title: Molecular and biochemical characterizations of a novel arthropod endo-beta-1,3-glucanase from the Antarctic springtail, Cryptopygus antarcticus, horizontally acquired from bacteria.
abstract: Collembolan species have been known to have beta-1,3-glucanase activity and yet the genes coding such enzymes have not been demonstrated. We report here a novel arthropod endo-beta-1,3-glucanase gene CaLam from the Antarctic springtail, Cryptopygus antarcticus. The open reading frame consists of 813bp encoding 270 amino acids with a putative signal peptide and a typical motif of glycosyl hydrolase family 16 (GHF16), E-I-D-I-T-E. The recombinant protein expressed in E. coli shows the hydrolytic activity toward laminarin (K(m) approximately 9.98mg/mL) with an optimal temperature 50 degrees C and an optimal pH 6.0. CaLam digests laminarin and laminarioligosaccharides except laminaribiose as an endo-beta-1,3-glucanase, releasing glucose, laminaribiose and laminaritriose as the major products. Analyses of molecular phylogeny of CaLam and its protein structure reveal that CaLam is closely related with bacterial beta-1,3-glucanases more than with the eukaryotic homologues. Even so, the genomic structure of the CaLam gene consisting of six exons interspersed with approximately 57 to 63bp introns confirms that it is endogenous in the genome of the Antarctic springtail. These results suggest that CaLam should have been transferred from bacteria to the lineage of the Collembolan species by horizontal gene transfer.
authors.affiliation: Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Kiwoong
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Young-Uk
authors.initials: YU
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Mee Hye
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Choong-Gon
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Suk-Tae
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Jehee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Youn-Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D001181:Arthropods / Q000201:enzymology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002480:Cellulase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D002480:Cellulase