Irrespective of their biological origin, most proteins are composed of several elementary domains connected by linkers. These domains are either functionally independent units, or part of larger multidomain structures whose functions are defined by their spatial proximity. Carbohydrate-degrading enzymes provide examples of a range of multidomain structures, in which catalytic protein domains are frequently appended to one or more non-catalytic carbohydrate-binding modules which specifically bind to carbohydrate motifs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe major nutrients available to human colonic Bacteroides species are glycans, exemplified by pectins, a network of covalently linked plant cell wall polysaccharides containing galacturonic acid (GalA). Metabolism of complex carbohydrates by the Bacteroides genus is orchestrated by polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs). In Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a human colonic bacterium, the PULs activated by different pectin domains have been identified; however, the mechanism by which these loci contribute to the degradation of these GalA-containing polysaccharides is poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe metabolism of carbohydrate polymers drives microbial diversity in the human gut microbiota. It is unclear, however, whether bacterial consortia or single organisms are required to depolymerize highly complex glycans. Here we show that the gut bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron uses the most structurally complex glycan known: the plant pectic polysaccharide rhamnogalacturonan-II, cleaving all but 1 of its 21 distinct glycosidic linkages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeconstruction of cellulose, the most abundant plant cell wall polysaccharide, requires the cooperative activity of a large repertoire of microbial enzymes. Modular cellulases contain non-catalytic type A carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) that specifically bind to the crystalline regions of cellulose, thus promoting enzyme efficacy through proximity and targeting effects. Although type A CBMs play a critical role in cellulose recycling, their mechanism of action remains poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe breakdown of plant cell wall (PCW) glycans is an important biological and industrial process. Noncatalytic carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs) fulfill a critical targeting function in PCW depolymerization. Defining the portfolio of CBMs, the CBMome, of a PCW degrading system is central to understanding the mechanisms by which microbes depolymerize their target substrates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRuminant herbivores meet their carbon and energy requirements from a symbiotic relationship with cellulosome-producing anaerobic bacteria that efficiently degrade plant cell-wall polysaccharides. The assembly of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) into cellulosomes enhances protein stability and enzyme synergistic interactions. Cellulosomes comprise diverse CAZymes displaying a modular architecture in which a catalytic domain is connected, via linker sequences, to one or more noncatalytic carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA number of anaerobic microorganisms produce multi-modular, multi-enzyme complexes termed cellulosomes. These extracellular macromolecular nanomachines are designed for the efficient degradation of plant cell-wall carbohydrates to smaller sugars that are subsequently used as a source of carbon and energy. Cellulolytic strains from the rumens of mammals, such as Ruminococcus flavefaciens, have been shown to have one of the most complex cellulosomal systems known.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStructural carbohydrates comprise an extraordinary source of energy that remains poorly utilized by the biofuel sector as enzymes have restricted access to their substrates within the intricacy of plant cell walls. Carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZYmes) that target recalcitrant polysaccharides are modular enzymes containing noncatalytic carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) that direct enzymes to their cognate substrate, thus potentiating catalysis. In general, CBMs are functionally and structurally autonomous from their associated catalytic domains from which they are separated through flexible linker sequences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrobial degradation of the plant cell wall is a fundamental biological process with considerable industrial importance. Hydrolysis of recalcitrant polysaccharides is orchestrated by a large repertoire of carbohydrate-active enzymes that display a modular architecture in which a catalytic domain is connected via linker sequences to one or more noncatalytic carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs). CBMs direct the appended catalytic modules to their target substrates, thus potentiating catalysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun
December 2014
Anaerobic bacteria organize carbohydrate-active enzymes into a multi-component complex, the cellulosome, which degrades cellulose and hemicellulose highly efficiently. Genome sequencing of Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1 offers extensive information on the range and diversity of the enzymatic and structural components of the cellulosome. The R.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun
December 2014
Cellulases catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose, the major constituent of plant biomass and the most abundant organic polymer on earth. Cellulases are modular enzymes containing catalytic domains connected, via linker sequences, to noncatalytic carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs). A putative modular endo-β-1,4-glucanase (BhCel5B) is encoded at locus BH0603 in the genome of Bacillus halodurans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant cell-wall polysaccharides offer an abundant energy source utilized by many microorganisms, thus playing a central role in carbon recycling. Aerobic microorganisms secrete carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) that catabolize this composite structure, comprising cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, into simple compounds such as glucose. Carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) enhance the efficacy of associated CAZYmes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Crystallogr Sect F Struct Biol Cryst Commun
December 2013
The modular carbohydrate-active enzyme belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 30 (GH30) from Clostridium thermocellum (CtXynGH30) is a cellulosomal protein which plays an important role in plant cell-wall degradation. The full-length CtXynGH30 contains an N-terminal catalytic module (Xyn30A) followed by a family 6 carbohydrate-binding module (CBM6) and a dockerin at the C-terminus. The recombinant protein has a molecular mass of 45 kDa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Crystallogr Sect F Struct Biol Cryst Commun
February 2013
The rumen anaerobic cellulolytic bacterium Eubacterium cellulosolvens produces a large range of cellulases and hemicellulases responsible for the efficient hydrolysis of plant cell wall polysaccharides. One of these enzymes, endoglucanase Cel5A, comprises a tandemly repeated carbohydrate-binding module (CBM65) fused to a glycoside hydrolase family 5 (Cel5A) catalytic domain, joined by flexible linker sequences. The second carbohydrate-binding module located at the C-terminus side of the endoglucanase (CBM65B) has been co-crystallized with either cellohexaose or xyloglucan heptasaccharide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant biomass is central to the carbon cycle and to environmentally sustainable industries exemplified by the biofuel sector. Plant cell wall degrading enzymes generally contain noncatalytic carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs) that fulfil a targeting function, which enhances catalysis. CBMs that bind β-glucan chains often display broad specificity recognizing β1,4-glucans (cellulose), β1,3-β1,4-mixed linked glucans and xyloglucan, a β1,4-glucan decorated with α1,6-xylose residues, by targeting structures common to the three polysaccharides.
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