title: N-Acetylglucosaminidase (chitobiase) from Serratia marcescens: gene sequence, and protein production and purification in Escherichia coli.
abstract: The chitobiase (Chb) encoding gene (chb) from Serratia marcescens (Sm) has been cloned, sequenced and expressed in Escherichia coli (Ec). Sequencing has revealed an open reading frame encodinga protein of 885 amino acids (aa). Ec cells harbouring plasmids containing chb can produce enzymatically active Sm Chb protein which is secreted into the periplasm. An efficient purification scheme using cation-exchange chromatographyis presented. This yields about 3 mg of > 95% pure Sm Chb per litre of Ec culture. The deduced aa sequence is 27-aa longer at the N terminus than that determined by sequencing of the purified protein, suggesting that a leader sequence is removed during transport of the enzyme across the cell membrane. Comparison with the other members of the family 20 of glycosyl hydrolases revealed that Chb has a conserved central region which aligns with almost all members of this family. According to the crystal structure of Sm Chb, this region comprises the catalytic domain of Chb which has an alpha/beta barrel fold.
authors.affiliation: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, c/o DESY, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tews
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vincentelli
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Vorgias
mesh_terms: D000118:Acetylglucosaminidase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals / Q000378:metabolism; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012706:Serratia marcescens / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D000118:Acetylglucosaminidase