Molecular insight into regioselectivity of transfructosylation catalyzed by GH68 levansucrase and ß-fructofuranosidase.

Glycoside hydrolase family 68 (GH68) enzymes catalyze ß-fructosyltransfer from sucrose to another sucrose, the so-called transfructosylation. Although regioselectivity of transfructosylation is divergent in GH68 enzymes, there is insufficient information available on the structural factor(s) involved in the selectivity. Here, we found two GH68 enzymes, ß-fructofuranosidase (FFZm) and levansucrase (LSZm), encoded tandemly in the genome of Zymomonas mobilis, displayed different selectivity: FFZm catalyzed the ß-(2→1)-transfructosylation (1-TF), whereas LSZm did both of 1-TF and ß-(2→6)-transfructosylation (6-TF). We identified His79FFZm and Ala343FFZm and their corresponding Asn84LSZm and Ser345LSZm respectively as the structural factors for those regioselectivities. LSZm with the respective substitution of FFZm-type His and Ala for its Asn84LSZm and Ser345LSZm (N84H/S345A-LSZm) lost 6-TF and enhanced 1-TF. Conversely, the LSZm-type replacement of His79FFZm and Ala343FFZm in FFZm (H79N/A343S-FFZm) almost lost 1-TF and acquired 6-TF. H79N/A343S-FFZm exhibited the selectivity like LSZm but did not produce the ß-(2→6)-fructoside-linked levan and/or long levanooligosaccharides that LSZm did. We assumed Phe189LSZm to be a responsible residue for the elongation of levan chain in LSZm and mutated the corresponding Leu187FFZm in FFZm to Phe. An H79N/L187F/A343S-FFZm produced a higher quantity of long levanooligosaccharides than H79N/A343S-FFZm (or H79N-FFZm), although without levan formation, suggesting that LSZm has another structural factor for levan production. We also found that FFZm generated a sucrose analog, ß-D-fructofuranosyl α-D-mannopyranoside, by ß-fructosyltransfer to d-mannose and regarded His79FFZm and Ala343FFZm as key residues for this acceptor specificity. In summary, this study provides insight into the structural factors of regioselectivity and acceptor specificity in transfructosylation of GH68 enzymes.

Author Correction: Identification and characterization of a novel ß-D-galactosidase that releases pyruvylated galactose.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Identification and characterization of a novel ß-D-galactosidase that releases pyruvylated galactose.

Pyruvyl modification of oligosaccharides is widely seen in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Although the biosynthetic mechanisms of pyruvylation have been investigated, enzymes that metabolize and degrade pyruvylated oligosaccharides are not well known. Here, we searched for a pyruvylated galactose (PvGal)-releasing enzyme by screening soil samples. We identified a Bacillus strain, as confirmed by the 16S ribosomal RNA gene analysis, that exhibited PvGal-ase activity toward p-nitrophenyl-ß-D-pyruvylated galactopyranose (pNP-ß-D-PvGal). Draft genome sequencing of this strain, named HMA207, identified three candidate genes encoding potential PvGal-ases, among which only the recombinant protein encoded by ORF1119 exhibited PvGal-ase activity. Although ORF1119 protein displayed broad substrate specificity for pNP sugars, pNP-ß-D-PvGal was the most favorable substrate. The optimum pH for the ORF1119 PvGal-ase was determined as 7.5. A BLAST search suggested that ORF1119 homologs exist widely in bacteria. Among two homologs tested, BglC from Clostridium but not BglH from Bacillus showed PvGal-ase activity. Crystal structural analysis together with point mutation analysis revealed crucial amino acids for PvGal-ase activity. Moreover, ORF1119 protein catalyzed the hydrolysis of PvGal from galactomannan of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, suggesting that natural polysaccharides might be substrates of the PvGal-ase. This novel PvGal-catalyzing enzyme might be useful for glycoengineering projects to produce new oligosaccharide structures.

Substrate recognition of the catalytic α-subunit of glucosidase II from Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

The recombinant catalytic α-subunit of N-glycan processing glucosidase II from Schizosaccharomyces pombe (SpGIIα) was produced in Escherichia coli. The recombinant SpGIIα exhibited quite low stability, with a reduction in activity to <40% after 2-days preservation at 4 °C, but the presence of 10% (v/v) glycerol prevented this loss of activity. SpGIIα, a member of the glycoside hydrolase family 31 (GH31), displayed the typical substrate specificity of GH31 α-glucosidases. The enzyme hydrolyzed not only α-(1→3)- but also α-(1→2)-, α-(1→4)-, and α-(1→6)-glucosidic linkages, and p-nitrophenyl α-glucoside. SpGIIα displayed most catalytic properties of glucosidase II. Hydrolytic activity of the terminal α-glucosidic residue of Glc2Man3-Dansyl was faster than that of Glc1Man3-Dansyl. This catalytic α-subunit also removed terminal glucose residues from native N-glycans (Glc2Man9GlcNAc2 and Glc1Man9GlcNAc2) although the activity was low.