A surface-exposed GH26 ß-mannanase from Bacteroides ovatus: Structure, role, and phylogenetic analysis of BoMan26B.

The galactomannan utilization locus (BoManPUL) of the human gut bacterium Bacteroides ovatus encodes BoMan26B, a cell-surface-exposed endomannanase whose functional and structural features have been unclear. Our study now places BoMan26B in context with related enzymes and reveals the structural basis for its specificity. BoMan26B prefers longer substrates and is less restricted by galactose side-groups than the mannanase BoMan26A of the same locus. Using galactomannan, BoMan26B generated a mixture of (galactosyl) manno-oligosaccharides shorter than mannohexaose. Three defined manno-oligosaccharides had affinity for the SusD-like surface-exposed glycan-binding protein, predicted to be implicated in saccharide transport. Co-incubation of BoMan26B and the periplasmic α-galactosidase BoGal36A increased the rate of galactose release by about 10-fold compared with the rate without BoMan26B. The results suggested that BoMan26B performs the initial attack on galactomannan, generating oligosaccharides that after transport to the periplasm are processed by BoGal36A. A crystal structure of BoMan26B with galactosyl-mannotetraose bound in subsites -5 to -2 revealed an open and long active-site cleft with Trp-112 in subsite -5 concluded to be involved in mannosyl interaction. Moreover, Lys-149 in the -4 subsite interacted with the galactosyl side-group of the ligand. A phylogenetic tree consisting of GH26 enzymes revealed four strictly conserved GH26 residues and disclosed that BoMan26A and BoMan26B reside on two distinct phylogenetic branches (A and B). The three other branches contain lichenases, xylanases, or enzymes with unknown activities. Lys-149 is conserved in a narrow part of branch B, and Trp-112 is conserved in a wider group within branch B.

Galactomannan Catabolism Conferred by a Polysaccharide Utilization Locus of Bacteroides ovatus: ENZYME SYNERGY AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF A ß-MANNANASE.

A recently identified polysaccharide utilization locus (PUL) from Bacteroides ovatus ATCC 8483 is transcriptionally up-regulated during growth on galacto- and glucomannans. It encodes two glycoside hydrolase family 26 (GH26) ß-mannanases, BoMan26A and BoMan26B, and a GH36 α-galactosidase, BoGal36A. The PUL also includes two glycan-binding proteins, confirmed by ß-mannan affinity electrophoresis. When this PUL was deleted, B. ovatus was no longer able to grow on locust bean galactomannan. BoMan26A primarily formed mannobiose from mannan polysaccharides. BoMan26B had higher activity on galactomannan with a high degree of galactosyl substitution and was shown to be endo-acting generating a more diverse mixture of oligosaccharides, including mannobiose. Of the two ß-mannanases, only BoMan26B hydrolyzed galactoglucomannan. A crystal structure of BoMan26A revealed a similar structure to the exo-mannobiohydrolase CjMan26C from Cellvibrio japonicus, with a conserved glycone region (-1 and -2 subsites), including a conserved loop closing the active site beyond subsite -2. Analysis of cellular location by immunolabeling and fluorescence microscopy suggests that BoMan26B is surface-exposed and associated with the outer membrane, although BoMan26A and BoGal36A are likely periplasmic. In light of the cellular location and the biochemical properties of the two characterized ß-mannanases, we propose a scheme of sequential action by the glycoside hydrolases encoded by the ß-mannan PUL and involved in the ß-mannan utilization pathway in B. ovatus. The outer membrane-associated BoMan26B initially acts on the polysaccharide galactomannan, producing comparably large oligosaccharide fragments. Galactomanno-oligosaccharides are further processed in the periplasm, degalactosylated by BoGal36A, and subsequently hydrolyzed into mainly mannobiose by the ß-mannanase BoMan26A.

A ß-mannan utilization locus in Bacteroides ovatus involves a GH36 α-galactosidase active on galactomannans.

The Bacova_02091 gene in the ß-mannan utilization locus of Bacteroides ovatus encodes a family GH36 α-galactosidase (BoGal36A), transcriptionally upregulated during growth on galactomannan. Characterization of recombinant BoGal36A reveals unique properties compared to other GH36 α-galactosidases, which preferentially hydrolyse terminal α-galactose in raffinose family oligosaccharides. BoGal36A prefers hydrolysing internal galactose substitutions from intact and depolymerized galactomannan. BoGal36A efficiently releases (> 90%) galactose from guar and locust bean galactomannans, resulting in precipitation of the polysaccharides. As compared to other GH36 structures, the BoGal36A 3D model displays a loop deletion, resulting in a wider active site cleft which likely can accommodate a galactose-substituted polymannose backbone.

The method of integrated kinetics and its applicability to the exo-glycosidase-catalyzed hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl glycosides.

In the present work we suggest an efficient method, using the whole time course of the reaction, whereby parameters kcat, Km and product KI for the hydrolysis of a p-nitrophenyl glycoside by an exo-acting glycoside hydrolase can be estimated in a single experiment. Its applicability was demonstrated for three retaining exo-glycoside hydrolases, ß-xylosidase from Aspergillus awamori, ß-galactosidase from Penicillium sp. and α-galactosidase from Thermotoga maritima (TmGalA). During the analysis of the reaction course catalyzed by the TmGalA enzyme we had observed that a non-enzymatic process, mutarotation of the liberated α-d-galactose, affected the reaction significantly.

An Aspergillus nidulans ß-mannanase with high transglycosylation capacity revealed through comparative studies within glycosidase family 5.

ß-Mannanases are involved in the conversion and modification of mannan-based saccharides. Using a retaining mechanism, they can, in addition to hydrolysis, also potentially perform transglycosylation reactions, synthesizing new glyco-conjugates. Transglycosylation has been reported for ß-mannanases in GH5 and GH113. However, although they share the same fold and catalytic mechanism, there may be differences in the enzymes' ability to perform transglycosylation. Three GH5 ß-mannanases from Aspergillus nidulans, AnMan5A, AnMan5B and AnMan5C, which belong to subfamily GH5_7 were studied. Comparative studies, including the GH5_7 TrMan5A from Trichoderma reesei, showed some differences between the enzymes. All the enzymes could perform transglycosylation but AnMan5B stood out in generating comparably higher amounts of transglycosylation products when incubated with manno-oligosaccharides. In addition, AnMan5B did not use alcohols as acceptor, which was also different compared to the other three ß-mannanases. In order to map the preferred binding of manno-oligosaccharides, incubations were performed in H2 (18)O. AnMan5B in contrary to the other enzymes did not generate any (18)O-labelled products. This further supported the idea that AnMan5B potentially prefers to use saccharides as acceptor instead of water. A homology model of AnMan5B showed a non-conserved Trp located in subsite +2, not present in the other studied enzymes. Strong aglycone binding seems to be important for transglycosylation with saccharides. Depending on the application, it is important to select the right enzyme.

Phylogenetic analysis and substrate specificity of GH2 ß-mannosidases from Aspergillus species.

Phylogenetic analysis of glycoside hydrolase family 2 including Aspergillus sequences and characterised ß-mannosidases from other organisms, clusters putative Aspergillus ß-mannosidases in two distinct clades (A and B). Aspergillus species have at least one paralog in each of the two clades. It appears that clade A members are extracellular and clade B members intracellular. Substrate specificity analysis of MndA of Aspergillus niger (clade A) and MndB of Aspergillus nidulans (clade B) show that MndB, in contrast to MndA, does not hydrolyse polymeric mannan and has probably evolved to hydrolyse small unbranched ß-mannosides like mannobiose. A 3D-model of MndB provides further insight.