title: Gene sequence and properties of CelI, a family E endoglucanase from Clostridium thermocellum.
abstract: The Clostridium thermocellum celI gene, coding for endoglucanase I (CelI), consists of an open reading frame (ORF) of 2640 nucleotides and codes for a protein of M(r) 98531. The ORF was confirmed as celI by comparing the N-terminal sequence of purified recombinant CelI with that deduced from the nucleotide sequence. CelI hydrolysed lichenan and carboxymethylcellulose, but was principally active against barley beta-glucan. It exhibited significant sequence identity with subfamily E2 endoglucanases, and by analogy with others in this group contains a catalytic domain of around 500 residues located in the N-terminal half of the protein. The C-terminal region of CelI was highly homologous with the cellulose-binding domain of the non-catalytic cellulosome subunit, S1. A repeated segment, previously shown to be highly conserved in xylanase Z and in other endoglucanases from C. thermocellum, was absent from CelI. Antiserum raised against purified recombinant CelI cross-reacted with proteins contained in the cellulosomes of two strains of C. thermocellu, suggesting that CelI is either a component of the cellulosome or is homologous to other cellulosome proteins. A second gene, located upstream of celI, consisted of an ORF of 1671 nucleotides, coding for a protein of M(r) 61042. Based on its homology with the Escherichia coli tar gene product, the polypeptide encoded by the second gene is tentatively identified as a sensory transducer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, AFRC Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research, Babraham, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Hazlewood
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Laurie
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Huskisson
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Gilbert
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D043366:Cellulose 1,4-beta-Cellobiosidase; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003013:Clostridium / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005936:Glucans / Q000378:metabolism; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005936:Glucans; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; D043366:Cellulose 1,4-beta-Cellobiosidase