A novel Cellvibrio mixtus family 10 xylanase that is both intracellular and expressed under non-inducing conditions.
Hydrolysis of the plant cell wall polysaccharides cellulose and xylan requires the synergistic interaction of a repertoire of extracellular enzymes. Recently, evidence has emerged that anaerobic bacteria can synthesize high levels of periplasmic xylanases which may be involved in the hydrolysis of small xylo-oligosaccharides absorbed by the micro-organism. Cellvibrio mixtus, a saprophytic aerobic soil bacterium that is highly active against plant cell wall polysaccharides, was shown to express internal xylanase activity when cultured on media containing xylan or glucose as sole carbon source. A genomic library of C. mixtus DNA, constructed in lambdaZAPII, was screened for xylanase activity. The nucleotide sequence of the genomic insert from a xylanase-positive clone that expressed intracellular xylanase activity in Escherichia coli revealed an ORF of 1137 bp (xynC), encoding a polypeptide with a deduced M(r) of 43413, defined as xylanase C (XylC). Probing a gene library of Pseudomonas fluorescens subsp. cellulosa with C. mixtus xynC identified a xynC homologue (designated xynG) encoding XylG; XylG and xynG were 67% and 63% identical to the corresponding C. mixtus sequences, respectively. Both XylC and XylG exhibit extensive sequence identity with family 10 xylanases, particularly with non-modular enzymes, and gene deletion studies on xynC supported the suggestion that they are single-domain xylanases. Purified recombinant XylC had an M(r) of 41000, and displayed biochemical properties typical of family 10 polysaccharidases. However, unlike previously characterized xylanases, XylC was particularly sensitive to proteolytic inactivation by pancreatic proteinases and was thermolabile. C. mixtus was grown to late-exponential phase in the presence of glucose or xylan and the cytoplasmic, periplasmic and cell envelope fractions were probed with anti-XylC antibodies. The results showed that XylC was absent from the culture media but was predominantly present in the periplasm of C. mixtus cells grown on glucose, xylan, CM-cellulose or Avicel. These data suggest that C. mixtus can express non-modular internal xylanases whose potential roles in the hydrolysis of plant cell wall components are discussed.
CIISA-Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, Rua Professor Cid dos Santos, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal1.
C M G A
CMGA
Fontes
Department of Biological and Nutritional Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK2.
H J
HJ
Gilbert
Laboratory of Molecular Enzymology, The Babraham Institute, Babraham, Cambridge CB2 4AT, UK3.
G P
GP
Hazlewood
Laboratory of Molecular Enzymology, The Babraham Institute, Babraham, Cambridge CB2 4AT, UK3.
J H
JH
Clarke
CIISA-Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, Rua Professor Cid dos Santos, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal1.
J A M
JAM
Prates
Department of Biological and Nutritional Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK2.
V A
VA
McKie
Department of Biological and Nutritional Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK2.
T
T
Nagy
CIISA-Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, Rua Professor Cid dos Santos, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal1.
T H
TH
Fernandes
CIISA-Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Pólo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, Rua Professor Cid dos Santos, 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal1.
L M A
LMA
Ferreira
D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism; D020633:Cellvibrio / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D043364:Endo-1,4-beta Xylanases; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006868:Hydrolysis; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000201:enzymology; D043325:Xylan Endo-1,3-beta-Xylosidase; D014990:Xylans / Q000378:metabolism; D014995:Xylosidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D014990:Xylans; D002482:Cellulose; D014995:Xylosidases; D043325:Xylan Endo-1,3-beta-Xylosidase; D043364:Endo-1,4-beta Xylanases