Structure and stability of glucoamylase II fromAspergillus niger: A circular dichroism study

Purification and characterization of a new alpha-amylase of intermediate thermal stability from the yeast Lipomyces kononenkoae

A new alpha-amylase from the extracellular culture of the yeast Lipomyces kononenkoae CBS 5608 has been purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulphate treatment, affinity binding on cross-linked starch, and DEAE-Biogel A chromatography. The enzyme was monomeric, with an apparent M(r) of 76 kilodaltons, pI < 3.5, and optimum pH 4.5-5.0, and exhibited intermediate thermal stability. The temperature for optimal enzyme activity was 70 degrees C. It is a glycoprotein with both N- and O-linked sugars. Kinetic analyses indicate that the enzyme has an endoamylolytic mechanism. The kM for soluble starch was 0.80 g.L-1 and the kcat was 622.s-1.

Subsite affinities of Aspergillus niger glucoamylase II determined with p-nitrophenylmaltooligosaccharides

Kinetic parameters were obtained for glucoamylase catalysed hydrolysis of substrates of an alpha-(1,4)-maltooligosaccharide series and of a p-nitro-phenyl-alpha-maltooligosaccharide series. p-Nitrophenyl substrates of chain length 11 and 17 were synthesized in 97% and 95% purity, respectively, to test the significance of binding at remote subsites. The affinities of the subsites > 4 are demonstrated to be insignificant. The subsite binding contributions for D-glucopyranosyl and for p-nitrophenyl residues were calculated.

O-glycosylation and stability. Unfolding of glucoamylase induced by heat and guanidine hydrochloride

We have examined the stabilities of the catalytic and binding domains of glucoamylase 1 from Aspergillus niger and how these stabilities are affected by the O-glycosylated linker glycopeptide which separates the domains. On heating, the catalytic domain unfolds irreversibly, whereas the binding domain unfolds reversibly as shown by differential scanning calorimetry and by 1H NMR. The stability of three functional peptides, derived from glucoamylase 1, containing the binding domain alone and with 10 or 38 residues of the linker glycopeptide [Williamson, G., Belshaw, N.J. and Williamson, M. (1992) Biochem. J. 282, 423-428] was examined. Refolding in each case was reversible after thermal or chemical denaturation. beta-Cyclodextrin stabilised the binding domain by the same amount when it was part of glucoamylase 1 or an isolated domain. The thermal stability of the catalytic domain was not affected by the binding domain; however, the catalytic domain increased the melting temperature of the binding domain. Furthermore, the linker glycopeptide stabilised the binding domain against reversible thermal and chemical denaturation by about 10 kJ/mol, but only a portion of the O-glycosylated residues were required for stabilisation. On a simple molecular mass basis, the linker glycopeptide does not contribute as much as expected to the denaturational enthalpy of glucoamylase 1 and, in addition, shows only a small conformational change on chemical or thermal denaturation; this supports an extended structure for the linker. The results demonstrate that the unfolding pathway of glucoamylase 1 depends on the concentration of beta-cyclodextrin and that the presence of the catalytic domain and/or the linker glycopeptide stabilises the binding domain.