Unconventional ß-Glucosidases: A Promising Biocatalyst for Industrial Biotechnology.

ß-Glucosidases primarily catalyze removal of terminal glucosyl residues from a variety of glucoconjugates and also perform transglycosylation and reverse hydrolysis. These catalytic properties can be readily exploited for degradation of lignocellulosic biomass as well as for pharmaceutical, food and flavor industries. ß-Glucosidases have been either isolated in the native form from the producer organism or recombinantly expressed and gaged for their biochemical properties and substrate specificities. Although almond and Aspergillus niger have been instantly recognizable sources of ß-glucosidases utilized for various applications, an intricate pool of novel ß-glucosidases from different sources can provide their potent replacements. Moreover, one can envisage the better efficacy of these novel candidates in biofuel and biorefinery industries facilitating efficient degradation of biomass. This article reviews properties of the novel ß-glucosidases such as glucose tolerance and activation, substrate specificity, and thermostability which can be useful for their applications in lignocellulose degradation, food industry, and pharmaceutical industry in comparison with the ß-glucosidases from the conventional sources. Such ß-glucosidases have potential for encouraging white biotechnology.

Flexibility modulates the catalytic activity of a thermostable enzyme: key information from optical spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation.

Enzymes are dynamical macromolecules and their conformation can be altered via local fluctuations of side chains, large scale loop and even domain motions which are intimately linked to their function. Herein, we have addressed the role of dynamic flexibility in the catalytic activity of a thermostable enzyme almond beta-glucosidase (BGL). Optical spectroscopy and classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation were employed to study the thermal stability, catalytic activity and dynamical flexibility of the enzyme. An enzyme assay reveals high thermal stability and optimum catalytic activity at 333 K. Polarization-gated fluorescence anisotropy measurements employing 8-anilino-1-napthelenesulfonic acid (ANS) have indicated increasing flexibility of the enzyme with an increase in temperature. A study of the atomic 3D structure of the enzyme shows the presence of four loop regions (LRs) strategically placed over the catalytic barrel as a lid. MD simulations have indicated that the flexibility of BGL increases concurrently with temperature through different fluctuating characteristics of the enzyme's LRs. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the Steered Molecular Dynamics (SMD) simulation manifest the gatekeeper role of the four LRs through their dynamic fluctuations surrounding the active site which controls the catalytic activity of BGL.

Profiling of volatile terpenes from almond (Prunus dulcis) young fruits and characterization of seven terpene synthase genes.

Almond (Prunus dulcis) is an agricultural and economically important fruit tree from the Rosaceae family used in the food industry. The monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes perform important ecological functions such as insecticidal and antifeedant activities against various insects. The young fruits of the different almond varieties were found to produce considerable amounts of terpene volatiles, including linalool and geraniol. To identify terpene synthases (TPSs) involved in the production of these volatile terpenes, existing genome databases of the Rosaceae were screened for almond genes with significant sequence similarity to other plants TPSs. Bioinformatics analysis led to the identification of seven putative TPSs genes with complete open reading frames. We characterized the enzymes encoded by these seven complementary DNAs: the monoterpene synthases PdTPS1, PdTPS3, PdTPS5, and PdTPS6 belong to the TPS-b clade, which catalyzes the formation of ß-phellandrene, geraniol, linalool, and farnesene, respectively. The sesquiterpene synthases PdTPS2 and PdTPS4, which belong to the TPS-a clade mainly catalyze the formation of bergamotene, while another sesquiterpene synthase, PdTPS7, from the TPS-g clade showed nerolidol synthase activity. The qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the various tissues of almond varieties showed differential transcription for all these PdTPSs genes.

Synthesis of tricyclic quinazolinone-iminosugars as potential glycosidase inhibitors via a Mitsunobu reaction.

A series of novel tricyclic quinazolinone-iminosugars 1 (a-c) were synthesized from the benzyl protected sugars through three steps. Firstly, the benzyl protected sugar (aldehyde) 5 reacted with o-aminobenzamide by the iodine-induced oxidative condensation to afford the corresponding aldo-quizanolinone 6. Secondly, through the intramolecular cyclization of the unprotected OH and the amide NH in 6, the tricyclic compounds 7 and 8 were constructed by the key Mitsunobu reaction. Finally, removal of the benzyl group gave the target tricyclic quinazolinone-iminosugars 1. The protocol was effective for the preparation of the tricyclic iminosugars in satisfactory yield. Interestingly, an unusual C-2 epimerization was observed with d-mannose and d-ribose compounds under the conditions of the Mitsunobu reaction that generated the products having the trans configuration at the C-2 and C-3 positions. Unfortunately, such tricyclic quinazolinone-iminosugars showed no inhibitory effects on the tested five glycosidases.

Determination of d-myo-inositol phosphates in 'activated' raw almonds using anion-exchange chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry.

BACKGROUND: Activated almonds are raw almonds that have been soaked in water for 12-24 h at room temperature, sometimes followed by a 24 h drying period at low temperature (50 ± 5 °C). This treatment is thought to enhance the nutrient bioavailability of almonds by degrading nutrient inhibitors, such as phytic acid or d-myo-inositol hexaphosphate (InsP6 ), through the release of phytase or passive diffusion of InsP6 into the soaking water. Over a wide pH range, InsP6 is a negatively charged compound that limits the absorption of essential nutrients by forming insoluble complexes with minerals such as iron and zinc. It is hypothesized that hydrating the seed during soaking triggers InsP6 degradation into lower myo-inositol phosphates with less binding capacity. RESULTS: Anion-exchange chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry was used to quantify myo-inositol mono-, di-, tris-, tetra-, penta-, and hexaphosphates (InsP1-6 ) in raw pasteurized activated almonds. At least 24 h of soaking at ambient temperature was required to reduce InsP6 content from 14.71 to 14.01 µmol g-1 . CONCLUSIONS: The reduction in InsP6 is statistically significant (P < 0.05) after 24 h of activation, but only represents a 4.75% decrease from the unsoaked almonds. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

The linker length of glucose-fipronil conjugates has a major effect on the rate of bioactivation by ß-glucosidase.

BACKGROUND: Endogenous plant ß-glucosidases can be utilized to hydrolyze pro-pesticides and release the bioactive pesticide. Two related glucose-fipronil conjugates with different linkers structure, N-{3-cyano-1-[2,6-dichloro-4-(trifluoromethyl) phenyl]-4-[(trifluoromethyl) sulfinyl]-1H-pyrazol-5-yl}-1-(2-triazolethyl-ß-d-glucopyranoside)-1H-1,2,3-triazole-4-methanamine (GOTF) and N-{3-cyano-1-[2,6-dichloro-4-(trifluoromethyl) phenyl]-4-[(trifluoromethyl)-sulfinyl]-1H-pyrazol-5-yl}-2-aminoethyl-ß-d-glucopyranoside (GOF), were deglucolysated by ß-glucosidase both in vitro and in vivo at different rates. Here, the basis for these differences was investigated by revealing the kinetics of the reaction and by modeling molecular docking between enzyme and substrate. RESULTS: Results from kinetic study showed that the reaction rate was the main reason for the poorer rate of GOF hydrolysis with respect to GOTF. Modeling of substrate docking indicated that the spacer arm of glucose-fipronil conjugates affects the strength of non-covalent bonds within the active site and the position of fipronil within the pocket. Four glucose-fipronil conjugates and four corresponding aglycones were synthesized, and the hydrolysis data confirmed that the increased tether length between the bulky aglycone and glycone would lead to faster hydrolysis rate. The bioassay results indicated that most glucose-fipronil conjugates displayed moderate to excellent insecticidal activities in vivo against Plutella xylostella larvae. CONCLUSION: This study provides a potential strategy to optimize the substrate structure to enhance hydrolytic specificity in order to design appropriate phloem mobile pro-pesticides. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Elucidation of the Amygdalin Pathway Reveals the Metabolic Basis of Bitter and Sweet Almonds (Prunus dulcis).

Almond (Prunus dulcis) is the principal Prunus species in which the consumed and thus commercially important part of the fruit is the kernel. As a result of continued selection, the vast majority of almonds have a nonbitter kernel. However, in the field, there are trees carrying bitter kernels, which are toxic to humans and, consequently, need to be removed. The toxicity of bitter almonds is caused by the accumulation of the cyanogenic diglucoside amygdalin, which releases toxic hydrogen cyanide upon hydrolysis. In this study, we identified and characterized the enzymes involved in the amygdalin biosynthetic pathway: PdCYP79D16 and PdCYP71AN24 as the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes catalyzing phenylalanine-to-mandelonitrile conversion, PdUGT94AF3 as an additional monoglucosyl transferase (UGT) catalyzing prunasin formation, and PdUGT94AF1 and PdUGT94AF2 as the two enzymes catalyzing amygdalin formation from prunasin. This was accomplished by constructing a sequence database containing UGTs known, or predicted, to catalyze a ß(1→6)-O-glycosylation reaction and a Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search of the draft version of the almond genome versus these sequences. Functional characterization of candidate genes was achieved by transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that the expression of PdCYP79D16 and PdCYP71AN24 was not detectable or only reached minute levels in the sweet almond genotype during fruit development, while it was high and consistent in the bitter genotype. Therefore, the basis for the sweet kernel phenotype is a lack of expression of the genes encoding the two CYPs catalyzing the first steps in amygdalin biosynthesis.

ß-Glucosidase activity in almond seeds.

Almond bitterness is the most important trait for breeding programs since bitter-kernelled seedlings are usually discarded. Amygdalin and its precursor prunasin are hydrolyzed by specific enzymes called ß-glucosidases. In order to better understand the genetic control of almond bitterness, some studies have shown differences in the location of prunasin hydrolases (PH, the ß-glucosidase that degrades prunasin) in sweet and bitter genotypes. The aim of this work was to isolate and characterize different PHs in sweet- and bitter-kernelled almonds to determine whether differences in their genomic or protein sequences are responsible for the sweet or bitter taste of their seeds. RNA was extracted from the tegument, nucellus and cotyledon of one sweet (Lauranne) and two bitter (D05-187 and S3067) almond genotypes throughout fruit ripening. Sequences of nine positive Phs were then obtained from all of the genotypes by RT-PCR and cloning. These clones, from mid ripening stage, were expressed in a heterologous system in tobacco plants by agroinfiltration. The PH activity was detected using the Feigl-Anger method and quantifying the hydrogen cyanide released with prunasin as substrate. Furthermore, ß-glucosidase activity was detected by Fast Blue BB salt and Umbelliferyl method. Differences at the sequence level (SNPs) and in the activity assays were detected, although no correlation with bitterness was found.

Core Richness of N-Glycans of Caenorhabditis elegans: A Case Study on Chemical and Enzymatic Release.

Despite years of research, the glycome of the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is still not fully understood. Certainly, data over the years have indicated that this organism synthesizes unusual N-glycans with a range of galactose and fucose modifications on the Man2-3GlcNAc2 core region. Previously, up to four fucose residues were detected on its N-glycans, despite these lacking the fucosylated antennae typical of many other eukaryotes; some of these fucose residues are capped with hexose residues as shown by the studies of us and others. There have, though, been contrasting reports regarding the maximal number of fucose substitutions in C. elegans, which in part may be due to different methodological approaches, including use of either peptide:N-glycosidases F and A (PNGase F and A) or anhydrous hydrazine to cleave the N-glycans from glycopeptides. Here we compare the use of hydrazine with that of a new enzyme (rice PNGase Ar) and show that both enable release of glycans with more sugar residues on the proximal GlcNAc than previously resolved. By use of exoglycosidase sequencing, in conjunction with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS/MS), we now reveal that actually up to five fucose residues modify the core region of C. elegans N-glycans and that the α1,3-fucose on the reducing terminus can be substituted by an α-linked galactose. Thus, traditional PNGase F and A release may be insufficient for release of the more highly core-modified N-glycans, especially those occurring in C. elegans, but novel enzymes can compete against chemical methods in terms of safety, ease of cleanup, and quality of resulting glycomic data.

Synthesis of disaccharides using ß-glucosidases from Aspergillus niger, A. awamori and Prunus dulcis.

OBJECTIVE: Glucose conversion into disaccharides was performed with ß-glucosidases from Prunus dulcis (ß-Pd), Aspergillus niger (ß-An) and A. awamori (ß-Aa), in reactions containing initial glucose of 700 and 900 g l-1. RESULTS: The reactions' time courses were followed regarding glucose and product concentrations. In all cases, there was a predominant formation of gentiobiose over cellobiose and also of oligosaccharides with a higher molecular mass. For reactions containing 700 g glucose l-1, the final substrate conversions were 33, 38, and 23.5% for ß-An, ß-Aa, and ß-Pd, respectively. The use of ß-An yielded 103 g gentiobiose l-1 (15.5% yield), which is the highest reported for a fungal ß-glucosidase. The increase in glucose concentration to 900 g l-1 resulted in a significant increase in disaccharide synthesis by ß-Pd, reaching 128 g gentiobiose l-1 (15% yield), while for ß-An and ß-Aa, there was a shift toward the synthesis of higher oligosaccharides. CONCLUSION: ß-Pd and the fungal ß-An and ß-Aa ß-glucosidases present quite dissimilar kinetics and selective properties regarding the synthesis of disaccharides; while ß-Pd showed the highest productivity for gentiobiose synthesis, ß-An presented the highest specificity.

Peptide Specificity Analysis of Peptide: N-glycanases Using Synthetic Chitobiose-pentapeptides.

BACKGROUND: Peptide: N-glycanase is a deglycosylation enzyme releasing N-glycan from glycoproteins. Although glycan specificity analysis of this enzyme has been reported, recognition requirements for the peptide sequence have not been precisely elucidated. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we carried out peptide specificity analysis of several peptide:N-glycanases. METHODS: Using synthetic chitobiose-pentapeptide substrates having a systematic series of amino acid sequences composed of hydrophobic leucine and hydrophilic serine, we examined the peptide specificities of peptide: N-glycanases comprising yeast cytoplasmic PNGase, bacterial PNGase F, and plant PNGase A by ultra-performance liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. RESULTS: We found that each of the PNGases had higher activity for the more hydrophobic (leucinerich) chitobiose-pentapeptides, although the sensitivities of the PNGases for hydrophobicity varied. Cytoplasmic PNGase showed broad specificity. In contrast, PNGase A showed moderate specificity. PNGase F showed the highest specificity. CONCLUSION: PNGases from different origins had similar but significantly independent peptide specificities.

Increased yield of ß-glucosidase-catalyzed hydrolysis reactions in the presence of betaine-type metabolite analog.

ß-Glucosidases (EC 3.2.1.21), abundant enzymes distributed in animals, plants and microorganism, has been generating lots of attentions for bioethanol production from cellulosic biomass. In this study, using three different origins of ß-glucosidases, glucose productivity of ß-glucosidase-catalyzed hydrolysis reactions in the presence of synthetic betaine-type metabolite analog (2-N,N,N-tri-n-butylammonium) acetate, was investigated. By the addition of the analog, the hydrolysis yields for all ß-glucosidases was highly improved from 4-13 to 64-100 %. To understand the factors affecting on the yield enhancements, the kinetic parameters, inhibition constants of end-product and temporal stability of ß-glucosidases were compared. As a result, enhancement of the yields is mainly related to the increase in the temporal stability of ß-glucosidases in the presence of the analog. The present findings lead to not only improve the glucose productivity of ß-glucosidase-catalyzed hydrolysis reaction toward bioethanol production but also apply to a new stabilization method for various unstable enzymes.

CuAAC click chemistry with N-propargyl 1,5-dideoxy-1,5-imino-D-gulitol and N-propargyl 1,6-dideoxy-1,6-imino-D-mannitol provides access to triazole-linked piperidine and azepane pseudo-disaccharide iminosugars displaying glycosidase inhibitory properties.

Protecting group-free synthesis of 1,2:5,6-di-anhydro-D-mannitol, followed by ring opening with propargylamine and subsequent ring closure produced a separable mix of piperidine N-propargyl 1,5-dideoxy-1,5-imino-D-gulitol and azepane N-propargyl 1,6-dideoxy-1,6-imino-D-mannitol. In O-acetylated form, these two building blocks were subjected to CuAAC click chemistry with a panel of three differently azide-substituted glucose building blocks, producing iminosugar pseudo-disaccharides in good yield. The overall panel of eight compounds, plus 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) as a benchmark, was evaluated as prospective inhibitors of almond ß-glucosidase, yeast α-glucosidase and barley ß-amylase. The iminosugar pseudo-disaccharides showed no inhibitory activity against almond ß-glucosidase, while the parent N-propargyl 1,5-dideoxy-1,5-imino-D-gulitol and N-propargyl 1,6-dideoxy-1,6-imino-D-mannitol likewise proved to be inactive against yeast α-glucosidase. Inhibitory activity could be reinstated in the former series by appropriate substitution on nitrogen. The greater activity of the piperidine could be rationalized based on docking studies. Further, potent inhibition of ß-amylase was observed with compounds from both the piperidine and azepane series.

Structures of almond hydroxynitrile lyase isoenzyme 5 provide a rationale for the lack of oxidoreductase activity in flavin dependent HNLs.

Hydroxynitrile lyases (HNLs) catalyze the asymmetric addition of HCN to aldehydes producing enantiomerically pure cyanohydrins. These enzymes can be heterologously expressed in large quantities making them interesting candidates for industrial applications. The HNLs from Rosaceae evolved from flavin dependent dehydrogenase/oxidase structures. Here we report the high resolution X-ray structure of the highly glycosylated Prunus amygdalus HNL isoenzyme5 (PaHNL5 V317A) expressed in Aspergillus niger and its complex with benzyl alcohol. A comparison with the structure of isoenzyme PaHNL1 indicates a higher accessibility to the active site and a larger cavity for PaHNL5. Additionally, the PaHNL5 complex structure with benzyl alcohol was compared with the structurally related aryl-alcohol oxidase (AAO). Even though both enzymes contain an FAD-cofactor and histidine residues at crucial positions in the active site, PaHNL5 lacks the oxidoreductase activity. The structures indicate that in PaHNLs benzyl alcohol is bound too far away from the FAD cofactor in order to be oxidized.

Enantioselective Synthesis of Various Cyanohydrins Using Covalently Immobilized Preparations of Hydroxynitrile Lyase from Prunus dulcis.

The carrier-based and carrier-free (cross-linked enzyme aggregate) covalent immobilizations of Prunus dulcis hydroxynitrile lyase were investigated. The immobilized preparations were tested for enantioselective carbon-carbon bond formation activity in the biphasic medium. Of the tested preparations, only cross-linked enzyme aggregate of P. dulcis hydroxynitrile lyase (PdHNL-CLEA) achieved the synthesis of (R)-mandelonitrile with 93% yield and 99% enantiopurity. PdHNL-CLEA was also used in the synthesis of various (R)-cyanohydrins from corresponding aldehydes/ketones and hydrocyanic acid. When 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, 4-methyl benzaldehyde, and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde were used as substrates, the yield-enantiomeric excess of corresponding (R)-cyanohydrins were obtained as 95-95, 85-79, and 2-25%, respectively, after 96 h at pH 4.0 and 5 °C. For acetophenone, 4-fluoroacetophenone, 4-chloroacetophenone, 4-bromoacetophenone, and 4-iodoacetophenone, the yield-enantiomeric excess of corresponding (R)-cyanohydrins were 1-99, 20-84, 11-95, 5-99, and 3-24%, respectively at the same conditions. The results demonstrate PdHNL-CLEA can be effectively used in the synthesis of (R)-mandelonitrile.

Unfolding and Refolding Study of a Large Dimeric Protein ß-Glucosidase from Almond Monitored by Fluorescence Spectroscopy.

In our present investigation, the unfolding and refolding of ß-glucosidase (BGL-Al) from sweet almond was investigated using tryptophan (Trp) fluorescence spectroscopy. When the unfolding of BGL-Al was induced by guanidium chloride (GdnHCl) and monitored using biological activity as well as Trp fluorescence spectroscopic measurement, we observed that the denaturation of BGL-Al could be easily induced by low concentration of GdnHCl and the enzyme was completely inactivated at 1.0 M GdnHCl. Higher unfolding in the presence of reducing agent revealed that the protein perhaps containing multiple di-sulfide bonds indicating a reason of high stability against unfolding by GdnHCl. Refolding results suggested that the protein refolded with high yield from 1 M GdnHCl denatured state, however, refolded with negligible yield from completely unfolded state. The kinetic studies of BGL-Al refolding unravel a two phase refolding process with calculated t1/2 (refolding half time) of 1.8 and 33 min, respectively. When 8-Anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS) was used as extrinsic fluorophore, we found that the surface hydrophobicity of BGL-Al was continuously decreased during GdnHCl-mediated unfolding. The surface hydrophobicity of the protein was calculated to be as high as 128.32. Acrylamide quenching study demonstrated that Trp residues of BGL-Al are mostly and hence they must be located either on the surface or in the crevices accessible by quenchers.

A fluorescence study of isofagomine protonation in ß-glucosidase.

N-(10-Chloro-9-anthracenemethyl)isofagomine 5 and N-(10-chloro-9-anthracenemethyl)-1-deoxynojirimycin 6 were prepared, and their inhibition of almond ß-glucosidase was measured. The isofagomine derivative 5 was found to be a potent inhibitor, while the 1-deoxynojirimycin derivative 6 displayed no inhibition at the concentrations investigated. Fluorescence spectroscopy of 5 with almond ß-glucosidase at different pH values showed that the inhibitor nitrogen is not protonated when bound to the enzyme. Analysis of pH inhibition data confirmed that 5 binds as the amine to the enzyme's unprotonated dicarboxylate form. This is a radically different binding mode than has been observed with isofagomine and other iminosugars in the literature.

Solvent and α-secondary kinetic isotope effects on ß-glucosidase.

ß-Glucosidase from sweet almond is a retaining, family 1, glycohydrolase. It is known that glycosylation of the enzyme by aryl glucosides occurs with little, if any, acid catalysis. For this reaction both the solvent and α-secondary kinetic isotope effects are 1.0. However, for the deglucosylation reaction (e.g., kcat for 2,4-dinitrophenyl-ß-D-glucopyranoside) there is a small solvent deuterium isotope effect of 1.50 (±0.06) and an α-secondary kinetic isotope effect of 1.12 (±0.03). For aryl glucosides, kcat/KM is very sensitive to the pKa of the phenol leaving group [ßlg≈-1; Dale et al., Biochemistry25 (1986) 2522-2529]. With alkyl glucosides the ßlg is smaller (between -0.2 and -0.3) but still negative. This, coupled with the small solvent isotope effect on the pH-independent second-order rate constant for the glucosylation of the enzyme with 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl-ß-glucoside [D2O(kcat/KM)=1.23 (±0.04)] suggests that there is more glycone-aglycone bond fission than aglycone oxygen protonation in the transition state for alkyl glycoside hydrolysis. The kinetics constants for the partitioning (between water and various alcohols) of the glucosyl-enzyme intermediate, coupled with the rate constants for the forward (hydrolysis) reaction provide an estimate of the stability of the glucosyl-enzyme intermediate. This is a relatively stable species with an energy about 2 to 4 kcal/mol higher than that of the ES complex. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Enzyme Transition States from Theory and Experiment.

Complexation of alkyl glycosides with α-cyclodextrin can have drastically different effects on their conversion by glycoside hydrolases.

Substrates present in aggregated forms, such as micelles, are often poorly converted by enzymes. Alkyl glycosides constitute typical examples and the critical micelle concentration (CMC) decreases with increasing length of the alkyl group. In this study, possibilities to hydrolyse alkyl glycosides by glycoside hydrolases were explored, and α-cyclodextrin was used as an agent to form inclusion complexes with the alkyl glycosides, thereby preventing micelle formation. The cyclodextrin complexes were accepted as substrates by the enzymes to variable extent. The ß-glucosidases originating from Thermotoga neapolitana (Tn Bgl3B) and from almond were not at all able to hydrolyse alkyl ß-glucosides in the presence of 100mM α-cyclodextrin. However, Aspergillus niger amyloglucosidase readily accepted the complexes as substrates. In reactions involving decyl and dodecyl maltosides, the presence of 100mM α-cyclodextrin caused an increase in reaction rate in most cases, especially at high substrate concentrations. Surprisingly, the amyloglucosidase-catalyzed hydrolysis of octyl-ß-maltoside to glucose and ß-octylglucoside was faster in the presence of α-cyclodextrin than without, even at substrate concentrations below CMC. A possible explanation of the observed rate enhancement is that binding sites on the carbohydrate binding domain of amyloglucosidase, known to bind cyclodextrins, help to guide the alkyl glycoside-cyclodextrin complex to the active site, and thereby promote its conversion.