Genomic and enzymatic results show Bacillus cellulosilyticus uses a novel set of LPXTA carbohydrases to hydrolyze polysaccharides.

BACKGROUND: Alkaliphilic Bacillus species are intrinsically interesting due to the bioenergetic problems posed by growth at high pH and high salt. Three alkaline cellulases have been cloned, sequenced and expressed from Bacillus cellulosilyticus N-4 (Bcell) making it an excellent target for genomic sequencing and mining of biomass-degrading enzymes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The genome of Bcell is a single chromosome of 4.7 Mb with no plasmids present and three large phage insertions. The most unusual feature of the genome is the presence of 23 LPXTA membrane anchor proteins; 17 of these are annotated as involved in polysaccharide degradation. These two values are significantly higher than seen in any other Bacillus species. This high number of membrane anchor proteins is seen only in pathogenic gram-positive organisms such as Listeria monocytogenes or Staphylococcus aureus. Bcell also possesses four sortase D subfamily 4 enzymes that incorporate LPXTA-bearing proteins into the cell wall; three of these are closely related to each other and unique to Bcell. Cell fractionation and enzymatic assay of Bcell cultures show that the majority of polysaccharide degradation is associated with the cell wall LPXTA-enzymes, an unusual feature in gram-positive aerobes. Genomic analysis and growth studies both strongly argue against Bcell being a truly cellulolytic organism, in spite of its name. Preliminary results suggest that fungal mycelia may be the natural substrate for this organism. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Bacillus cellulosilyticus N-4, in spite of its name, does not possess any of the genes necessary for crystalline cellulose degradation, demonstrating the risk of classifying microorganisms without the benefit of genomic analysis. Bcell is the first gram-positive aerobic organism shown to use predominantly cell-bound, non-cellulosomal enzymes for polysaccharide degradation. The LPXTA-sortase system utilized by Bcell may have applications both in anchoring cellulases and other biomass-degrading enzymes to Bcell itself and in anchoring proteins other gram-positive organisms.

Bioprospecting metagenomics of decaying wood: mining for new glycoside hydrolases.

BACKGROUND: To efficiently deconstruct recalcitrant plant biomass to fermentable sugars in industrial processes, biocatalysts of higher performance and lower cost are required. The genetic diversity found in the metagenomes of natural microbial biomass decay communities may harbor such enzymes. Our goal was to discover and characterize new glycoside hydrolases (GHases) from microbial biomass decay communities, especially those from unknown or never previously cultivated microorganisms. RESULTS: From the metagenome sequences of an anaerobic microbial community actively decaying poplar biomass, we identified approximately 4,000 GHase homologs. Based on homology to GHase families/activities of interest and the quality of the sequences, candidates were selected for full-length cloning and subsequent expression. As an alternative strategy, a metagenome expression library was constructed and screened for GHase activities. These combined efforts resulted in the cloning of four novel GHases that could be successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. Further characterization showed that two enzymes showed significant activity on p-nitrophenyl-α-L-arabinofuranoside, one enzyme had significant activity against p-nitrophenyl-ß-D-glucopyranoside, and one enzyme showed significant activity against p-nitrophenyl-ß-D-xylopyranoside. Enzymes were also tested in the presence of ionic liquids. CONCLUSIONS: Metagenomics provides a good resource for mining novel biomass degrading enzymes and for screening of cellulolytic enzyme activities. The four GHases that were cloned may have potential application for deconstruction of biomass pretreated with ionic liquids, as they remain active in the presence of up to 20% ionic liquid (except for 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethyl phosphate). Alternatively, ionic liquids might be used to immobilize or stabilize these enzymes for minimal solvent processing of biomass.

The complete genome sequence of Fibrobacter succinogenes S85 reveals a cellulolytic and metabolic specialist.

Fibrobacter succinogenes is an important member of the rumen microbial community that converts plant biomass into nutrients usable by its host. This bacterium, which is also one of only two cultivated species in its phylum, is an efficient and prolific degrader of cellulose. Specifically, it has a particularly high activity against crystalline cellulose that requires close physical contact with this substrate. However, unlike other known cellulolytic microbes, it does not degrade cellulose using a cellulosome or by producing high extracellular titers of cellulase enzymes. To better understand the biology of F. succinogenes, we sequenced the genome of the type strain S85 to completion. A total of 3,085 open reading frames were predicted from its 3.84 Mbp genome. Analysis of sequences predicted to encode for carbohydrate-degrading enzymes revealed an unusually high number of genes that were classified into 49 different families of glycoside hydrolases, carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs), carbohydrate esterases, and polysaccharide lyases. Of the 31 identified cellulases, none contain CBMs in families 1, 2, and 3, typically associated with crystalline cellulose degradation. Polysaccharide hydrolysis and utilization assays showed that F. succinogenes was able to hydrolyze a number of polysaccharides, but could only utilize the hydrolytic products of cellulose. This suggests that F. succinogenes uses its array of hemicellulose-degrading enzymes to remove hemicelluloses to gain access to cellulose. This is reflected in its genome, as F. succinogenes lacks many of the genes necessary to transport and metabolize the hydrolytic products of non-cellulose polysaccharides. The F. succinogenes genome reveals a bacterium that specializes in cellulose as its sole energy source, and provides insight into a novel strategy for cellulose degradation.

Functional annotation of Fibrobacter succinogenes S85 carbohydrate active enzymes.

Fibrobacter succinogenes is a cellulolytic bacterium that degrades plant cell wall biomass in ruminant animals and is among the most rapidly fibrolytic of all mesophilic bacteria. The complete genome sequence of Fisuc was completed by the DOE Joint Genome Institute in late 2009. Using new expression tools developed at Lucigen and C5-6 Technologies and a multi-substrate screen, 5,760 random shotgun expression clones were screened for biomass-degrading enzymes, representing 2× genome expression coverage. From the screen, 169 positive hits were recorded and 33 were unambiguously identified by sequence analysis of the inserts as belonging to CAZy family genes. Eliminating duplicates, 24 unique CAZy genes were found by functional screening. Several previously uncharacterized enzymes were discovered using this approach and a number of potentially mis-annotated enzymes were functionally characterized. To complement this approach, a high-throughput system was developed to clone and express all the annotated glycosyl hydrolases and carbohydrate esterases in the genome. Using this method, six previously described and five novel CAZy enzymes were cloned, expressed, and purified in milligram quantities.