Evidence that the putative alpha-glucosidase of Thermotoga maritima MSB8 is a pNP alpha-D-glucuronopyranoside hydrolyzing alpha-glucuronidase.

The gene (agu) encoding p-nitrophenyl alpha-D-glucuronopyranoside (pNP-GUA) hydrolyzing alpha-glucuronidase of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzyme was purified and characterized. The gene previously designated as putative alpha-glucosidase was found to code for a protein that had no alpha-glucosidase activity. It showed a rare activity profile with its ability to hydrolyze pNP-GUA, an activity not known in the alpha-glucuronidases from microbial sources. This is the first report on the occurrence of an alpha-glucuronidase which belongs to the family 4 of glycosyl hydrolases.