Neisseria perflava amylosucrase: characterization of its product polysaccharide and a study of its inhibition by sucrose derivatives

Architecture, Function, Regulation, and Evolution of α-Glucans Metabolic Enzymes in Prokaryotes

Bacteria have acquired sophisticated mechanisms for assembling and disassembling polysaccharides of different chemistry. α-d-Glucose homopolysaccharides, so-called α-glucans, are the most widespread polymers in nature being key components of microorganisms. Glycogen functions as an intracellular energy storage while some bacteria also produce extracellular assorted α-glucans. The classical bacterial glycogen metabolic pathway comprises the action of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and glycogen synthase, whereas extracellular α-glucans are mostly related to peripheral enzymes dependent on sucrose. An alternative pathway of glycogen biosynthesis, operating via a maltose 1-phosphate polymerizing enzyme, displays an essential wiring with the trehalose metabolism to interconvert disaccharides into polysaccharides. Furthermore, some bacteria show a connection of intracellular glycogen metabolism with the genesis of extracellular capsular α-glucans, revealing a relationship between the storage and structural function of these compounds. Altogether, the current picture shows that bacteria have evolved an intricate α-glucan metabolism that ultimately relies on the evolution of a specific enzymatic machinery. The structural landscape of these enzymes exposes a limited number of core catalytic folds handling many different chemical reactions. In this Review, we present a rationale to explain how the chemical diversity of α-glucans emerged from these systems, highlighting the underlying structural evolution of the enzymes driving α-glucan bacterial metabolism.

Enzymatic Synthesis of α-Glucan Microparticles Using Amylosucrases from Bifidobacterium Species and Its Physicochemical Properties

α-Glucan microparticles (GMPs) have significant potential as high-value biomaterials in various industries. This study proposes a bottom-up approach for producing GMPs using four amylosucrases from Bifidobacterium sp. (BASs). The physicochemical characteristics of these GMPs were analyzed, and the results showed that the properties of the GMPs varied depending on the type of enzymes used in their synthesis. As common properties, all GMPs exhibited typical B-type crystal patterns and poor colloidal dispersion stability. Interestingly, differences in the physicochemical properties of GMPs were generated depending on the synthesis rate of linear α-glucan by the enzymes and the degree of polymerization (DP) distribution. Consequently, we found differences in the properties of GMPs depending on the DP distribution of linear glucans prepared with four BASs. Furthermore, we suggest that precise control of the type and characteristics of the enzymes provides the possibility of producing GMPs with tailored physicochemical properties for various industrial applications.

Comparative study on amylosucrases derived from Deinococcus species and catalytic characterization and use of amylosucrase derived from Deinococcus wulumuqiensis

Amylosucrase (ASase; EC 2.4.1.4), a versatile enzyme, exhibits three characteristic activities: hydrolysis, isomerization, and transglycosylation. In this study, a novel ASase derived from Deinococcus wulumuquiensis (DWAS) was identified and expressed in Escherichia coli. The optimal reaction temperature and pH for the sucrose hydrolysis activity of DWAS were determined to be 45 °C and 9.0, respectively. DWAS displays relatively high thermostability compared with other ASases, as demonstrated by half-life of 96.7 and 4.7 min at 50 °C and 55 °C, respectively. DWAS fused with 6×His was successfully purified to apparent homogeneity with a molecular mass of approximately 72 kDa by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography and confirmed by SDS-PAGE. DWAS transglycosylation activity can be used to modify isovitexin, a representative flavone C-glucoside contained in buckwheat sprouts to increase its limited bioavailability, which is due to its low absorption rate and unstable structure in the human body. Using isovitexin as a substrate, the major transglycosylation product of DWAS was found to be isovitexin monoglucoside. The comparison of transglycosylation reaction products of DWAS with those of other ASases derived from Deinococcus species revealed that the low sequence homology of loop 8 in ASases may affect the acceptor specificity of ASases and result in a distinctive acceptor specificity of DWAS.

Generation of amylosucrase variants that terminate catalysis of acceptor elongation at the di- or trisaccharide stage

An amylosucrase gene was subjected to high-rate segmental random mutagenesis, which was directed toward a segment encoding amino acids that influence the interaction with substrate molecules in subsites -1 to +3. A screen was used to identify enzyme variants with compromised glucan chain elongation. With an average mutation rate of about one mutation per targeted codon, a considerable fraction (82%) of the clones that retained catalytic activity were deficient in this trait. A detailed characterization of selected variants revealed that elongation terminated when chains reached lengths of only two or three glucose moieties. Sequencing showed that the amylosucrase derivatives had an average of no more than two amino acid substitutions and suggested that predominantly exchanges of Asp394 or Gly396 were crucial for the novel properties. Structural models of the variants indicated that steric interference between the amino acids introduced at these sites and the growing oligosaccharide chain are mainly responsible for the limitation of glucosyl transfers. The variants generated may serve as biocatalysts for limited addition of glucose moieties to acceptor molecules, using sucrose as a readily available donor substrate.

Maltooligosaccharide disproportionation reaction: an intrinsic property of amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea

Amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea (AS) is a remarkable transglycosidase of family 13 of the glycoside hydrolases that catalyses the synthesis of an amylose-like polymer from sucrose and is always described as a sucrose-specific enzyme. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the ability of pure AS to catalyse the disproportionation of maltooligosaccharides by cleaving the alpha-1,4 linkage at the non-reducing end of a maltooligosaccharide donor and transferring the glucosyl unit to the non-reducing end of another maltooligosaccharide acceptor. Surprisingly, maltose, maltotriose and maltotetraose are very poor glucosyl donors whereas longer maltooligosaccharides are even more efficient glucosyl donors than sucrose. At least five glucose units are required for efficient transglucosylation, suggesting the existence of strong binding subsites, far from the sucrose binding site, at position +4 and above.

Characterisation of the activator effect of glycogen on amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea

Amylosucrase produces an insoluble alpha-1,4-linked glucan from sucrose, releasing fructose. In addition to polymerisation, in the presence of sucrose as sole substrate, amylosucrase catalyses sucrose hydrolysis and oligosaccharide synthesis in significant proportions. The effects of both glycogen acceptor and sucrose concentrations on the reactions catalysed by the highly purified amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea were investigated. Sucrose hydrolysis decreased strongly with the increase of the concentration of glycogen, as did oligosaccharide synthesis, by glucose transfer onto glucose and fructose. The glucosyl units consumed were then preferentially used for elongation of glycogen chains. The study of the kinetic behaviour of amylosucrase revealed a strong, sucrose concentration dependent activator effect of glycogen. This activation was decreased at high sucrose concentration. The optimal sucrose concentrations increased with glycogen concentration, suggesting competition between sucrose and glycogen, and the presence of a second non-catalytic acceptor binding site which could bind various acceptors (glucose, maltose, glycogen) and also sucrose.

Sequence analysis of the gene encoding amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea and characterization of the recombinant enzyme

The Neisseria polysaccharea gene encoding amylosucrase was subcloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Sequencing revealed that the deduced amino acid sequence differs significantly from that previously published. Comparison of the sequence with that of enzymes of the alpha-amylase family predicted a (beta/alpha)8-barrel domain. Six of the eight highly conserved regions in amylolytic enzymes are present in amylosucrase. Among them, four constitute the active site in alpha-amylases. These sites were also conserved in the sequence of glucosyltransferases and dextransucrases. Nevertheless, the evolutionary tree does not show strong homology between them. The amylosucrase was purified by affinity chromatography between fusion protein glutathione S-transferase-amylosucrase and glutathione-Sepharose 4B. The pure enzyme linearly elongated some branched chains of glycogen, to an average degree of polymerization of 75.