Penicillium purpurogenum produces a novel, acidic, GH3 beta-xylosidase: Heterologous expression and characterization of the enzyme.

Xylan, a component of plant cell walls, is composed of a backbone of ß-1,4-linked xylopyranosyl units with a number of substituents. The complete degradation of xylan requires the action of several enzymes, among them ß-xylosidase. The fungus Penicillium purpurogenum secretes a number of enzymes participating in the degradation of xylan. In this study, a ß-xylosidase from this fungus was expressed in Pichia pastoris, and characterized. This enzyme (Xyl2) is a member of glycoside hydrolase family 3; it consists of a sequence of 792 residues including a signal peptide of 20 residues, with a theoretical molecular mass for the mature protein of 84.2 KDa and an isoelectric point of 5.07. The highest identity with a characterized fungal enzyme, is with a ß-xylosidase from Aspergillus oryzae (70%). The optimal activity of Xyl2 is found at pH 2.0 and 28 °C. The enzyme is most stable at pH 2.0 and conserves 40% of activity at 42 °C (after 1h incubation). The kinetic parameters for p-nitrophenyl-ß-d-xylopyranoside are: KM 0.53 mM, kcat 1*107 s-1 and kcat/KM 1.9*1010 M-1 s-1. The enzyme is about 10% active on p-nitrophenyl-α-l-arabinofuranoside. Xyl2 exhibits a high hydrolytic activity on xylooligosaccharides; it liberates xylose from beechwood and birchwood glucuronoxylan and it acts synergistically with endoxylanases in the degradation of xylan. Its low pH optimum make this enzyme particularly useful in potential applications requiring a low pH such as increasing the flavor of wine.

Biochemical and structural characterization of Penicillium purpurogenum α-D galactosidase: Binding of galactose to an alternative pocket may explain enzyme inhibition.

The fungus Penicillium purpurogenum degrades plant cell walls by the action of cellulolytic, xylanolytic and pectinolytic enzymes. The α-D-galactosidase is one of the enzymes which may act on pectin degradation. This enzyme has several biotechnological and medical applications. The aim of this work was to better understand the molecular mechanism of α-D-galactosidase from P. purpurogenum (GALP1). For this purpose, a gene coding for the enzyme was identified from the fungal genome and heterologously expressed in Pichia pastoris. The enzyme belongs to glycosyl hydrolase family 27. The protein of 435 amino acids has an optimum pH and temperature for activity of 5.0 and 50 °C, respectively. The KM for p-nitrophenyl-α-D-galactopyranoside (GalαpNP) is 0.138 mM. The enzyme is inhibited by GalαpNP at concentrations higher than 1 mM, and by the product galactose. A kinetic analysis of product inhibition shows that it is of mixed type, suggesting the presence of an additional binding site in the enzyme. To confirm this hypothesis, a structural model for GALP1 was built by comparative modelling methodology, which was validated and refined by molecular dynamics simulation. The data suggest that galactose may bind to an enzyme alternative pocket promoting structural changes of the active site, thus explaining its inhibitory effect. In silico site-directed mutagenesis experiments highlighted key residues involved in the maintenance of the alternative binding site, and their mutations for Ala predict the formation of proteins which should not be inhibited by galactose. The availability of an α-galactosidase with different kinetic properties to the existent proteins may be of interest for biotechnological applications.

Cultivable psychrotolerant yeasts associated with Antarctic marine sponges.

Unlike filamentous fungi and bacteria, very little is known about cultivable yeasts associated with marine sponges, especially those from Antarctic seas. During an expedition to King George Island, in the Antarctica, samples of 11 marine sponges were collected by scuba-diving. From these sponges, 20 psychrotolerant yeast isolates were obtained. Phylogenetic analyses of D1/D2 and ITS rRNA gene sequences revealed that the marine ascomycetous yeast Metschnikowia australis is the predominant organism associated with these invertebrates. Other species found belonged to the Basidiomycota phylum: Cystofilobasidium infirmominiatum, Rhodotorula pinicola, Leucosporidiella creatinivora and a new yeast from the Leucosporidiella genus. None of these yeasts have been previously associated with marine sponges. A screening to estimate the ability of these yeasts as producers of extracellular enzymatic activities at several pH and temperature conditions was performed. Several yeast isolates demonstrated amylolytic, proteolytic, lipolytic or cellulolytic activity, but none of them showed xylanolytic activity under the conditions assayed. To our knowledge, this work is the first description of cultivable yeasts associated with marine sponges from the Antarctic sea.