Characterization of the family GH54 alpha-L-arabinofuranosidases in Penicillium funiculosum, including a novel protein bearing a cellulose-binding domain.

The soil deuteromycete Penicillium funiculosum is characterized by its remarkable capacity to produce a wide variety of cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic enzymes. In the course of the genome sequencing of this industrial fungus, four different genes encoding glycosyl hydrolase family 54 (GH54)22 alpha-L-arabinofuranosidases were identified. Three of them termed PfabfB1, PfabfB3, and PfabfB4 were highly similar, encoding proteins of 507, 508, and 505 amino acids, respectively.