Nucleotide sequence of Clostridium cellulovorans gene homologous to cyclic-AMP dependent kinase

Molecular analysis of the malR gene of Clostridium butyricum NCIMB 7423, a member of the LacI-GalR family of repressor proteins

Deletion of a region of DNA 5' to a previously characterised malQ gene of Clostridium butyricum resulted in increased production of the enzyme activity encoded by malQ, 4-alpha-glucanotransferase. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed the presence of an open reading frame capable of encoding a protein of 335 amino acids. This protein was found to share 33% amino acid sequence identity with the Bacillus subtilis CcpA (catabolite control protein) repressor, 28% identity with the Streptomyces coelicolor MalR repressor, and 30%, 25%, and 21% amino acid identity with the Escherichia coli repressors GalR, LacI and MalI, respectively. The amino-terminal domain was predicted to be able to form a helix-turn-helix structure, and shared highest similarity with the equivalent functional domain from the E. coli LacI repressor. Interruption of malR by the generation of a frameshift mutation led to a 10-fold increase in MalQ activity. These data suggest that the identified open reading frame encodes a repressor of the C. butyricum malQ gene, and of the adjacent malP gene. The gene has, therefore, been designated malR, and its encoded gene product MalR.

Primary sequence analysis of Clostridium cellulovorans cellulose binding protein A

The cbpA gene for the Clostridium cellulovorans cellulose binding protein (CbpA), which is part of the multisubunit cellulase complex, has been cloned and sequenced. When cbpA was expressed in Escherichia coli, proteins capable of binding to crystalline cellulose and of interacting with anti-CbpA were observed. The cbpA gene consists of 5544 base pairs and encodes a protein containing 1848 amino acids with a molecular mass of 189,036 Da. The open reading frame is preceded by a Gram-positive-type ribosome binding site. A signal peptide sequence of 28 amino acids is present at its N terminus. The encoded protein is highly hydrophobic with extremely high levels of threonine and valine residues. There are two types of putative cellulose binding domains of approximately 100 amino acids that are slightly hydrophilic and eight conserved, highly hydrophobic beta-sheet regions of approximately 140 amino acids. These latter hydrophobic regions may be the CbpA domains that interact with the different enzymatic subunits of the cellulase complex.