Influence of steam and dry heat pretreatment on fibre properties and cellulase degradation of cellulosic fibres

Cellulosic fabric samples of cotton, viscose, lyocell and modal were pretreated with steam and dry heat in the range of 100–190°C. The samples were then treated with a Trichoderma reesei cellulase preparation (total culture filtrate – TC), with mechanical agitation, at a high enzyme dosage of 75% by weight of fabric, for 8 hours. Generally, viscose proved to be easily degradable, followed by cotton and modal. The degree of hydrolysis was the least for Lyocell. Dry heat pretreatments exerted a lower influence on degradation rate than steam pretreatments which showed a distinct maximum at a steam temperature of 130°C. The hydrolysis rate varied strongly depending on treatment conditions and fibre type. Water retention values in treated substrates were changed by up to 20% of initial values.     

Transcellobiosylation Reactions Catalyzed by Different Exoglucanase Components of a Trichoderma viride Cellulase in Aqueous Organic Solvent

The contribution of three exoglucanases from a commercial Trichoderma viride cellulase to transcellobiosylation, and the tolerance of these enzymes to acetonitrile co-solvent were studied. The enzymatic reactions were performed with p-nitrophenyl-β-d-cellobioside as the starting substrate. Among these enzymes, the least anionic exoglucanase (Exo I) showed the highest transcellobiosylation activity and acetonitrile tolerance. Exo I retained considerable activity even in 30% MeCN/water and produced p-nitrophenyl-β-d-cellotetraoside at about 1.5% conversion from the initial substrate in 30% MeCN/water. The residual activity of Exo I after incubation in MeCN/water mixture was almost identical to that of the crude cellulase and a considerable amount of the transcellobiosylation properties of the crude cellulase seemed to be attributable to this Exo I component.     

Binding and Movement of Individual Cel7A Cellobiohydrolases on Crystalline Cellulose Surfaces Revealed by Single-molecule Fluorescence Imaging

The efficient catalytic conversion of biomass to bioenergy would meet a large portion of energy requirements in the near future. A crucial step in this process is the enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose that is then converted into fuel such as ethanol by fermentation. Here we use single-molecule fluorescence imaging to directly monitor the movement of individual Cel7A cellobiohydrolases from Trichoderma reesei (TrCel7A) on the surface of insoluble cellulose fibrils to elucidate molecular level details of cellulase activity. The motion of multiple, individual TrCel7A cellobiohydrolases was simultaneously recorded with ∼15-nm spatial resolution. Time-resolved localization microscopy provides insights on the activity of TrCel7A on cellulose and informs on nonproductive binding and diffusion. We measured single-molecule residency time distributions of TrCel7A bound to cellulose both in the presence of and absence of cellobiose the major product and a potent inhibitor of Cel7A activity. Combining these results with a kinetic model of TrCel7A binding provides microscopic insight into interactions between TrCel7A and the cellulose substrate.     

Structural,Biochemical, and Computational Characterization of the Glycoside Hydrolase Family 7 Cellobiohydrolase of the Tree-killing Fungus Heterobasidion irregulare

Root rot fungi of the Heterobasidion annosum complex are the most damaging pathogens in temperate forests, and the recently sequenced Heterobasidion irregulare genome revealed over 280 carbohydrate-active enzymes. Here, H. irregulare was grown on biomass, and the most abundant protein in the culture filtrate was identified as the only family 7 glycoside hydrolase in the genome, which consists of a single catalytic domain, lacking a linker and carbohydrate-binding module. The enzyme, HirCel7A, was characterized biochemically to determine the optimal conditions for activity. HirCel7A was crystallized and the structure, refined at 1.7 Å resolution, confirms that HirCel7A is a cellobiohydrolase rather than an endoglucanase, with a cellulose-binding tunnel that is more closed than Phanerochaete chrysosporium Cel7D and more open than Hypocrea jecorina Cel7A, suggesting intermediate enzyme properties. Molecular simulations were conducted to ascertain differences in enzyme-ligand interactions, ligand solvation, and loop flexibility between the family 7 glycoside hydrolase cellobiohydrolases from H. irregulare, H. jecorina, and P. chrysosporium. The structural comparisons and simulations suggest significant differences in enzyme-ligand interactions at the tunnel entrance in the −7 to −4 binding sites and suggest that a tyrosine residue at the tunnel entrance of HirCel7A may serve as an additional ligand-binding site. Additionally, the loops over the active site in H. jecorina Cel7A are more closed than loops in the other two enzymes, which has implications for the degree of processivity, endo-initiation, and substrate dissociation. Overall, this study highlights molecular level features important to understanding this biologically and industrially important family of glycoside hydrolases.     

Atypical Cohesin-Dockerin Complex Responsible for Cell Surface Attachment of Cellulosomal Components: BINDING FIDELITY,PROMISCUITY, AND STRUCTURAL BUTTRESSES*

The rumen bacterium Ruminococcus flavefaciens produces a highly organized multienzyme cellulosome complex that plays a key role in the degradation of plant cell wall polysaccharides, notably cellulose. The R. flavefaciens cellulosomal system is anchored to the bacterial cell wall through a relatively small ScaE scaffoldin subunit, which bears a single type IIIe cohesin responsible for the attachment of two major dockerin-containing scaffoldin proteins, ScaB and the cellulose-binding protein CttA. Although ScaB recruits the catalytic machinery onto the complex, CttA mediates attachment of the bacterial substrate via its two putative carbohydrate-binding modules. In an effort to understand the structural basis for assembly and cell surface attachment of the cellulosome in R. flavefaciens, we determined the crystal structure of the high affinity complex (K_d = 20.83 nm) between the cohesin module of ScaE (CohE) and its cognate X-dockerin (XDoc) modular dyad from CttA at 1.97-Å resolution. The structure reveals an atypical calcium-binding loop containing a 13-residue insert. The results further pinpoint two charged specificity-related residues on the surface of the cohesin module that are responsible for specific versus promiscuous cross-strain binding of the dockerin module. In addition, a combined functional role for the three enigmatic dockerin inserts was established whereby these extraneous segments serve as structural buttresses that reinforce the stalklike conformation of the X-module, thus segregating its tethered complement of cellulosomal components from the cell surface. The novel structure of the RfCohE-XDoc complex sheds light on divergent dockerin structure and function and provides insight into the specificity features of the type IIIe cohesin-dockerin interaction.     

培养基中添加海藻糖对大球盖菇、斑玉蕈菌丝生长的影响

【背景】大球盖菇和斑玉蕈是食药兼用且具有开发潜力的珍稀食用菌,培养基对菌丝生长及子实体发育具有重要作用,优化培养基显得尤为重要。【目的】筛选出最适合培养大球盖菇、斑玉蕈的新型培养基。【方法】使用添加海藻糖的新型培养基,对不同培养基培养的大球盖菇及斑玉蕈菌株的菌丝生长状况、生长速度和生物量及纤维素酶、漆酶活性进行测定与分析。【结果】相较于PDA培养基,添加海藻糖的培养基能够提高菌丝生长速度、增加生物量,海藻糖添加的比例对纤维素酶和漆酶的影响较大,对大球盖菇及斑玉蕈菌丝的生长产生显著的促进作用,但不会改变其蛋白质的组成。【结论】大球盖菇最适合选用PTA-5培养基,斑玉蕈的最佳培养基是PDTA培养基。     

A simple method for mass isolation of protoplasts from species of Monostroma, Enteromorpha and Ulva (Chlorophyta, Ulvales)

A simple enzyme mixture containing 2% Cellulase Onozuka R–10 and1% Macerozyme R–10 prepared in deionised water supplemented with 3% NaCland 1 mM CaCl₂ was developed for isolating rapidlyprotoplasts from different species of Monostroma,Enteromorpha and Ulva. The yield fordifferent species of Monostroma ranged from 9.6 ×10⁶ to 10.2 × 10⁶ cells g^–1f. wt thallus, and forEnteromorpha from 3.48 × 10⁶ to 11.7× 10⁶ cells g^–1 f. wt and forUlva from 4.58 × 10⁶ to 26.8 ×10⁶ cells g^–1 f. wt. The overallregeneration rate of the protoplasts isolated was usually > 90% and showednormal morphogenesis. The method yields rapid mass production of viableprotoplasts with high regeneration rates.     

一株产纤维素酶细菌的分离鉴定及酶学特性研究

从采集的含腐烂树叶的土壤中,筛选到1株产纤维素酶能力较高的菌株JJ-3,经16S r RNA基因序列分析,鉴定该菌株为产酸克雷伯氏杆菌(Klebsiella oxytoca)。产酶条件及酶学特性研究表明:以滤纸为碳源、蛋白胨为氮源、初始p H为8.0的培养基中发酵3 d更利于纤维素酶的合成;菌株发酵液在中性和碱性条件下均有较高的滤纸酶活力,分别可达118.7 U/m L(p H7.0),167.8 U/m L(p H8.0)和120 U/m L(p H9.0);所产纤维素酶的最适酶反应p H为7.0,最适酶反应温度为40℃,对温度比较敏感,在p H7.0-8.0的范围内具有较好的稳定性,能满足中性和碱性纤维素酶的要求。     

A graphene screen-printed carbon electrode for real-time measurements of unoccupied active sites in a cellulase

Cellulases hydrolyze cellulose to soluble sugars and this process is utilized in sustainable industries based on lignocellulosic feedstock. Better analytical tools will be necessary to understand basic cellulase mechanisms, and hence deliver rational improvements of the industrial process. In this work we describe a new electrochemical approach to the quantification of the populations of enzyme that are respectively free in the aqueous bulk, adsorbed to the insoluble substrate with an unoccupied active site or threaded with the cellulose strand in the active tunnel. Distinction of these three states appears essential to the identification of the rate-limiting step. The method is based on disposable graphene-modified screen-printed carbon electrodes, and we show how the temporal development in the concentrations of the three enzyme forms can be derived from a combination of the electrochemical data and adsorption measurements. The approach was tested for the cellobiohydrolase Cel7A from Hypocrea jecorina acting on microcrystalline cellulose, and it was found that the threaded enzyme form dominates for this system while adsorbed enzyme with an unoccupied active site constitutes less than 5% of the population.