title: Properties of a thermoactive beta-1,3-1,4-glucanase (lichenase) from Clostridium thermocellum expressed in Escherichia coli.
abstract: A Clostridium thermocellum gene (licB) encoding a thermoactive 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase (lichenase) with a molecular weight of about 35,000 was localized on a 1.5-kb DNA fragment by cloning and expression in E. coli. The enzyme acts on beta-glucans with alternating beta-1,3- and beta-1,4-linkages such as barley beta-glucan and lichenan, but not on beta-glucans containing only 1,3- or 1,4-glucosidic bonds. It is active over a broad pH range (pH 5-12) and has a temperature optimum around 80 degrees C. The C. thermocellum lichenase is unusually resistant against inactivation by heat, ethanol or ionic detergents. These properties make the enzyme highly suitable for industrial application in the mashing process of beer brewing.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Microbiology, Technical University Munich, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schimming
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Staudenbauer
mesh_terms: D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003013:Clostridium / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; C028020:licheninase