title: Functional analysis of a gene encoding endoglucanase that belongs to glycosyl hydrolase family 12 from the brown-rot basidiomycete Fomitopsis palustris.
abstract: The brown-rot basidiomycete Fomitopsis palustris is known to degrade crystalline cellulose (Avicel) and produce three major cellulases, exoglucanases, endoglucanases, and beta- glucosidases. A gene encoding endoglucanase, designated as cel12, was cloned from total RNA prepared from F. palustris grown at the expense of Avicel. The gene encoding Cel12 has an open reading frame of 732 bp, encoding a putative protein of 244 amino acid residues with a putative signal peptide residing at the first 18 amino acid residues of the N-terminus of the protein. Sequence analysis of Cel12 identified three consensus regions, which are highly conserved among fungal cellulases belonging to GH family 12. However, a cellulose-binding domain was not found in Cel12, like other GH family 12 fungal cellulases. Northern blot analysis showed a dramatic increase of cel12 mRNA levels in F. palustris cells cultivated on Avicel from the early to late stages of growth and the maintenance of a high level of expression in the late stage, suggesting that Cel12 takes a significant part in endoglucanase activity throughout the growth of F. palustris. Adventitious expression of cel12 in the yeast Pichia pastoris successfully produced the recombinant protein that exhibited endoglucanase activity with carboxymethyl cellulose, but not with crystalline cellulose, suggesting that the enzyme is not a processive endoglucanase unlike two other endoglucanases previously identified in F. palustris.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, College of Industrial Science, Chung-Ang University, Anseong 456-756, Korea.
authors.forename: Byeong-Cheol
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Ki-Yeon
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeong-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Se-Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.forename: Kangseok
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yeong-Suk
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Kyoon
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang-Jun
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Cha
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002480:Cellulase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010843:Pichia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020072:Polyporales / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014934:Wood / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D002480:Cellulase