Crystal structure of a natural circularly permuted jellyroll protein: 1,3-1,4-beta-D-glucanase from Fibrobacter succinogenes

Understanding the Folding Mediated Assembly of the Bacteriophage MS2 Coat Protein Dimers

The capsids of RNA viruses such as MS2 are great models for studying protein self-assembly because they are made almost entirely of multiple copies of a single coat protein (CP). Although CP is the minimal repeating unit of the capsid, previous studies have shown that CP exists as a homodimer (CP2) even in an acid-disassembled system, indicating that CP2 is an obligate dimer. Here, we investigate the molecular basis of this obligate dimerization using coarse-grained structure-based models and molecular dynamics simulations. We find that, unlike monomeric proteins of similar size, CP populates a single partially folded ensemble whose "foldedness" is sensitive to denaturing conditions. In contrast, CP2 folds similarly to single-domain proteins populating only the folded and the unfolded ensembles, separated by a prominent folding free energy barrier. Several intramonomer contacts form early, but the CP2 folding barrier is crossed only when the intermonomer contacts are made. A dissection of the structure of CP2 through mutant folding simulations shows that the folding barrier arises both from the topology of CP and the interface contacts of CP2. Together, our results show that CP2 is an obligate dimer because of kinetic stability, that is, dimerization induces a folding barrier and that makes it difficult for proteins in the dimer minimum to partially unfold and access the monomeric state without completely unfolding. We discuss the advantages of this obligate dimerization in the context of dimer design and virus stability.

Structural insights into the substrate specificity of a glycoside hydrolase family 5 lichenase from Caldicellulosiruptor sp. F32

Glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 5 is one of the largest GH families with various GH activities including lichenase, but the structural basis of the GH5 lichenase activity is still unknown. A novel thermostable lichenase F32EG5 belonging to GH5 was identified from an extremely thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor sp. F32. F32EG5 is a bi-functional cellulose and a lichenan-degrading enzyme, and exhibited a high activity on β-1,3-1,4-glucan but side activity on cellulose. Thin-layer chromatography and NMR analyses indicated that F32EG5 cleaved the β-1,4 linkage or the β-1,3 linkage while a 4-O-substitued glucose residue linked to a glucose residue through a β-1,3 linkage, which is completely different from extensively studied GH16 lichenase that catalyses strict endo-hydrolysis of the β-1,4-glycosidic linkage adjacent to a 3-O-substitued glucose residue in the mixed-linked β-glucans. The crystal structure of F32EG5 was determined to 2.8 Å resolution, and the crystal structure of the complex of F32EG5 E193Q mutant and cellotetraose was determined to 1.7 Å resolution, which revealed that the exit subsites of substrate-binding sites contribute to both thermostability and substrate specificity of F32EG5. The sugar chain showed a sharp bend in the complex structure, suggesting that a substrate cleft fitting to the bent sugar chains in lichenan is a common feature of GH5 lichenases. The mechanism of thermostability and substrate selectivity of F32EG5 was further demonstrated by molecular dynamics simulation and site-directed mutagenesis. These results provide biochemical and structural insights into thermostability and substrate selectivity of GH5 lichenases, which have potential in industrial processes.

Computational Prediction of New Intein Split Sites

Split inteins have emerged as a powerful tool in protein engineering. We describe a reliable in silico method to predict viable split sites for the design of new split inteins. A computational circular permutation (CP) prediction method facilitates the search for internal permissive sites to create artificial circular permutants. In this procedure, the original amino- and carboxyl-termini are connected and new termini are created. The identified new terminal sites are promising candidates for the generation of new split sites with the backbone opening being tolerated by the structural scaffold. Here we show how to integrate the online usage of the CP predictor, CPred, in the search of new split intein sites.

Crystal structural basis for Rv0315, an immunostimulatory antigen and inactive beta-1,3-glucanase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, as two billion people are latently infected with Mtb. To address Mtb drug resistance and the limitations of current vaccines, the characteristics of candidate Mtb vaccines need to be explored. Here, we report the three-dimensional structure of Rv0315 at 1.70 Å resolution, a novel immunostimulatory antigen of Mtb, and demonstrate that Rv0315 is an inactive β-1,3-glucanase of the glycoside hydrolase 16 (GH16) family. Our study further elaborates the molecular basis for the lack of glucan recognition by Rv0315. Rv0315 has a large open groove, and this particular topology cannot bind oligosaccharide chains in solution, thus explaining the lack of detectable hydrolytic activity towards its substrate. Additionally, we identified Glu-176, a conserved catalytic residue in GH16 endo-β-1,3-glucanases, as essential for Rv0315 to induce immunological responses. These results indicate that Rv0315 likely diverged from a broad-specificity ancestral GH16 glucanase, and this inactive member of the GH16 family offers new insights into the GH16 glucanase. Together, our findings suggest that an inactive β-1,3-glucanase in Mtb drives T-helper 1 (Th1) immune responses, which may help develop more effective vaccines against Mtb infection.

Preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of a thermophilic β-1,3-1,4-glucanase from Clostridium thermocellum

β-1,3-1,4-Glucanases catalyze the specific hydrolysis of internal β-1,4-glycosidic bonds adjacent to the 3-O-substituted glucose residues in mixed-linked β-glucans. The thermophilic glycoside hydrolase CtGlu16A from Clostridium thermocellum exhibits superior thermal profiles, high specific activity and broad pH adaptability. Here, the catalytic domain of CtGlu16A was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized in the trigonal space group P3121, with unit-cell parameters a=b=74.5, c=182.9 Å, by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method and diffracted to 1.95 Å resolution. The crystal contains two protein molecules in an asymmetric unit. Further structural determination and refinement are in progress.

Characterization of a new 1,3-1,4-β-glucanase gene from Bacillus tequilensis CGX5-1

1,3-1,4-β-Glucanase received great interest due to its application in brewing and feed industries. Application of 1,3-1,4-β-glucanase in brewing industry helps make up for the defect that plant-derived β-glucanases are heat-sensitive. A new strain, CGX5-1, exhibited remarkable 1,3-1,4-β-glucanase, was isolated from Asian giant hornet nest and identified Bacillus tequilensis. Moreover, a new 1,3-1,4-β-glucanase gene from B. tequilensis was cloned and measured to be 720 bp encoding 239 amino acids, with a predicted molecular weight of 26.9 kDa. After expressed in Escherichia coli BL21, active recombinant enzyme of 24 kDa was detected in the supernatant of cell culture, with the activity of 2,978.2 U/mL. The new enzyme was stable in the pH 5.0-7.5 with the highest activity measured at pH 6.0. Moreover, it is thermostable within 45 to 60 °C. The property of the new recombinant enzyme makes this enzyme a broad prospect in brewing industry. Moreover, this is the first report on 1,3-1,4-β-glucanase produced by B. tequilensis.

CPred: a web server for predicting viable circular permutations in proteins

Circular permutation (CP) is a protein structural rearrangement phenomenon, through which nature allows structural homologs to have different locations of termini and thus varied activities, stabilities and functional properties. It can be applied in many fields of protein research and bioengineering. The limitation of applying CP lies in its technical complexity, high cost and uncertainty of the viability of the resulting protein variants. Not every position in a protein can be used to create a viable circular permutant, but there is still a lack of practical computational tools for evaluating the positional feasibility of CP before costly experiments are carried out. We have previously designed a comprehensive method for predicting viable CP cleavage sites in proteins. In this work, we implement that method into an efficient and user-friendly web server named CPred (CP site predictor), which is supposed to be helpful to promote fundamental researches and biotechnological applications of CP. The CPred is accessible at http://sarst.life.nthu.edu.tw/CPred.

Deciphering the preference and predicting the viability of circular permutations in proteins

Circular permutation (CP) refers to situations in which the termini of a protein are relocated to other positions in the structure. CP occurs naturally and has been artificially created to study protein function, stability and folding. Recently CP is increasingly applied to engineer enzyme structure and function, and to create bifunctional fusion proteins unachievable by tandem fusion. CP is a complicated and expensive technique. An intrinsic difficulty in its application lies in the fact that not every position in a protein is amenable for creating a viable permutant. To examine the preferences of CP and develop CP viability prediction methods, we carried out comprehensive analyses of the sequence, structural, and dynamical properties of known CP sites using a variety of statistics and simulation methods, such as the bootstrap aggregating, permutation test and molecular dynamics simulations. CP particularly favors Gly, Pro, Asp and Asn. Positions preferred by CP lie within coils, loops, turns, and at residues that are exposed to solvent, weakly hydrogen-bonded, environmentally unpacked, or flexible. Disfavored positions include Cys, bulky hydrophobic residues, and residues located within helices or near the protein's core. These results fostered the development of an effective viable CP site prediction system, which combined four machine learning methods, e.g., artificial neural networks, the support vector machine, a random forest, and a hierarchical feature integration procedure developed in this work. As assessed by using the hydrofolate reductase dataset as the independent evaluation dataset, this prediction system achieved an AUC of 0.9. Large-scale predictions have been performed for nine thousand representative protein structures; several new potential applications of CP were thus identified. Many unreported preferences of CP are revealed in this study. The developed system is the best CP viability prediction method currently available. This work will facilitate the application of CP in research and biotechnology.

Rational design to improve thermostability and specific activity of the truncated Fibrobacter succinogenes 1,3-1,4-β-D-glucanase

1,3-1,4-β-D-Glucanase has been widely used as a feed additive to help non-ruminant animals digest plant fibers, with potential in increasing nutrition turnover rate and reducing sanitary problems. Engineering of enzymes for better thermostability is of great importance because it not only can broaden their industrial applications, but also facilitate exploring the mechanism of enzyme stability from structural point of view. To obtain enzyme with higher thermostability and specific activity, structure-based rational design was carried out in this study. Eleven mutants of Fibrobacter succinogenes 1,3-1,4-β-D-glucanase were constructed in attempt to improve the enzyme properties. In particular, the crude proteins expressed in Pichia pastoris were examined firstly to ensure that the protein productions meet the need for industrial fermentation. The crude protein of V18Y mutant showed a 2 °C increment of Tm and W203Y showed ∼30% increment of the specific activity. To further investigate the structure-function relationship, some mutants were expressed and purified from P. pastoris and Escherichia coli. Notably, the specific activity of purified W203Y which was expressed in E. coli was 63% higher than the wild-type protein. The double mutant V18Y/W203Y showed the same increments of Tm and specific activity as the single mutants did. When expressed and purified from E. coli, V18Y/W203Y showed similar pattern of thermostability increment and 75% higher specific activity. Furthermore, the apo-form and substrate complex structures of V18Y/W203Y were solved by X-ray crystallography. Analyzing protein structure of V18Y/W203Y helps elucidate how the mutations could enhance the protein stability and enzyme activity.

Functional analyses of multiple lichenin-degrading enzymes from the rumen bacterium Ruminococcus albus 8

Ruminococcus albus 8 is a fibrolytic ruminal bacterium capable of utilization of various plant cell wall polysaccharides. A bioinformatic analysis of a partial genome sequence of R. albus revealed several putative enzymes likely to hydrolyze glucans, including lichenin, a mixed-linkage polysaccharide of glucose linked together in β-1,3 and β-1,4 glycosidic bonds. In the present study, we demonstrate the capacity of four glycoside hydrolases (GHs), derived from R. albus, to hydrolyze lichenin. Two of the genes encoded GH family 5 enzymes (Ra0453 and Ra2830), one gene encoded a GH family 16 enzyme (Ra0505), and the last gene encoded a GH family 3 enzyme (Ra1595). Each gene was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant protein was purified to near homogeneity. Upon screening on a wide range of substrates, Ra0453, Ra2830, and Ra0505 displayed different hydrolytic properties, as they released unique product profiles. The Ra1595 protein, predicted to function as a β-glucosidase, preferred cleavage of a nonreducing end glucose when linked by a β-1,3 glycosidic bond to the next glucose residue. The major product of Ra0505 hydrolysis of lichenin was predicted to be a glucotriose that was degraded only by Ra0453 to glucose and cellobiose. Most importantly, the four enzymes functioned synergistically to hydrolyze lichenin to glucose, cellobiose, and cellotriose. This lichenin-degrading enzyme mix should be of utility as an additive to feeds administered to monogastric animals, especially those high in fiber.

X-ray crystal structures of Phanerochaete chrysosporium Laminarinase 16A in complex with products from lichenin and laminarin hydrolysis

The 1,3(4)-beta-D-glucanases of glycoside hydrolase family 16 provide useful examples of versatile yet specific protein-carbohydrate interactions. In the present study, we report the X-ray structures of the 1,3(4)-beta-D-glucanase Phanerochaete chrysosporium Laminarinase 16A in complex with beta-glucan products from laminarin (1.6 A) and lichenin (1.1 A) hydrolysis. The G6G3G3G glucan, in complex with the enzyme, showed a beta-1,6 branch in the acceptor site. The G4G3G ligand-protein complex showed that there was no room for a beta-1,6 branch in the -1 or -2 subsites; furthermore, the distorted residue in the -1 subsite and the glucose in the -2 subsite required a beta-1,3 bond between them. These are the first X-ray crystal structures of any 1,3(4)-beta-D-glucanase in complex with glucan products. They provide details of both substrate and product binding in support of earlier enzymatic evidence.

iSARST: an integrated SARST web server for rapid protein structural similarity searches

iSARST is a web server for efficient protein structural similarity searches. It is a multi-processor, batch-processing and integrated implementation of several structural comparison tools and two database searching methods: SARST for common structural homologs and CPSARST for homologs with circular permutations. iSARST allows users submitting multiple PDB/SCOP entry IDs or an archive file containing many structures. After scanning the target database using SARST/CPSARST, the ordering of hits are refined with conventional structure alignment tools such as FAST, TM-align and SAMO, which are run in a PC cluster. In this way, iSARST achieves a high running speed while preserving the high precision of refinement engines. The final outputs include tables listing co-linear or circularly permuted homologs of the query proteins and a functional summary of the best hits. Superimposed structures can be examined through an interactive and informative visualization tool. iSARST provides the first batch mode structural comparison web service for both co-linear homologs and circular permutants. It can serve as a rapid annotation system for functionally unknown or hypothetical proteins, which are increasing rapidly in this post-genomics era. The server can be accessed at http://sarst.life.nthu.edu.tw/iSARST/.

CPDB: a database of circular permutation in proteins

Circular permutation (CP) in a protein can be considered as if its sequence were circularized followed by a creation of termini at a new location. Since the first observation of CP in 1979, a substantial number of studies have concluded that circular permutants (CPs) usually retain native structures and functions, sometimes with increased stability or functional diversity. Although this interesting property has made CP useful in many protein engineering and folding researches, large-scale collections of CP-related information were not available until this study. Here we describe CPDB, the first CP DataBase. The organizational principle of CPDB is a hierarchical categorization in which pairs of circular permutants are grouped into CP clusters, which are further grouped into folds and in turn classes. Additions to CPDB include a useful set of tools and resources for the identification, characterization, comparison and visualization of CP. Besides, several viable CP site prediction methods are implemented and assessed in CPDB. This database can be useful in protein folding and evolution studies, the discovery of novel protein structural and functional relationships, and facilitating the production of new CPs with unique biotechnical or industrial interests. The CPDB database can be accessed at http://sarst.life.nthu.edu.tw/cpdb

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase from Paecilomyces thermophila

In this study, the crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a thermostable 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase produced by Paecilomyces thermophila is described. The purified 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase was crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystal belongs to the hexagonal space group P6(3)22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 154.54, c = 87.62 A. X-ray diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.54 A and gave a data set with an overall R(merge) of 7.3% and a completeness of 94.6%. The Matthews coefficient (V(M)) and the solvent content are 2.38 A(3) Da(-1) and 48%, respectively.

Structural modeling of glucanase-substrate complexes suggests a conserved tyrosine is involved in carbohydrate recognition in plant 1,3-1,4-beta-D-glucanases

Glycosyl hydrolase family 16 (GHF16) truncated Fibrobacter succinogenes (TFs) and GHF17 barley 1,3-1,4-beta-D-glucanases (beta-glucanases) possess different structural folds, beta-jellyroll and (beta/alpha)8, although they both catalyze the specific hydrolysis of beta-1,4 glycosidic bonds adjacent to beta-1,3 linkages in mixed beta-1,3 and beta-1,4 beta-D-glucans or lichenan. Differences in the active site region residues of TFs beta-glucanase and barley beta-glucanase create binding site topographies that require different substrate conformations. In contrast to barley beta-glucanase, TFs beta-glucanase possesses a unique and compact active site. The structural analysis results suggest that the tyrosine residue, which is conserved in all known 1,3-1,4-beta-D-glucanases, is involved in the recognition of mixed beta-1,3 and beta-1,4 linked polysaccharide.

CPSARST: an efficient circular permutation search tool applied to the detection of novel protein structural relationships

CPSARST (Circular Permutation Search Aided by Ramachandran Sequential Transformation) is an efficient database search tool that provides a new way for rapidly detecting novel relationships among proteins.

Circular permutation of a protein can be visualized as if the original amino- and carboxyl termini were linked and new ones created elsewhere. It has been well-documented that circular permutants usually retain native structures and biological functions. Here we report CPSARST (Circular Permutation Search Aided by Ramachandran Sequential Transformation) to be an efficient database search tool. In this post-genomics era, when the amount of protein structural data is increasing exponentially, it provides a new way to rapidly detect novel relationships among proteins.

A comprehensive analysis of non-sequential alignments between all protein structures

Background

The majority of relations between proteins can be represented as a conventional sequential alignment. Nevertheless, unusual non-sequential alignments with different connectivity of the aligned fragments in compared proteins have been reported by many researchers. It is interesting to understand those non-sequential alignments; are they unique, sporadic cases or they occur frequently; do they belong to a few specific folds or spread among many different folds, as a common feature of protein structure. We present here a comprehensive large-scale study of non-sequential alignments between available protein structures in Protein Data Bank.

Results

The study has been conducted on a non-redundant set of 8,865 protein structures aligned with the aid of the TOPOFIT method. It has been estimated that between 17.4% and 35.2% of all alignments are non-sequential depending on variations in the parameters. Analysis of the data revealed that non-sequential relations between proteins do occur systematically and in large quantities. Various sizes and numbers of non-sequential fragments have been observed with all possible complexities of fragment rearrangements found for alignments consisting of up to 12 fragments. It has been found that non-sequential alignments are not limited to proteins of any particular fold and are present in more than two hundred of them. Moreover, many of them are found between proteins with different fold assignments. It has been shown that protein structure symmetry does not explain non-sequential alignments. Therefore, compelling evidences have been provided that non-sequential alignments between proteins are systematic and widespread across the protein universe.

Conclusion

The phenomenon of the widespread occurrence of non-sequential alignments between proteins might represent a missing rule of protein structure organization. More detailed study of this phenomenon will enhance our understanding of protein stability, folding, and evolution.

Structural basis for the substrate specificity of a Bacillus 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase

Depolymerization of polysaccharides is catalyzed by highly specific enzymes that promote hydrolysis of the scissile glycosidic bond by an activated water molecule. 1,3-1,4-beta-Glucanases selectively cleave beta-1,4 glycosidic bonds in 3-O-substituted glucopyranosyl units within polysaccharides with mixed linkage. The reaction follows a double-displacement mechanism by which the configuration of the anomeric C(1)-atom of the glucosyl unit in subsite -I is retained. Here we report the high-resolution crystal structure of the hybrid 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase H(A16-M)(E105Q/E109Q) in complex with a beta-glucan tetrasaccharide. The structure shows four beta-d-glucosyl moieties bound to the substrate-binding cleft covering subsites -IV to -I, thus corresponding to the reaction product. The ten active-site residues Asn26, Glu63, Arg65, Phe92, Tyr94, Glu105, Asp107, Glu109, Asn182 and Trp184 form a network of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic stacking interactions with the substrate. These residues were previously identified by mutational analysis as significant for stabilization of the enzyme-carbohydrate complex, with Glu105 and Glu109 being the catalytic residues. Compared to the Michaelis complex model, the tetrasaccharide moiety is slightly shifted toward that part of the cleft binding the non-reducing end of the substrate, but shows previously unanticipated strong stacking interactions with Phe92 in subsite -I. A number of specific hydrogen-bond contacts between the enzyme and the equatorial O(2), O(3) and O(6) hydroxyl groups of the glucosyl residues in subsites -I, -II and -III are the structural basis for the observed substrate specificity of 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanases. Kinetic analysis of enzyme variants with the all beta-1,3 linked polysaccharide laminarin identified key residues mediating substrate specificity in good agreement with the structural data. The comparison with structures of the apo-enzyme H(A16-M) and a covalent enzyme-inhibitor (E.I) complex, together with kinetic and mutagenesis data, yields new insights into the structural requirements for substrate binding and catalysis. A detailed view of enzyme-carbohydrate interactions is presented and mechanistic implications are discussed.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of endo-1,3-beta-glucanase from alkaliphilic Nocardiopsis sp. strain F96

Endo-1,3-beta-glucanase, an enzyme that hydrolyzes the 1,3-beta-glycosyl linkages of beta-glucan, belongs to the family 16 glycosyl hydrolases, which are widely distributed among bacteria, fungi and higher plants. Crystals of a family 16 endo-1,3-beta-glucanase from the alkaliphilic Nocardiopsis sp. strain F96 were obtained by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals belonged to space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 34.59, b = 71.84, c = 39.67 A, beta = 90.21 degrees, and contained one molecule per asymmetric unit. The Matthews coefficient (VM) and solvent content were 1.8 A3 Da(-1) and 31.8%, respectively. Diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 1.3 A and gave a data set with an overall Rmerge of 6.4% and a completeness of 99.3%.

Crystal Structure of Truncated Fibrobacter succinogenes 1,3-1,4-β-d-Glucanase in Complex with β-1,3-1,4-Cellotriose

Fibrobacter succinogenes 1,3-1,4-beta-D-glucanase (Fsbeta-glucanase) catalyzes the specific hydrolysis of beta-1,4 glycosidic bonds adjacent to beta-1,3 linkages in beta-D-glucans or lichenan. This is the first report to elucidate the crystal structure of a truncated Fsbeta-glucanase (TFsbeta-glucanase) in complex with beta-1,3-1,4-cellotriose, a major product of the enzyme reaction. The crystal structures, at a resolution of 2.3 angstroms, reveal that the overall fold of TFsbeta-glucanase remains virtually unchanged upon sugar binding. The enzyme accommodates five glucose residues, forming a concave active cleft. The beta-1,3-1,4-cellotriose with subsites -3 to -1 bound to the active cleft of TFsbeta-glucanase with its reducing end subsite -1 close to the key catalytic residues Glu56 and Glu60. All three subsites of the beta-1,3-1,4-cellotriose adopted a relaxed C(1)4 conformation, with a beta-1,3 glycosidic linkage between subsites -2 and -1, and a beta-1,4 glycosidic linkage between subsites -3 and -2. On the basis of the enzyme-product complex structure observed in this study, a catalytic mechanism and substrate binding conformation of the active site of TFsbeta-glucanase is proposed.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of endo-1,3-beta-glucanase from Arthrobacter sp

Endo-1,3-beta-glucanases hydrolyze internal 1,3-beta-glucosyl linkages. The endo-1,3-beta-glucanase from Arthrobacter sp. was crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals belonged to space group P4(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 71.31, c = 60.07 A, and contained one molecule per asymmetric unit. The Matthews coefficient (VM) and the solvent content were 2.35 A3 Da(-1) and 47.63%, respectively. Diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 1.66 A at SPring-8 using a MAR CCD area detector and gave a data set with an overall Rmerge of 5.4% and a completeness of 99.4%.

Structural analysis of Escherichia coli OpgG, a protein required for the biosynthesis of osmoregulated periplasmic glucans

Osmoregulated periplasmic glucans (OPGs) G protein (OpgG) is required for OPGs biosynthesis. OPGs from Escherichia coli are branched glucans, with a backbone of beta-1,2 glucose units and with branches attached by beta-1,6 linkages. In Proteobacteria, OPGs are involved in osmoprotection, biofilm formation, virulence and resistance to antibiotics. Despite their important biological implications, enzymes synthesizing OPGs are poorly characterized. Here, we report the 2.5 A crystal structure of OpgG from E.coli. The structure was solved using a selenemethionine derivative of OpgG and the multiple anomalous diffraction method (MAD). The protein is composed of two beta-sandwich domains connected by one turn of 3(10) helix. The N-terminal domain (residues 22-388) displays a 25-stranded beta-sandwich fold found in several carbohydrate-related proteins. It exhibits a large cleft comprising many aromatic and acidic residues. This putative binding site shares some similarities with enzymes such as galactose mutarotase and glucodextranase, suggesting a potential catalytic role for this domain in OPG synthesis. On the other hand, the C-terminal domain (residues 401-512) has a seven-stranded immunoglobulin-like beta-sandwich fold, found in many proteins where it is mainly implicated in interactions with other molecules. The structural data suggest that OpgG is an OPG branching enzyme in which the catalytic activity is located in the large N-terminal domain and controlled via the smaller C-terminal domain.

Structure and Function of a Hypothetical Pseudomonas aeruginosa Protein PA1167 Classified into Family PL-7

Structural and functional analyses of alginate lyases are important in the clarification of the biofilm-dependent ecosystem in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and in the development of therapeutic agents for bacterial disease. Most alginate lyases are classified into polysaccharide lyase (PL) family-5 and -7 based on their primary structures. Family PL-7 enzymes are still poorly characterized especially in structural properties. Among family PL-7, a gene coding for a hypothetical protein (PA1167) homologous to Sphingomonas alginate lyase A1-II was found to be present in the P. aeruginosa genome. PA1167 overexpressed in Escherichia coli cleaved glycosidic bonds in alginate and released unsaturated saccharides, indicating that PA1167 is an alginate lyase catalyzing a beta-elimination reaction. The enzyme acted preferably on heteropolymeric regions endolytically and worked most efficiently at pH 8.5 and 40 degrees C. The specific activity of PA1167, however, was much weaker than that of the known alginate lyase AlgL, suggesting that AlgL plays a main role in alginate depolymerization in P. aeruginosa. In addition to this specific activity, differences were found between PA1167 and AlgL in enzyme properties such as molecular mass, optimum pH, salt effect, and substrate specificity. The first crystal structure of the family PL-7 alginate lyase was determined at 2.0 A resolution. PA1167 was found to form a glove-like beta-sandwich composed of 15 beta-strands and 3 alpha-helices. The structural difference between the beta-sandwich PA1167 of family PL-7 and alpha/alpha-barrel AlgL of family PL-5 may be responsible for the enzyme characteristics. Crystal structures of polysaccharide lyases determined so far indicate that they can be assigned to three folding groups having parallel beta-helix, alpha/alpha-barrel, and alpha/alpha-barrel + antiparallel beta-sheet structures as basic frames. PA1167 is the fourth novel folding structure found among polysaccharide lyases.

Super-channel in bacteria: Structural and functional aspects of a novel biosystem for the import and depolymerization of macromolecules

Cells of Sphingomonas sp. A1 directly incorporate a macromolecule, alginate, into the cytoplasm through a biosystem, super-channel, consisting of a pit on the cell surface, alginate-binding proteins in the periplasm, and an ATP-binding cassette transporter in the inner membrane. The alginate is finally depolymerized into constituent monosaccharides by polysaccharide lyases present in the cytoplasm. The fundamental frame of the biosystem for alginate transport, and the functions of the pit, binding proteins, and ABC transporter have already been reviewed together with those of alginate-depolymerization processes [Hashimoto et al., J. Biosci. Bioeng., 87, 123-136 (1999)]. In this review, we have attempted to demonstrate the three-dimensional structure and evolution features of the super-channel, and alginate-depolymerization processes by using information obtained mainly through genomics, proteomics, and X-ray crystallography.

The three-dimensional structures of two beta-agarases

Agars are important gelifying agents for biochemical use and the food industry. To cleave the beta-1,4-linkages between beta-d-galactose and alpha-l-3,6-anhydro-galactose residues in the red algal galactans known as agars, marine bacteria produce polysaccharide hydrolases called beta-agarases. Beta-agarases A and B from Zobellia galactanivorans Dsij have recently been biochemically characterized. Here we report the first crystal structure of these two beta-agarases. The two proteins were overproduced in Escherichia coli and crystallized, and the crystal structures were determined at 1.48 and 2.3 A for beta-agarases A and B, respectively. The structure of beta-agarase A was solved by the multiple anomalous diffraction method, whereas beta-agarase B was solved with molecular replacement using beta-agarase A as model. Their structures adopt a jelly roll fold with a deep active site channel harboring the catalytic machinery, namely the nucleophilic residues Glu-147 and Glu-184 and the acid/base residues Glu-152 and Glu-189 for beta-agarases A and B, respectively. The structures of the agarases were compared with those of two lichenases and of a kappa-carrageenase, which all belong to family 16 of the glycoside hydrolases in order to pinpoint the residues responsible for their widely differing substrate specificity. The relationship between structure and enzymatic activity of the two beta-agarases from Z. galactanivorans Dsij was studied by analysis of the degradation products starting with different oligosaccharides. The combination of the structural and biochemical results allowed the determination of the number of subsites present in the catalytic cleft of the beta-agarases.