title: Glucuronoyl esterase--novel carbohydrate esterase produced by Schizophyllum commune.
abstract: The cellulolytic system of the wood-rotting fungus Schizophyllum commune contains an esterase that hydrolyzes methyl ester of 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronic acid. The enzyme, called glucuronoyl esterase, was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from a cellulose-spent culture fluid. Its substrate specificity was examined on a number of substrates of other carbohydrate esterases such as acetylxylan esterase, feruloyl esterase and pectin methylesterase. The glucuronoyl esterase attacks exclusively the esters of MeGlcA. The methyl ester of free or glycosidically linked MeGlcA was not hydrolysed by other carbohydrate esterases. The results suggest that we have discovered a new type of carbohydrate esterase that might be involved in disruption of ester linkages connecting hemicellulose and lignin in plant cell walls.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84538 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spániková
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biely
mesh_terms: D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004950:Esterases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012567:Schizophyllum / Q000201:enzymology*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D004950:Esterases