Eliminating hydrolytic activity without affecting the transglycosylation of a GH1 ß-glucosidase.

Unveiling the determinants for transferase and hydrolase activity in glycoside hydrolases would allow using their vast diversity for creating novel transglycosylases, thereby unlocking an extensive toolbox for carbohydrate chemists. Three different amino acid substitutions at position 220 of a GH1 ß-glucosidase from Thermotoga neapolitana caused an increase of the ratio of transglycosylation to hydrolysis (r s/r h) from 0.33 to 1.45-2.71. Further increase in r s/r h was achieved by modulation of pH of the reaction medium. The wild-type enzyme had a pH optimum for both hydrolysis and transglycosylation around 6 and reduced activity at higher pH. Interestingly, the mutants had constant transglycosylation activity over a broad pH range (5-10), while the hydrolytic activity was largely eliminated at pH 10. The results demonstrate that a combination of protein engineering and medium engineering can be used to eliminate the hydrolytic activity without affecting the transglycosylation activity of a glycoside hydrolase. The underlying factors for this success are pursued, and perturbations of the catalytic acid/base in combination with flexibility are shown to be important factors.

A CGTase with high coupling activity using γ-cyclodextrin isolated from a novel strain clustering under the genus Carboxydocella.

Cyclodextrin glucanotransferases (CGTases; EC 2.4.1.19) have mainly been characterized for their ability to produce cyclodextrins (CDs) from starch in an intramolecular transglycosylation reaction (cyclization). However, this class of enzymes can also catalyze intermolecular transglycosylation via disproportionation or coupling reactions onto a wide array of acceptors and could therefore be valuable as a tool for glycosylation.In this paper, we report the gene isolation, via the CODEHOP strategy, expression and characterization of a novel CGTase (CspCGT13) from a Carboxydocella sp. This enzyme is the first glycoside hydrolase isolated from the genus, indicating starch degradation via cyclodextrin production in the Carboxydocella strain. The fundamental reactivities of this novel CGTase are characterized and compared with two commercial CGTases, assayed under identical condition, in order to facilitate interpretation of the results. The comparison showed that the enzyme, CspCGT13, displayed high coupling activity using γ-CD as donor, despite preferentially forming α- and ß-CD in the cyclization reaction using wheat starch as substrate. Comparison of subsite conservation within previously characterized CGTases showed significant sequence variation in subsites -3 and -7, which may be important for the coupling activity.

Improved transferase/hydrolase ratio through rational design of a family 1 ß-glucosidase from Thermotoga neapolitana.

Alkyl glycosides are attractive surfactants because of their high surface activity and good biodegradability and can be produced from renewable resources. Through enzymatic catalysis, one can obtain well-defined alkyl glycosides, something that is very difficult to do using conventional chemistry. However, there is a need for better enzymes to get a commercially feasible process. A thermostable ß-glucosidase from the well-studied glycoside hydrolase family 1 from Thermotoga neapolitana, TnBgl1A, was mutated in an attempt to improve its value for synthesis of alkyl glycosides. This was done by rational design using prior knowledge from structural homologues together with a recently generated model of the enzyme in question. Three out of four studied mutations increased the hydrolytic reaction rate in an aqueous environment, while none displayed this property in the presence of an alcohol acceptor. This shows that even if the enzyme resides in a separate aqueous phase, the presence of an organic solvent has a great influence. We could also show that a single amino acid replacement in a less studied part of the aglycone subsite, N220F, improves the specificity for transglycosylation 7-fold and thereby increases the potential yield of alkyl glycoside from 17% to 58%.

Substrate complexation and aggregation influence the cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) catalyzed synthesis of alkyl glycosides.

Bacillus macerans cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) was used to convert dodecyl-ß-maltoside (DDM) to dodecyl-ß-maltooctaoside (DDMO) using α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) or starch as glycosyl donors. At 300mM α-CD, varied DDM concentration and 60°C, the reaction obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a K(m) value of 18mM and a V(max) value of 100U/mg enzyme. However, at 25mM α-CD the reaction rate decreased with increasing DDM concentration (5-50mM), and when the α-CD concentration was varied at fixed DDM concentration an S shaped curve was obtained. The deviations from Michaelis-Menten kinetics were interpreted as being caused by formation of inclusion complexes between α-CD and DDM and by micellation of DDM. To achieve a high reaction rate, a high concentration of free α-CD is necessary, since α-CD in the form of a complex has low reactivity. When starch is used as glycosyl donor in the CGTase catalyzed alkyl glycoside elongation reaction, it is thus important to choose reaction conditions under which the cyclization of starch to α-CD is efficient.