Solution structure of the module X2 1 of unknown function of the cellulosomal scaffolding protein CipC of Clostridium cellulolyticum

Regulation of cadmium-induced biofilm formation by artificial polysaccharide-binding proteins for enhanced phytoremediation

Phytoremediation is an economic way to attenuate soil heavy metal pollution, but is frequently limited by its low pollutant-removing efficiency. Recently, we revealed the close relation between polysaccharide-based biofilm formation and cadmium removal. In this study, for improving the phytoremediation efficiency, an artificial polysaccharide-binding protein was designed by synthetic biology techniques to regulate biofilm formation. The artificial protein Syn contained two polysaccharide-binding domains from the Ruminococcus flavefaciens CttA and the Clostridium cellulolyticum CipC, preferentially binding polysaccharides exposed on both cadmium-treated bacteria and plant roots. Under cadmium stress, Syn remarkably promoted bacterial polysaccharide production from 99 mg/L to 237 mg/L, leading to 1.23-fold higher biofilm biomass. During treatment of the remediation plants with exogenous cadmium-capturing bacteria, Syn improved root biofilm formation, with the root surface polysaccharide contents increasing by 79%, and the Log10 CFU/g root increasing from 7.01 to 7.80. Meanwhile, Syn remodeled the rhizosphere microbiome, especially increasing the abundance of the bacterial groups involved in biofilm formation and stress tolerance, e.g., Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, etc. Consequently, Syn promoted plant cadmium adsorption, with the cadmium-removing efficiency increasing from 17.2% to 33.8%. This study sheds light on synthetic biology-based regulation of biofilm formation for enhanced phytoremediation.

In vivo Functional Characterization of Hydrophilic X2 Modules in the Cellulosomal Scaffolding Protein

As part of free cellulases or scaffolding proteins in cellulosomes, the hydrophilic non-catalytic X2 module is widely distributed in cellulolytic Clostridia or other Firmicutes bacteria. Previous biochemical studies suggest that X2 modules might increase the solubility and substrate binding affinity of X2-bearing proteins. However, their in vivo biological functions remain elusive. Here we employed CRISPR-Cas9 editing to genetically modify X2 modules by deleting the conserved motif (NGNT) from the CipC scaffoldin. Both single and double X2 mutants (X2-N: near the N terminus of CipC; X2-C: near the C terminus of CipC) presented similar stoichiometric compositions in isolated cellulosomes as the wildtype strain (WT). These X2 mutants had an elongated adaptation stage during growth on cellulose compared to cellobiose. Compared to WT, the double mutant ΔX2-NC reduced cellulose degradation by 15% and the amount of released soluble sugars by 63%. Since single X2 mutants did not present such obvious physiological changes as ΔX2-NC, there seems to be a functional redundancy between X2 modules in CipC. The in vivo adhesion assay revealed that ΔX2-NC decreased cell attachment to cellulose by 70% but a weaker effect was also overserved in single X2 mutants. These results highlight the in vivo biological role of X2 in increasing cellulose degradation efficiency by enhancing the binding affinity between cells and cellulose, which provides new perspectives for microbial engineering.

Thermophiles and carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) in biofilm microbial consortia that decompose lignocellulosic plant litters at high temperatures

The SKY hot spring is a unique site filled with a thick layer of plant litter. With the advancement of next-generation sequencing, it is now possible to mine many new biocatalyst sequences. In this study, we aimed to (i) identify the metataxonomic of prokaryotes and eukaryotes in microbial mats using 16S and 18S rRNA markers, (ii) and explore carbohydrate degrading enzymes (CAZymes) that have a high potential for future applications. Green microbial mat, predominantly photosynthetic bacteria, was attached to submerged or floating leaves litter. At the spring head, the sediment mixture consisted of plant debris, predominantly brownish-reddish gelatinous microbial mat, pale tan biofilm, and grey-white filament biofilm. The population in the spring head had a higher percentage of archaea and hyperthermophiles than the green mat. Concurrently, we cataloged nearly 10,000 sequences of CAZymes in both green and brown biofilms using the shotgun metagenomic sequencing approach. These sequences include β-glucosidase, cellulase, xylanase, α-N-arabinofuranosidase, α-l-arabinofuranosidase, and other CAZymes. In conclusion, this work elucidated that SKY is a unique hot spring due to its rich lignocellulosic material, often absent in other hot springs. The data collected from this study serves as a repository of new thermostable macromolecules, in particular families of glycoside hydrolases.

Chimeric Fusion between Clostridium ramosum IgA Protease and IgG Fc Provides Long-lasting Clearance of IgA deposits in Mouse Models of IgA Nephropathy

BACKGROUND

IgA nephropathy is a common primary glomerulonephritis caused by mesangial deposition of poly-IgA complexes. The disease follows a variable course of clinical progression with a high risk of kidney failure. While no specific therapy is available, enzymatic strategies to clear IgA deposits are being considered for the treatment of rapidly progressive IgA nephropathy.

METHODS

We chose an IgA protease of commensal bacterium Clostridium ramosum, termed AK183, as the template for constructing a recombinant biologic. To extend the half-life in blood, we fused AK183 to the Fc segment of human IgG1. Activities of this Fc-AK183 fusion protein towards the cleavage and subsequent clearance of IgA were tested in mouse models.

RESULTS

First, we discovered an autocleavage activity of AK183 that separates the N-terminal protease from its C-terminal autotransporter β domain. Therefore, we grafted Fc to the N-terminus of AK183 and demonstrated its week-long enzymatic activity in mice. In addition, the proteolytic fragments of IgA generated in the reaction with Fc-AK183 were effectively removed from circulation via kidney filtration. The combined actions of Fc-AK183-mediated cleavage and subsequent renal clearance of IgA resulted in a lasting obliteration of blood IgA, as demonstrated in a human IgA-injection model and in a humanized α1KI transgenic model. Fc-AK183 was also able to remove chronic IgA and associated complement C3 deposits in the glomerulus.

CONCLUSION

We constructed a chimeric fusion of IgA protease with Fc and demonstrated its long-lasting efficacy as a promising targeted therapy for IgA nephropathy.

Cellulosomes: Highly Efficient Cellulolytic Complexes

Cellulosomes are elaborate multienzyme complexes capable of efficiently deconstructing lignocellulosic substrates, produced by cellulolytic anaerobic microorganisms, colonizing a large variety of ecological niches. These macromolecular structures have a modular architecture and are composed of two main elements: the cohesin-bearing scaffoldins, which are non-catalytic structural proteins, and the various dockerin-bearing enzymes that tenaciously bind to the scaffoldins. Cellulosome assembly is mediated by strong and highly specific interactions between the cohesin modules, present in the scaffoldins, and the dockerin modules, present in the catalytic units. Cellulosomal architecture and composition varies between species and can even change within the same organism. These differences seem to be largely influenced by external factors, including the nature of the available carbon-source. Even though cellulosome producing organisms are relatively few, the development of new genomic and proteomic technologies has allowed the identification of cellulosomal components in many archea, bacteria and even some primitive eukaryotes. This reflects the importance of this cellulolytic strategy and suggests that cohesin-dockerin interactions could be involved in other non-cellulolytic processes. Due to their building-block nature and highly cellulolytic capabilities, cellulosomes hold many potential biotechnological applications, such as the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass in the production of biofuels or the development of affinity based technologies.

Carbohydrate Binding Modules: Diversity of Domain Architecture in Amylases and Cellulases From Filamentous Microorganisms

Enzymatic degradation of abundant renewable polysaccharides such as cellulose and starch is a field that has the attention of both the industrial and scientific community. Most of the polysaccharide degrading enzymes are classified into several glycoside hydrolase families. They are often organized in a modular manner which includes a catalytic domain connected to one or more carbohydrate-binding modules. The carbohydrate-binding modules (CBM) have been shown to increase the proximity of the enzyme to its substrate, especially for insoluble substrates. Therefore, these modules are considered to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis. These properties have played an important role in many biotechnological applications with the aim to improve the efficiency of polysaccharide degradation. The domain organization of glycoside hydrolases (GHs) equipped with one or more CBM does vary within organisms. This review comprehensively highlights the presence of CBM as ancillary modules and explores the diversity of GHs carrying one or more of these modules that actively act either on cellulose or starch. Special emphasis is given to the cellulase and amylase distribution within the filamentous microorganisms from the genera of Streptomyces and Aspergillus that are well known to have a great capacity for secreting a wide range of these polysaccharide degrading enzyme. The potential of the CBM and other ancillary domains for the design of improved polysaccharide decomposing enzymes is discussed.

Minimalistic Cellulosome of the Butanologenic Bacterium Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum

Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum is a mesophilic, anaerobic, butanol-producing bacterium, originally isolated from soil. It was recently reported that C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum possesses multiple cellulosomal elements and would potentially form the smallest cellulosome known in nature. Its genome contains only eight dockerin-bearing enzymes, and its unique scaffoldin bears two cohesins (Cohs), three X2 modules, and two carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs). In this study, all of the cellulosome-related modules were cloned, expressed, and purified. The recombinant cohesins, dockerins, and CBMs were tested for binding activity using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based techniques. All the enzymes were tested for their comparative enzymatic activity on seven different cellulosic and hemicellulosic substrates, thus revealing four cellulases, a xylanase, a mannanase, a xyloglucanase, and a lichenase. All dockerin-containing enzymes interacted similarly with the second cohesin (Coh2) module, whereas Coh1 was more restricted in its interaction pattern. In addition, the polysaccharide-binding properties of the CBMs within the scaffoldin were examined by two complementary assays, affinity electrophoresis and affinity pulldown. The scaffoldin of C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum exhibited high affinity for cellulosic and hemicellulosic substrates, specifically to microcrystalline cellulose and xyloglucan. Evidence that supports substrate-dependent in vivo secretion of cellulosomes is presented. The results of our analyses contribute to a better understanding of simple cellulosome systems by identifying the key players in this minimalistic system and the binding pattern of its cohesin-dockerin interaction. The knowledge gained by our study will assist further exploration of similar minimalistic cellulosomes and will contribute to the significance of specific sets of defined cellulosomal enzymes in the degradation of cellulosic biomass.IMPORTANCE Cellulosome-producing bacteria are considered among the most important bacteria in both mesophilic and thermophilic environments, owing to their capacity to deconstruct recalcitrant plant-derived polysaccharides (and notably cellulose) into soluble saccharides for subsequent processing. In many ecosystems, the cellulosome-producing bacteria are particularly effective "first responders." The massive amounts of sugars produced are potentially amenable in industrial settings to further fermentation by appropriate microbes to biofuels, notably ethanol and butanol. Among the solvent-producing bacteria, Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum has the smallest cellulosome system known thus far. The importance of investigating the building blocks of such a small, multifunctional nanomachine is crucial to understanding the fundamental activities of this efficient enzymatic complex.

Structural enzymology reveals the molecular basis of substrate regiospecificity and processivity of an exemplar bacterial glycoside hydrolase family 74 endo-xyloglucanase

Paenibacillus odorifer produces a single multimodular enzyme containing a glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 74 module (AIQ73809). Recombinant production and characterization of the GH74 module (PoGH74_cat) revealed a highly specific, processive endo-xyloglucanase that can hydrolyze the polysaccharide backbone at both branched and unbranched positions. X-ray crystal structures obtained for the free enzyme and oligosaccharide complexes evidenced an extensive hydrophobic binding platform - the first in GH74 extending from subsites -4 to +6 - and unique mobile active-site loops. Site-directed mutagenesis revealed that glycine-476 was uniquely responsible for the promiscuous backbone-cleaving activity of PoGH74_cat; replacement with tyrosine, which is conserved in many GH74 members, resulted in exclusive hydrolysis at unbranched glucose units. Likewise, systematic replacement of the hydrophobic platform residues constituting the positive subsites indicated their relative contributions to the processive mode of action. Specifically, W347 (+3 subsite) and W348 (+5 subsite) are essential for processivity, while W406 (+2 subsite) and Y372 (+6 subsite) are not strictly essential, but aid processivity.

Intein-mediated assembly of tunable scaffoldins for facile synthesis of designer cellulosomes

In this study, extended artificial scaffoldins possessing multiple cohesin modules were created in vivo by employing split-intein-mediated protein ligation. Artificial scaffoldins having one Clostridium thermocellum cohesin (Coht), one carbohydrate binding module (CBM) from Clostridium cellulolyticum scaffolding protein CipC, and one to five cohesins (Cohc) derived from CipC, were assembled. These scaffoldins were used to assemble cellulosomal enzyme complexes for investigating the interplay among endoglucanase, exoglucanase, and scaffoldin-borne CBM, on the hydrolysis of a model microcrystalline cellulose substrate, Avicel. The cellulosomal complexes were assembled in vitro by incubating recombinant C. thermocellum endoglucanase (At) and C. cellulolyticum exoglucanase (Ec), with the various artificial scaffoldins. Under a fixed total cellulase concentration, improved hydrolysis is noted by recruiting both Ec and At on the same scaffoldin, for all scaffoldins tested, compared with free cellulases. The improvement is more profound with scaffoldins having a higher Cohc/Coht ratio (i.e., increased Ec/At ratio). Furthermore, among scaffoldins having the same Cohc/Coht ratio, highest rates of Avicel hydrolysis are noted when Coht, and hence an endoglucanase, is situated next to the CBM and not flanked by Cohc. These results point to the importance of using scaffoldins with sufficiently high numbers of cohesin units to achieve an optimal exo-/endo-glucanase ratio to create efficient designer cellulosomes. Furthermore, intein-trans-splicing is proven here to be an effective method for assembling complex scaffoldins and more intricate cellulosomes.

Pan-Cellulosomics of Mesophilic Clostridia: Variations on a Theme

The bacterial cellulosome is an extracellular, multi-enzyme machinery, which efficiently depolymerizes plant biomass by degrading plant cell wall polysaccharides. Several cellulolytic bacteria have evolved various elaborate modular architectures of active cellulosomes. We present here a genome-wide analysis of a dozen mesophilic clostridia species, including both well-studied and yet-undescribed cellulosome-producing bacteria. We first report here, the presence of cellulosomal elements, thus expanding our knowledge regarding the prevalence of the cellulosomal paradigm in nature. We explored the genomic organization of key cellulosome components by comparing the cellulosomal gene clusters in each bacterial species, and the conserved sequence features of the specific cellulosomal modules (cohesins and dockerins), on the background of their phylogenetic relationship. Additionally, we performed comparative analyses of the species-specific repertoire of carbohydrate-degrading enzymes for each of the clostridial species, and classified each cellulosomal enzyme into a specific CAZy family, thus indicating their putative enzymatic activity (e.g., cellulases, hemicellulases, and pectinases). Our work provides, for this large group of bacteria, a broad overview of the blueprints of their multi-component cellulosomal complexes. The high similarity of their scaffoldin clusters and dockerin-based recognition residues suggests a common ancestor, and/or extensive horizontal gene transfer, and potential cross-species recognition. In addition, the sporadic spatial organization of the numerous dockerin-containing genes in several of the genomes, suggests the importance of the cellulosome paradigm in the given bacterial species. The information gained in this work may be utilized directly or developed further by genetically engineering and optimizing designer cellulosome systems for enhanced biotechnological biomass deconstruction and biofuel production.

Impact of Module-X2 and Carbohydrate Binding Module-3 on the catalytic activity of associated glycoside hydrolases towards plant biomass

Cellulolytic enzymes capable of hydrolyzing plant biomass are secreted by microbial cells specifically in response to the carbon substrate present in the environment. These enzymes consist of a catalytic domain, generally appended to one or more non-catalytic Carbohydrate Binding Module (CBM), which enhances their activity towards recalcitrant biomass. In the present study, the genome of a cellulolytic microbe Paenibacillus polymyxa A18 was annotated for the presence of CBMs and analyzed their expression in response to the plant biomass and model polysaccharides Avicel, CMC and xylan using quantitative PCR. A gene that encodes X2-CBM3 was found to be maximally induced in response to the biomass and crystalline substrate Avicel. Association of X2-CBM3 with xyloglucanase and endoglucanase led to up to 4.6-fold increase in activity towards insoluble substrates. In the substrate binding study, module X2 showed a higher affinity towards biomass and phosphoric acid swollen cellulose, whereas CBM3 showed a higher affinity towards Avicel. Further structural modeling of X2 also indicated its potential role in substrate binding. Our findings highlighted the role of module X2 along with CBM3 in assisting the enzyme catalysis of agricultural residue and paved the way to engineer glycoside hydrolases for superior activity.

Molecular characterization of a family 5 glycoside hydrolase suggests an induced-fit enzymatic mechanism

Glycoside hydrolases (GHs) play fundamental roles in the decomposition of lignocellulosic biomaterials. Here, we report the full-length structure of a cellulase from Bacillus licheniformis (BlCel5B), a member of the GH5 subfamily 4 that is entirely dependent on its two ancillary modules (Ig-like module and CBM46) for catalytic activity. Using X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulations, we propose that the C-terminal CBM46 caps the distal N-terminal catalytic domain (CD) to establish a fully functional active site via a combination of large-scale multidomain conformational selection and induced-fit mechanisms. The Ig-like module is pivoting the packing and unpacking motions of CBM46 relative to CD in the assembly of the binding subsite. This is the first example of a multidomain GH relying on large amplitude motions of the CBM46 for assembly of the catalytically competent form of the enzyme.

Combining free and aggregated cellulolytic systems in the cellulosome-producing bacterium Ruminiclostridium cellulolyticum

BACKGROUND

Ruminiclostridium cellulolyticum and Lachnoclostridium phytofermentans (formerly known as Clostridium cellulolyticum and Clostridium phytofermentans, respectively) are anaerobic bacteria that developed different strategies to depolymerize the cellulose and the related plant cell wall polysaccharides. Thus, R. cellulolyticum produces large extracellular multi-enzyme complexes termed cellulosomes, while L. phytofermentans secretes in the environment some cellulose-degrading enzymes as free enzymes. In the present study, the major cellulase from L. phytofermentans was introduced as a free enzyme or as a cellulosomal component in R. cellulolyticum to improve its cellulolytic capacities.

RESULTS

The gene at locus Cphy_3367 encoding the major cellulase Cel9A from L. phytofermentans and an engineered gene coding for a modified enzyme harboring a R. cellulolyticum C-terminal dockerin were cloned in an expression vector. After electrotransformation of R. cellulolyticum, both forms of Cel9A were found to be secreted by the corresponding recombinant strains. On minimal medium containing microcrystalline cellulose as the sole source of carbon, the strain secreting the free Cel9A started to grow sooner and consumed cellulose faster than the strain producing the cellulosomal form of Cel9A, or the control strain carrying an empty expression vector. All strains reached the same final cell density but the strain producing the cellulosomal form of Cel9A was unable to completely consume the available cellulose even after an extended cultivation time, conversely to the two other strains. Analyses of their cellulosomes showed that the engineered form of Cel9A bearing a dockerin was successfully incorporated in the complexes, but its integration induced an important release of regular cellulosomal components such as the major cellulase Cel48F, which severely impaired the activity of the complexes on cellulose. In contrast, the cellulosomes synthesized by the control and the free Cel9A-secreting strains displayed similar composition and activity. Finally, the most cellulolytic strain secreting free Cel9A, was also characterized by an early production of lactate, acetate and ethanol as compared to the control strain.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study shows that the cellulolytic capacity of R. cellulolyticum can be augmented by supplementing the cellulosomes with a free cellulase originating from L. phytofermentans, whereas integration of the heterologous enzyme in the cellulosomes is rather unfavorable.

Metagenome Analysis of Protein Domain Collocation within Cellulase Genes of Goat Rumen Microbes

In this study, protein domains with cellulase activity in goat rumen microbes were investigated using metagenomic and bioinformatic analyses. After the complete genome of goat rumen microbes was obtained using a shotgun sequencing method, 217,892,109 pair reads were filtered, including only those with 70% identity, 100-bp matches, and thresholds below E(-10) using METAIDBA. These filtered contigs were assembled and annotated using blastN against the NCBI nucleotide database. As a result, a microbial community structure with 1431 species was analyzed, among which Prevotella ruminicola 23 bacteria and Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus B316 were the dominant groups. In parallel, 201 sequences related with cellulase activities (EC.3.2.1.4) were obtained through blast searches using the enzyme.dat file provided by the NCBI database. After translating the nucleotide sequence into a protein sequence using Interproscan, 28 protein domains with cellulase activity were identified using the HMMER package with threshold E values below 10(-5). Cellulase activity protein domain profiling showed that the major protein domains such as lipase GDSL, cellulase, and Glyco hydro 10 were present in bacterial species with strong cellulase activities. Furthermore, correlation plots clearly displayed the strong positive correlation between some protein domain groups, which was indicative of microbial adaption in the goat rumen based on feeding habits. This is the first metagenomic analysis of cellulase activity protein domains using bioinformatics from the goat rumen.

A synthetic biology approach for evaluating the functional contribution of designer cellulosome components to deconstruction of cellulosic substrates

BACKGROUND

Select cellulolytic bacteria produce multi-enzymatic cellulosome complexes that bind to the plant cell wall and catalyze its efficient degradation. The multi-modular interconnecting cellulosomal subunits comprise dockerin-containing enzymes that bind cohesively to cohesin-containing scaffoldins. The organization of the modules into functional polypeptides is achieved by intermodular linkers of different lengths and composition, which provide flexibility to the complex and determine its overall architecture.

RESULTS

Using a synthetic biology approach, we systematically investigated the spatial organization of the scaffoldin subunit and its effect on cellulose hydrolysis by designing a combinatorial library of recombinant trivalent designer scaffoldins, which contain a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) and 3 divergent cohesin modules. The positions of the individual modules were shuffled into 24 different arrangements of chimaeric scaffoldins. This basic set was further extended into three sub-sets for each arrangement with intermodular linkers ranging from zero (no linkers), 5 (short linkers) and native linkers of 27-35 amino acids (long linkers). Of the 72 possible scaffoldins, 56 were successfully cloned and 45 of them expressed, representing 14 full sets of chimaeric scaffoldins. The resultant 42-component scaffoldin library was used to assemble designer cellulosomes, comprising three model C. thermocellum cellulases. Activities were examined using Avicel as a pure microcrystalline cellulose substrate and pretreated cellulose-enriched wheat straw as a model substrate derived from a native source. All scaffoldin combinations yielded active trivalent designer cellulosome assemblies on both substrates that exceeded the levels of the free enzyme systems. A preferred modular arrangement for the trivalent designer scaffoldin was not observed for the three enzymes used in this study, indicating that they could be integrated at any position in the designer cellulosome without significant effect on cellulose-degrading activity. Designer cellulosomes assembled with the long-linker scaffoldins achieved higher levels of activity, compared to those assembled with short-and no-linker scaffoldins.

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrate the robustness of the cellulosome system. Long intermodular scaffoldin linkers are preferable, thus leading to enhanced degradation of cellulosic substrates, presumably due to the increased flexibility and spatial positioning of the attached enzymes in the complex. These findings provide a general basis for improved designer cellulosome systems as a platform for bioethanol production.

Atypical cohesin-dockerin complex responsible for cell surface attachment of cellulosomal components: binding fidelity, promiscuity, and structural buttresses

The rumen bacterium Ruminococcus flavefaciens produces a highly organized multienzyme cellulosome complex that plays a key role in the degradation of plant cell wall polysaccharides, notably cellulose. The R. flavefaciens cellulosomal system is anchored to the bacterial cell wall through a relatively small ScaE scaffoldin subunit, which bears a single type IIIe cohesin responsible for the attachment of two major dockerin-containing scaffoldin proteins, ScaB and the cellulose-binding protein CttA. Although ScaB recruits the catalytic machinery onto the complex, CttA mediates attachment of the bacterial substrate via its two putative carbohydrate-binding modules. In an effort to understand the structural basis for assembly and cell surface attachment of the cellulosome in R. flavefaciens, we determined the crystal structure of the high affinity complex (Kd = 20.83 nM) between the cohesin module of ScaE (CohE) and its cognate X-dockerin (XDoc) modular dyad from CttA at 1.97-Å resolution. The structure reveals an atypical calcium-binding loop containing a 13-residue insert. The results further pinpoint two charged specificity-related residues on the surface of the cohesin module that are responsible for specific versus promiscuous cross-strain binding of the dockerin module. In addition, a combined functional role for the three enigmatic dockerin inserts was established whereby these extraneous segments serve as structural buttresses that reinforce the stalklike conformation of the X-module, thus segregating its tethered complement of cellulosomal components from the cell surface. The novel structure of the RfCohE-XDoc complex sheds light on divergent dockerin structure and function and provides insight into the specificity features of the type IIIe cohesin-dockerin interaction.

Tunable nano-oleosomes derived from engineered Yarrowia lipolytica

Oleosomes are discrete organelles filled with neutral lipids surrounded by a protein-embedded phospholipid monolayer. Their simple yet robust structure, as well as their amenability to biological, chemical, and physical processing, can be exploited for various biotechnology applications. In this study, we report facile biosynthesis of functionalized oleosomes within oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, through expression of oleosin fusion proteins. By fusing a cDNA clone of a sesame oleosin with either the coding sequence of a red fluorescent protein mCherry or a cellulosomal scaffolding protein cohesin from Clostridium cellulolyticum, these oleosin-fusion proteins were efficiently expressed and specifically targeted to and anchored on the surface of the oleosomes within the Y. lipolytica cells. The engineered oleosomes can be easily separated from the Y. lipolytica cell extract via floating centrifugation and both mCherry and cohesin domains are shown to be functional. Upon sonication, the engineered Yarrowia oleosomes exhibit a mean diameter of 200-300 nm and are found to be highly stable. The feasibility of co-displaying multiple proteins on the Yarrowia oleosomes was demonstrated by incubating cohesin-displaying oleosomes with different dockerin-fusion proteins. Based on this strategy, engineered oleosomes with both cell-targeting and reporting activities were created and shown to be functional. Taken together, the Yarrowia oleosome surface display system in which oleosin serves as an efficient membrane anchor motif shows great promise as a simple platform for creating tunable nanoparticles.

Self-assembled amyloid-like oligomeric-cohesin Scaffoldin for augmented protein display on the saccharomyces cerevisiae cell surface

In this study, a molecular self-assembly strategy to develop a novel protein scaffold for amplifying the extent and variety of proteins displayed on the surface of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is presented. The cellulosomal scaffolding protein cohesin and its upstream hydrophilic domain (HD) were genetically fused with the yeast Ure2p N-terminal fibrillogenic domain consisting of residues 1 to 80 (Ure2p(1-80)). The resulting Ure2p(1-80)-HD-cohesin fusion protein was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli to produce self-assembled supramolecular nanofibrils that serve as a novel protein scaffold displaying multiple copies of functional cohesin domains. The amyloid-like property of the nanofibrils was confirmed via thioflavin T staining and atomic force microscopy. These cohesin nanofibrils attached themselves, via a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-dockerin fusion protein, to the cell surface of S. cerevisiae engineered to display a GFP-nanobody. The excess cohesin units on the nanofibrils provide ample sites for binding to dockerin fusion proteins, as exemplified using an mCherry-dockerin fusion protein as well as the Clostridium cellulolyticum CelA endoglucanase. More than a 24-fold increase in mCherry fluorescence and an 8-fold increase in CelA activity were noted when the cohesin nanofibril scaffold-mediated yeast display was used, compared to using yeast display with GFP-cohesin that contains only a single copy of cohesin. Self-assembled supramolecular cohesin nanofibrils created by fusion with the yeast Ure2p fibrillogenic domain provide a versatile protein scaffold that expands the utility of yeast cell surface display.

Effects of salts on activity of halophilic cellulase with glucomannanase activity isolated from alkaliphilic and halophilic Bacillus sp. BG-CS10

Alkaliphilic and halophilic Bacillus sp. BG-CS10 was isolated from Zabuye Salt Lake, Tibet. The gene celB, encoding a halophilic cellulase was identified from the genomic library of BG-CS10. CelB belongs to the cellulase superfamily and DUF291 superfamily, with an unknown function domain and less than 58% identity to other cellulases in GenBank. The purified recombinant protein (molecular weight: 62 kDa) can hydrolyze soluble cellulose substrates containing beta-1,4-linkages, such as carboxylmethyl cellulose and konjac glucomannan, but has no exoglucanase and β-glucosidase activities. Thus, CelB is a cellulase with an endo mode of action and glucomannanase activity. Interestingly, the enzyme activity was increased approximately tenfold with 2.5 M NaCl or 3 M KCl. Furthermore, the optimal temperatures were 55°C with 2.5 M NaCl and 35°C without NaCl, respectively. This indicates that NaCl can improve enzyme thermostability. The K ( m ) and k (cat) values of CelB for CMC with 2.5 M NaCl were 3.18 mg mL(-1) and 26 s(-1), while the K ( m ) and k (cat) values of CelB without NaCl were 6.6 mg mL(-1) and 2.1 s(-1). Thus, this thermo-stable, salt and pH-tolerant cellulase is a promising candidate for industrial applications, and provides a new model to study salt effects on the structure of protein.

Probing the mechanism of cellulosome attachment to the Clostridium thermocellum cell surface: computer simulation of the Type II cohesin-dockerin complex and its variants

The recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass to hydrolysis is the bottleneck in cellulosic ethanol production. Efficient degradation of biomass by the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum is carried out by the multicomponent cellulosome complex. The bacterial cell-surface attachment of the cellulosome is mediated by high-affinity protein-protein interactions between the Type II cohesin domain borne by the cell envelope protein and the Type II dockerin domain, together with neighboring X-module present at the C-terminus of the scaffolding protein (Type II coh-Xdoc). Here, the Type II coh-Xdoc interaction is probed using molecular dynamics simulations, free-energy calculations and essential dynamics analyses on both the wild type and various mutants of the C. thermocellum Type II coh-Xdoc in aqueous solution. The simulations identify the hot spots, i.e. the amino acid residues that may lead to a dramatic decrease in binding affinity upon mutation and also probe the effects of mutations on the mode of binding. The results suggest that bulky and hydrophobic residues at the protein interface, which make specific contacts with their counterparts, may play essential roles in retaining a rigid cohesin-dockerin interface. Moreover, dynamical cross-correlation analysis indicates that the X-module has a dramatic effect on the cohesin-dockerin interaction and is required for the dynamical integrity of the interface.

The noncellulosomal family 48 cellobiohydrolase from Clostridium phytofermentans ISDg: heterologous expression, characterization, and processivity

Family 48 glycoside hydrolases (cellobiohydrolases) are among the most important cellulase components for crystalline cellulose hydrolysis mediated by cellulolytic bacteria. Open reading frame (Cphy_3368) of Clostridium phytofermentans ISDg encodes a putative family 48 glycoside hydrolase (CpCel48) with a family 3 cellulose-binding module. CpCel48 was successfully expressed as two soluble intracellular forms with or without a C-terminal His-tag in Escherichia coli and as a secretory active form in Bacillus subtilis. It was found that calcium ion enhanced activity and thermostability of the enzyme. CpCel48 had high activities of 15.1 U micromol(-1) on Avicel and 35.9 U micromol(-1) on regenerated amorphous cellulose (RAC) with cellobiose as a main product and cellotriose and cellotetraose as by-products. By contrast, it had very weak activities on soluble cellulose derivatives (e.g., carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)) and did not significantly decrease the viscosity of the CMC solution. Cellotetraose was the smallest oligosaccharide substrate for CpCel48. Since processivity is a key characteristic for cellobiohydrolases, the new initial false/right attack model was developed for estimation of processivity by considering the enzyme's substrate specificity, the crystalline structure of homologous Cel48 enzymes, and the configuration of cellulose chains. The processivities of CpCel48 on Avicel and RAC were estimated to be approximately 3.5 and 6.0, respectively. Heterologous expression of secretory active cellobiohydrolase in B. subtilis is an important step for developing recombinant cellulolytic B. subtilis strains for low-cost production of advanced biofuels from cellulosic materials in a single step.

Targeted gene inactivation in Clostridium phytofermentans shows that cellulose degradation requires the family 9 hydrolase Cphy3367

Microbial cellulose degradation is a central part of the global carbon cycle and has great potential for the development of inexpensive, carbon-neutral biofuels from non-food crops. Clostridium phytofermentans has a repertoire of 108 putative glycoside hydrolases to break down cellulose and hemicellulose into sugars, which this organism then ferments primarily to ethanol. An understanding of cellulose degradation at the molecular level requires learning the different roles of these hydrolases. In this study, we show that interspecific conjugation with Escherichia coli can be used to transfer a plasmid into C. phytofermentans that has a resistance marker, an origin of replication that can be selectively lost, and a designed group II intron for efficient, targeted chromosomal insertions without selection. We applied these methods to disrupt the cphy3367 gene, which encodes the sole family 9 glycoside hydrolase (GH9) in the C. phytofermentans genome. The GH9-deficient strain grew normally on some carbon sources such as glucose, but had lost the ability to degrade cellulose. Although C. phytofermentans upregulates the expression of numerous enzymes to break down cellulose, this process thus relies upon a single, key hydrolase, Cphy3367.

Cloning of two cellulase genes from endophytic Paenibacillus polymyxa GS01 and comparison with cel 44C-man 26A

Endophytic bacteria are acknowledged as a new source of genes, proteins and other biochemical compounds, which are often used in biochemical processes. In this study, Paenibacillus polymyxa GS01 was isolated from the interior of the roots of Korean cultivars of ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer). Two cellulase genes, cel 5A and cel 5B, were cloned from GS01, and encode 334 aa and 573 aa proteins, respectively. Cel5A and Cel5B each contain a glycosyl hydrolase family 5 (GH5) catalytic domain. The molecular mass of Cel5A and Cel5B were estimated to be 33 kDa and 61 kDa, respectively, by CMC-SDS-PAGE. When purified from Escherichia coli Cel5A and Cel5B both displayed cellulase activity with pH optima of 7.0 and 6.0, respectively and shared a temperature optimum of 50 degrees C. Neither enzyme had detectable xylanase, lichenase, or mannase activity, in contrast to the multifunctional Cel44C-Man26A enzyme of P. polymyxa which displays cellulase, xylanase, lichenase and mannanase activities. However, Cel5A and Cel5B exhibited higher specific cellulase activity than Cel44C-Man26A (120% and 140%, respectively). Cel5A and Cel5B mutants with alanine substitutions at a conserved glutamic acid in the GH5 domain (Glu 179 of Cel5A and Glu184 of Cel5B) lacked cellulase activity, suggesting that this residue is important for GH5 domain function.

Cellulosomes: microbial nanomachines that display plasticity in quaternary structure

The assembly of proteins that display complementary activities into supramolecular intra- and extracellular complexes is central to cellular function. One such nanomachine of considerable biological and industrial significance is the plant cell wall degrading apparatus of anaerobic bacteria termed the cellulosome. The Clostridium thermocellum cellulosome assembles through the interaction of a type I dockerin module in the catalytic entities with one of several type I cohesin modules in the non-catalytic scaffolding protein. Recent structural studies have provided the molecular details of how dockerin-cohesin interactions mediate both cellulosome assembly and the retention of the protein complex on the bacterial cell surface. The type I dockerin, which displays near-perfect sequence and structural symmetry, interacts with its cohesin partner through a dual binding mode in which either the N- or C-terminal helix dominate heterodimer formation. The biological significance of this dual binding mode is discussed with respect to the plasticity of the orientation of the catalytic subunits within this supramolecular assembly. The flexibility in the quaternary structure of the cellulosome may reflect the challenges presented by the degradation of a heterogenous recalcitrant insoluble substrate by an intricate macromolecular complex, in which the essential synergy between the catalytic subunits is a key feature of cellulosome function.

Mechanism of bacterial cell-surface attachment revealed by the structure of cellulosomal type II cohesin-dockerin complex

Bacterial cell-surface attachment of macromolecular complexes maintains the microorganism in close proximity to extracellular substrates and allows for optimal uptake of hydrolytic byproducts. The cellulosome is a large multienzyme complex used by many anaerobic bacteria for the efficient degradation of plant cell-wall polysaccharides. The mechanism of cellulosome retention to the bacterial cell surface involves a calcium-mediated protein-protein interaction between the dockerin (Doc) module from the cellulosomal scaffold and a cohesin (Coh) module of cell-surface proteins located within the proteoglycan layer. Here, we report the structure of an ultra-high-affinity (K(a) = 1.44 x 10(10) M(-1)) complex between type II Doc, together with its neighboring X module from the cellulosome scaffold of Clostridium thermocellum, and a type II Coh module associated with the bacterial cell surface. Identification of X module-Doc and X module-Coh contacts reveal roles for the X module in Doc stability and enhanced Coh recognition. This extremely tight interaction involves one face of the Coh and both helices of the Doc and comprises significant hydrophobic character and a complementary extensive hydrogen-bond network. This structure represents a unique mechanism for cell-surface attachment in anaerobic bacteria and provides a rationale for discriminating between type I and type II Coh modules.

Cellulase, clostridia, and ethanol

Biomass conversion to ethanol as a liquid fuel by the thermophilic and anaerobic clostridia offers a potential partial solution to the problem of the world's dependence on petroleum for energy. Coculture of a cellulolytic strain and a saccharolytic strain of Clostridium on agricultural resources, as well as on urban and industrial cellulosic wastes, is a promising approach to an alternate energy source from an economic viewpoint. This review discusses the need for such a process, the cellulases of clostridia, their presence in extracellular complexes or organelles (the cellulosomes), the binding of the cellulosomes to cellulose and to the cell surface, cellulase genetics, regulation of their synthesis, cocultures, ethanol tolerance, and metabolic pathway engineering for maximizing ethanol yield.

Expression, purification and structural characterization of the scaffoldin hydrophilic X-module from the cellulosome of Clostridium thermocellum

The cellulosome is a membrane-bound, extracellular multi-subunit complex responsible for the degradation of crystalline cellulose by a number of organisms including anaerobic bacteria and fungi. The hydrophilic X-module (CipA-X) from the modular scaffoldin subunit of Clostridium thermocellum cellulosome has been proposed to play various roles in cellulosomal function, including thermal and structural stability. Towards elucidating the function of CipA-X using structural and biophysical studies, the region comprising residues 1692-1785 from the C. thermocellum CipA cDNA encoding CipA-X was cloned into a pET21b expression vector. When expressed in Escherichia coli, the C-terminal His-tagged protein accumulated in the insoluble fraction. Cell fractionation experiments showed that the recombinant protein was localized to inclusion bodies. Refolding and purification involved denaturation of the whole cell lysate by addition of urea, followed by a nickel-Sepharose chromatography step and dialysis into native conditions (25 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 50 mM NaCl, and 10 mM EDTA). A final gel filtration step purified the protein to homogeneity, yielding 40 mg/L. The two-dimensional 1H-15N correlation spectrum of uniformly 15N-labelled CipA-X showed the characteristics of a well-folded protein comprising significant beta-structure, which is in agreement with the circular dichroism data.

Clostridium cellulolyticum: model organism of mesophilic cellulolytic clostridia

Clostridium cellulolyticum ATCC 35319 is a non-ruminal mesophilic cellulolytic bacterium originally isolated from decayed grass. As with most truly cellulolytic clostridia, C. cellulolyticum possesses an extracellular multi-enzymatic complex, the cellulosome. The catalytic components of the cellulosome release soluble cello-oligosaccharides from cellulose providing the primary carbon substrates to support bacterial growth. As most cellulolytic bacteria, C. cellulolyticum was initially characterised by limited carbon consumption and subsequent limited growth in comparison to other saccharolytic clostridia. The first metabolic studies performed in batch cultures suggested nutrient(s) limitation and/or by-product(s) inhibition as the reasons for this limited growth. In most recent investigations using chemostat cultures, metabolic flux analysis suggests a self-intoxication of bacterial metabolism resulting from an inefficiently regulated carbon flow. The investigation of C. cellulolyticum physiology with cellobiose, as a model of soluble cellodextrin, and with pure cellulose, as a carbon source more closely related to lignocellulosic compounds, strengthen the idea of a bacterium particularly well adapted, and even restricted, to a cellulolytic lifestyle. The metabolic flux analysis from continuous cultures revealed that (i) in comparison to cellobiose, the cellulose hydrolysis by the cellulosome introduces an extra regulation of entering carbon flow resulting in globally lower metabolic fluxes on cellulose than on cellobiose, (ii) the glucose 1-phosphate/glucose 6-phosphate branch point controls the carbon flow directed towards glycolysis and dissipates carbon excess towards the formation of cellodextrins, glycogen and exopolysaccharides, (iii) the pyruvate/acetyl-CoA metabolic node is essential to the regulation of electronic and energetic fluxes. This in-depth analysis of C. cellulolyticum metabolism has permitted the first attempt to engineer metabolically a cellulolytic microorganism.

Hydrophilic domains of scaffolding protein CbpA promote glycosyl hydrolase activity and localization of cellulosomes to the cell surface of Clostridium cellulovorans

CbpA, the scaffolding protein of Clostridium cellulovorans cellulosomes, possesses one family 3 cellulose binding domain, nine cohesin domains, and four hydrophilic domains (HLDs). Among the three types of domains, the function of the HLDs is still unknown. We proposed previously that the HLDs of CbpA play a role in attaching the cellulosome to the cell surface, since they showed some homology to the surface layer homology domains of EngE. Several recombinant proteins with HLDs (rHLDs) and recombinant EngE (rEngE) were examined to determine their binding to the C. cellulovorans cell wall fraction. Tandemly linked rHLDs showed higher affinity for the cell wall than individual rHLDs showed. EngE was shown to have a higher affinity for cell walls than rHLDs have. C. cellulovorans native cellulosomes were found to have higher affinity for cell walls than rHLDs have. When immunoblot analysis was carried out with the native cellulosome fraction bound to cell wall fragments, the presence of EngE was also confirmed, suggesting that the mechanism anchoring CbpA to the C. cellulovorans cell surface was mediated through EngE and that the HLDs play a secondary role in the attachment of the cellulosome to the cell surface. During a study of the role of HLDs on cellulose degradation, the mini-cellulosome complexes with HLDs degraded cellulose more efficiently than complexes without HLDs degraded cellulose. The rHLDs also showed binding affinity for crystalline cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose. These results suggest that the CbpA HLDs play a major role and a minor role in C. cellulovorans cellulosomes. The primary role increases cellulose degradation activity by binding the cellulosome complex to the cellulose substrate; secondarily, HLDs aid the binding of the CbpA/cellulosome to the C. cellulovorans cell surface.

Production of heterologous and chimeric scaffoldins by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824

Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 converts sugars and various polysaccharides into acids and solvents. This bacterium, however, is unable to utilize cellulosic substrates, since it is able to secrete very small amounts of cellulosomes. To promote the utilization of crystalline cellulose, the strategy we chose aims at producing heterologous minicellulosomes, containing two different cellulases bound to a miniscaffoldin, in C. acetobutylicum. A first step toward this goal describes the production of miniCipC1, a truncated form of CipC from Clostridium cellulolyticum, and the hybrid scaffoldin Scaf 3, which bears an additional cohesin domain derived from CipA from Clostridium thermocellum. Both proteins were correctly matured and secreted in the medium, and their various domains were found to be functional.

Cobatoxin 1 from Centruroides noxius scorpion venom: chemical synthesis, three-dimensional structure in solution, pharmacology and docking on K+ channels

CoTX1 (cobatoxin 1) is a 32-residue toxin with three disulphide bridges that has been isolated from the venom of the Mexican scorpion Centruroides noxius Hoffmann. Here we report the chemical synthesis, disulphide bridge organization, 3-D (three-dimensional) solution structure determination, pharmacology on K+ channel subtypes (voltage-gated and Ca2+-activated) and docking-simulation experiments. An enzyme-based cleavage of the synthetic folded/oxidized CoTX1 indicated half-cystine pairs between Cys3-Cys22, Cys8-Cys27 and Cys12-Cys29. The 3-D structure of CoTX1 (solved by 1H-NMR) showed that it folds according to the common alpha/beta scaffold of scorpion toxins. In vivo, CoTX1 was lethal after intracerebroventricular injection to mice (LD50 value of 0.5 microg/mouse). In vitro, CoTX1 tested on cells expressing various voltage-gated or Ca2+-activated (IKCa1) K+ channels showed potent inhibition of currents from rat K(v)1.2 ( K(d) value of 27 nM). CoTX1 also weakly competed with 125I-labelled apamin for binding to SKCa channels (small-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels) on rat brain synaptosomes (IC50 value of 7.2 microM). The 3-D structure of CoTX1 was used in docking experiments which suggests a key role of Arg6 or Lys10, Arg14, Arg18, Lys21 (dyad), Ile23, Asn24, Lys28 and Tyr30 (dyad) residues of CoTX1 in its interaction with the rat K(v)1.2 channel. In addition, a [Pro7,Gln9]-CoTX1 analogue (ACoTX1) was synthesized. The two residue replacements were selected aiming to restore the RPCQ motif in order to increase peptide affinity towards SKCa channels, and to alter the CoTX1 dipole moment such that it is expected to decrease peptide activity on K(v) channels. Unexpectedly, ACoTX1 exhibited an activity similar to that of CoTX1 towards SKCa channels, while it was markedly more potent on IKCa1 and several voltage-gated K+ channels.

The cellulosomes: multienzyme machines for degradation of plant cell wall polysaccharides

The discrete multicomponent, multienzyme cellulosome complex of anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria provides enhanced synergistic activity among the different resident enzymes to efficiently hydrolyze intractable cellulosic and hemicellulosic substrates of the plant cell wall. A pivotal noncatalytic subunit called scaffoldin secures the various enzymatic subunits into the complex via the cohesin-dockerin interaction. The specificity characteristics and tenacious binding between the scaffoldin-based cohesin modules and the enzyme-borne dockerin domains dictate the supramolecular architecture of the cellulosome. The diversity in cellulosome architecture among the known cellulosome-producing bacteria is manifest in the arrangement of their genes in either multiple-scaffoldin or enzyme-linked clusters on the genome. The recently described three-dimensional crystal structure of the cohesin-dockerin heterodimer sheds light on the critical amino acids that contribute to this high-affinity protein-protein interaction. In addition, new information regarding the regulation of cellulosome-related genes, budding genetic tools, and emerging genomics of cellulosome-producing bacteria promises new insight into the assembly and consequences of the multienzyme complex.

Crystal structure of a cohesin module from Clostridium cellulolyticum: implications for dockerin recognition

In the assembly of the Clostridium cellulolyticum cellulosome, the multiple cohesin modules of the scaffolding protein CipC serve as receptors for cellulolytic enzymes which bear a dockerin module. The X-ray structure of a type I C. cellulolyticum cohesin module (Cc-cohesin) has been solved using molecular replacement, and refined at 2.0 A resolution. Despite a rather low sequence identity of 32 %, this module has a fold close to those of the two Clostridium thermocellum cohesin (Ct-cohesin) modules whose 3D structures have been determined previously. Cc-cohesin forms a dimer in the crystal, as do the two Ct-cohesins. We show here that the dimer exists in solution and that addition of dockerin-containing proteins dissociates the dimer. This suggests that the dimerization interface and the cohesin/dockerin interface may overlap. The nature of the overall surface and of the dimer interface of Cc-cohesin differ notably from those of the Ct-cohesin modules, being much less polar, and this may explain the species specificity observed in the cohesin/dockerin interaction of C. cellulolyticum and C. thermocellum. We have produced a topology model of a C. cellulolyticum dockerin and of a Cc-cohesin/dockerin complex using homology modeling and available biochemical data. Our model suggests that a special residue pair, already identified in dockerin sequences, is located at the center of the cohesin surface putatively interacting with the dockerin.