading activities in bifidobacterial strains.

Forty-two bifidobacterial strains were screened for alpha-amylase and/or pullulanase activity by investigating their capacities to utilize starch, amylopectin, or pullulan. Of the 42 bifidobacterial strains tested, 19 were capable of degrading potato starch. Of these 19 strains, 11 were able to degrade starch and amylopectin, as well as pullulan. These 11 strains, which were shown to produce extracellular starch-degrading activities, included 5 strains of Bifidobacterium breve, 1 B. dentium strain, 1 B. infantis strain, 3 strains of B. pseudolongum, and 1 strain of B. thermophilum. Quantitative and qualitative enzyme activities were determined by measuring the concentrations of released reducing sugars and by high-performance thin-layer chromatography, respectively. These analyses confirmed both the inducible nature and the extracellular nature of the starch- and pullulan-degrading enzyme activities and showed that the five B. breve strains produced an activity that is consistent with type II pullulanase (amylopullulanase) activity, while the remaining six strains produced an activity with properties that resemble those of type III pullulan hydrolase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

General Biochemical Characterization of Thermostable Extracellular beta-Amylase from Clostridium thermosulfurogenes.

Clostridium thermosulfurogenes, an anaerobic bacterium which ferments starch into ethanol at 62 degrees C, produced an active extracellular amylase and contained intracellular glucoamylase but not pullulanase activity. The extracellular amylase was purified 2.4-fold, and its general physicochemical and catalytic properties were examined. The extracellular amylase was characterized as a beta-amylase (1,4-alpha-d-glucan maltohydrolase) based on demonstration of exocleavage activity and the production of maltose with a beta-anomeric configuration from starch. The beta-amylase activity was stable and optimally active at 80 and 75 degrees C, respectively. The pH optimum for activity and the pH stability range was 5.5 to 6 and 3.5 to 6.5, respectively. The apparent [S](0.5V) and V(max) for beta-amylase activity on starch was 1 mg/ml and 60 U/mg of protein. Similar to described beta-amylase, the enzyme was inhibited by p-chloromercuribenzoate, Cu, and Hg; however, alpha- and beta-cyclodextrins were not competitive inhibitors. The beta-amylase was active and stable in the presence of air or 10% (vol/vol) ethanol. The beta-amylase and glucoamylase activities enabled the organism to actively ferment raw starch in the absence of significant pullulanase or alpha-amylase activity.

Journal Article↗

Simultaneous and Enhanced Production of Thermostable Amylases and Ethanol from Starch by Cocultures of Clostridium thermosulfurogenes and Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum.

Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum and Clostridium thermosulfurogenes produced ethanol and amylases with different components as primary metabolites of starch fermentation. Starch fermentation parameters were compared in mono- and cocultures of these two thermoanaerobes to show that the fermentation was dramatically improved as a consequence of coordinate action of amylolytic enzymes and synergistic metabolic interactions between the two species. Under given monoculture fermentation conditions, neither species completely degraded starch during the time course of the study, whereas in coculture, starch was completely degraded. In monoculture starch fermentation, C. thermohydrosulfuricum produced lower levels of pullulanase and glucoamylase, whereas C. thermosulfurogenes produced lower levels of beta-amylase and glucoamylase. In coculture fermentation, improvement of starch metabolism by each species was noted in terms of increased amounts and rates of increased starch consumption, amylase production, and ethanol formation. The single-step coculture fermentation completely degraded 2.5% starch in 30 h at 60 degrees C and produced 9 U of beta-amylase per ml, 1.3 U of pullulanase per ml, 0.3 U of glucoamylase per ml, and >120 mM ethanol with a yield of 1.7 mol/mol of glucose in starch. The potential industrial applications of the coculture fermentation and the physiological basis for the interspecies metabolic interactions are discussed.

Journal Article↗

Signal recognition particle-dependent inner membrane targeting of the PulG Pseudopilin component of a type II secretion system.

The pseudopilin PulG is an essential component of the pullulanase-specific type II secretion system from Klebsiella oxytoca. PulG is the major subunit of a short, thin-filament pseudopilus, which presumably elongates and retracts in the periplasm, acting as a dynamic piston to promote pullulanase secretion. It has a signal sequence-like N-terminal segment that, according to studies with green and red fluorescent protein chimeras, anchors unassembled PulG in the inner membrane. We analyzed the early steps of PulG inner membrane targeting and insertion in Escherichia coli derivatives defective in different protein targeting and export factors. The beta-galactosidase activity in strains producing a PulG-LacZ hybrid protein increased substantially when the dsbA, dsbB, or all sec genes tested except secB were compromised by mutations. To facilitate analysis of native PulG membrane insertion, a leader peptidase cleavage site was engineered downstream from the N-terminal transmembrane segment (PrePulG*). Unprocessed PrePulG* was detected in strains carrying mutations in secA, secY, secE, and secD genes, including some novel alleles of secY and secD. Furthermore, depletion of the Ffh component of the signal recognition particle (SRP) completely abolished PrePulG* processing, without affecting the Sec-dependent export of periplasmic MalE and RbsB proteins. Thus, PulG is cotranslationally targeted to the inner membrane Sec translocase by SRP.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Genetic dissection of the outer membrane secretin PulD: are there distinct domains for multimerization and secretion specificity?

Linker and deletion mutagenesis and gene fusions were used to probe the possible domain structure of the dodecameric outer membrane secretin PulD from the pullulanase secretion pathway of Klebsiella oxytoca. Insertions of 24 amino acids close to or within strongly predicted and highly conserved amphipathic beta strands in the C-terminal half of the polypeptide (the beta domain) abolished sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-resistant multimer formation that is characteristic of this protein, whereas insertions elsewhere generally had less dramatic effects on multimer formation. However, the beta domain alone did not form SDS-resistant multimers unless part of the N-terminal region of the protein (the N domain) was produced in trans. All of the insertions except one, close to the C terminus of the protein, abolished function. The N domain alone was highly unstable and did not form SDS-resistant multimers even when the beta domain was present in trans. We conclude that the beta domain is a major determinant of multimer stability and that the N domain contributes to multimer formation. The entire or part of the N domain of PulD could be replaced by the corresponding region of the OutD secretin from the pectate lyase secretion pathway of Erwinia chrysanthemi without abolishing pullulanase secretion. This suggests that the N domain of PulD is not involved in substrate recognition, contrary to the role proposed for the N domain of OutD, which binds specifically to pectate lyase secreted by E. chrysanthemi (V. E. Shevchik, J. Robert-Badouy, and G. Condemine, EMBO J. 16:3007-3016, 1997).

Artificial Gene Fusion↗

Type IV-like pili formed by the type II secreton: specificity, composition, bundling, polar localization, and surface presentation of peptides.

The secreton or type II secretion machinery of gram-negative bacteria includes several type IV pilin-like proteins (the pseudopilins) that are absolutely required for secretion. We previously reported the presence of a bundled pilus composed of the pseudopilin PulG on the surface of agar-grown Escherichia coli K-12 cells expressing the Klebsiella oxytoca pullulanase (Pul) secreton genes at high levels (N. Sauvonnet, G. Vignon, A. P. Pugsley, and P. Gounon, EMBO J. 19:2221-2228, 2000). We show here that PulG is the only pseudopilin in purified pili and that the phenomenon is not restricted to the Pul secreton reconstituted in E. coli or to PulG. For example, high-level expression of the endogenous E. coli gsp secreton genes caused production of bundled pili composed of the pseudopilin GspG, and the Pul secreton was able to form pili composed of PulG-like proteins from secreton systems of other bacteria. PulG derivatives in which the C terminus was extended by the addition of eight different peptides were also assembled into pili and functioned in secretion. Three of the C-terminal peptides were shown to be exposed along the entire length of the assembled pili. Hence, the C terminus of PulG may represent a permissive site for the insertion of immunogenic epitopes or other peptide sequences. One of these PulG variants, with a six-histidine tag at its C terminus, formed nonpolar, nonbundled pili, suggesting that bundle formation and polar localization are not correlated with the ability of PulG to function in secretion. We propose that the PulG pilus is an artifactual manifestation of a periplasmic "pseudopilus" and that cycles of pseudopilus extension and retraction within the periplasm propel pullulanase through secretin channels in the outer membrane. Abnormally long pili that extend beyond the outer membrane are produced only when pilus length control and retraction are deregulated by overproduction of the major pseudopilus subunit (PulG).

Bacterial Proteins↗

Purification and properties of an amylopullulanase, a glucoamylase, and an alpha-glucosidase in the amylolytic enzyme system of Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum.

Thermoanaerobic bacteria are of considerable interest as producers of thermostable amylolytic enzymes. The soluble amylolytic enzyme system of Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum DSM 571 was fractionated into a pullulanase, a glucoamylase, and an alpha-glucosidase. The enzymes were purified to homogeneity and their physical and catalytic properties were studied. The pullulanase, which cleaved both alpha-1,4- and alpha-1,6-glucosidic bonds, was an amylopullulanase closely related to similar enzymes from other thermoanaerobic bacteria. Partial amino acid sequences of the glucoamylase were identical with the corresponding sequences deduced from the cga gene encoding the glucoamylase from Clostridium sp. strain G0005. The alpha-glucosidase was identified as an isomaltase belonging to a group of structurally related exo-alpha-1,4-glucosidases and oligo-1,6-glucosidases from bacilli. Comparison of enzyme activities indicated that the glucoamylase had the major amylolytic activity of T. thermosaccharolyticum, with amylopullulanase and alpha-glucosidase assisting in the cleavage of alpha-1,6-glucosidic bonds.

Amino Acid Sequence↗