Purification and characterization of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose isomerase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lactobacillus plantarum</Emphasis> producing <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-tagatose

l-arabinose isomerase (EC5.3.1.4. AI) mediates the isomerization of d-galactose into d-tagatose as well as the conversion of l-arabinose into l-ribulose. The AI from Lactobacillus plantarum SK-2 was purified to an apparent homogeneity giving a single band on SDS–PAGE with a molecular mass of 59.6 kDa. Optimum activity was observed at 50°C and pH 7.0. The enzyme was stable at 50°C for 2 h and held between pH 4.5 and 8.5 for 1 h. AI activity was stimulated by Mn²⁺, Fe³⁺, Fe²⁺, Ca²⁺ and inhibited by Cu²⁺, Ag⁺, Hg²⁺, Pb²⁺. d-galactose and l-arabinose as substrates were isomerized with high activity. l-arabitol was the strongest competitive inhibitor of AI. The apparent Michaelis–Menten constant (K _m), for galactose, was 119 mM. The first ten N-terminal amino acids of the enzyme were determined as MLSVPDYEFW, which is identical to L. plantarum (Q88S84). Using the purified AI, 390 mg tagatose could be converted from 1,000 mg galactose in 96 h, and this production corresponds to a 39% equilibrium.     

Cloning and characterization of a novel <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose isomerase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus licheniformis</Emphasis>

Based on analysis of the genome sequence of Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 14580, an isomerase-encoding gene (araA) was proposed as an l-arabinose isomerase (L-AI). The identified araA gene was cloned from B. licheniformis and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. DNA sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame of 1,422 bp, capable of encoding a polypeptide of 474 amino acid residues with a calculated isoelectric point of pH 4.8 and a molecular mass of 53,500 Da. The gene was overexpressed in E. coli, and the protein was purified as an active soluble form using Ni–NTA chromatography. The molecular mass of the purified enzyme was estimated to be ~53 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 113 kDa by gel filtration chromatography, suggesting that the enzyme is a homodimer. The enzyme required a divalent metal ion, either Mn²⁺or Co²⁺, for enzymatic activity. The enzyme had an optimal pH and temperature of 7.5 and 50°C, respectively, with a k _cat of 12,455 min⁻¹ and a k _cat/K _m of 34 min⁻¹ mM⁻¹ for l-arabinose, respectively. Although L-AIs have been characterized from several other sources, B. licheniformis L-AI is distinguished from other L-AIs by its wide pH range, high substrate specificity, and catalytic efficiency for l-arabinose, making B. licheniformis L-AI the ideal choice for industrial applications, including enzymatic synthesis of l-ribulose. This work describes one of the most catalytically efficient L-AIs characterized thus far.     

Biotechnological production of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-ribose from <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose

l-Ribose is a rare and expensive sugar that can be used as a precursor for the production of l-nucleoside analogues, which are used as antiviral drugs. In this work, we describe a novel way of producing l-ribose from the readily available raw material l-arabinose. This was achieved by introducing l-ribose isomerase activity into l-ribulokinase-deficient Escherichia coli UP1110 and Lactobacillus plantarum BPT197 strains. The process for l-ribose production by resting cells was investigated. The initial l-ribose production rates at 39°C and pH 8 were 0.46 ± 0.01 g g⁻¹ h⁻¹ (1.84 ± 0.03 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹) and 0.27 ± 0.01 g g⁻¹ h⁻¹ (1.91 ± 0.1 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹) for E. coli and for L. plantarum, respectively. Conversions were around 20% at their highest in the experiments. Also partially purified protein precipitates having both l-arabinose isomerase and l-ribose isomerase activity were successfully used for converting l-arabinose to l-ribose.     

Heterologous expression and characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus coagulans</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose isomerase

Bacillus coagulans has been of great commercial interest over the past decade owing to its strong ability of producing optical pure l-lactic acid from both hexose and pentose sugars including l-arabinose with high yield, titer and productivity under thermophilic conditions. The l-arabinose isomerase (L-AI) from Bacillus coagulans was heterologously over-expressed in Escherichia coli. The open reading frame of the L-AI has 1,422 nucleotides encoding a protein with 474 amino acid residues. The recombinant L-AI was purified to homogeneity by one-step His-tag affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated to be 56 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The enzyme was most active at 70°C and pH 7.0. The metal ion Mn²⁺ was shown to be the best activator for enzymatic activity and thermostability. The enzyme showed higher activity at acidic pH than at alkaline pH. The kinetic studies showed that the K _m, V _max and k _cat/K _m for the conversion of l-arabinose were 106 mM, 84 U/mg and 34.5 mM⁻¹min⁻¹, respectively. The equilibrium ratio of l-arabinose to l-ribulose was 78:22 under optimal conditions. l-ribulose (97 g/L) was obtained from 500 g/l of l-arabinose catalyzed by the enzyme (8.3 U/mL) under the optimal conditions within 1.5 h, giving at a substrate conversion of 19.4% and a production rate of 65 g L⁻¹ h⁻¹.     

Improved xylanase production by<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Trichoderma reesei</Emphasis> grown on <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose and lactose or <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-glucose mixtures

Trichoderma reesei Rut C-30 was grown on eight different natural or rare aldopentoses as the main carbon source and on mixtures of an aldopentose with d-glucose or lactose. The fungal cells consumed all aldopentoses tested, except l-xylose and l-ribose. The highest total xylanase and cellulase activities were achieved when cells were grown on l-arabinose as the main carbon source. The total xylanase activity produced by cells grown on l-arabinose was even higher than that produced by cells grown on an equal amount of lactose. In co-metabolism of d-glucose (15 g l^–1) and l-arabinose (5 g l^–1), the total volumetric and specific xylanase productivities were improved (derepressed) approximately 23- and 18-fold, respectively, compared to a cultivation on only d-glucose (20 g l^–1). In a similar experiment, in which cells were grown on a mixture of lactose and l-arabinose, the xylanase productivity was approximately doubled, compared to a cultivation on only lactose. The cellulase productivities, however, were not improved by the addition of l-arabinose. Compared with a typical industrial fungal enzyme production process with lactose as the main carbon source, better volumetric and specific xylanase productivities were achieved both on a lactose/arabinose mixture and on a glucose/arabinose mixture.     

Substrate specificity of a recombinant ribose-5-phosphate isomerase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptococcus pneumoniae</Emphasis> and its application in the production of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-lyxose and <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-tagatose

A putative ribose-5-phosphate isomerase (RpiB) from Streptococcus pneumoniae was purified with a specific activity of 26.7 U mg⁻¹ by Hi-Trap Q HP anion exchange and Sephacryl S-300 HR 16/60 gel filtration chromatographies. The native enzyme existed as a 96-kDa tetramer with activity maxima at pH 7.5 and 35°C. The RpiB exhibited isomerization activity with l-lyxose, l-talose, d-gulose, d-ribose, l-mannose, d-allose, l-xylulose, l-tagatose, d-sorbose, d-ribulose, l-fructose, and d-psicose and exhibited particularly high activity with l-form monosaccharides such as l-lyxose, l-xylulose, l-talose, and l-tagatose. With l-xylulose (500 g l⁻¹) and l-talose (500 g l⁻¹) substrates, the optimum concentrations of RpiB were 300 and 600 U ml⁻¹, respectively. The enzyme converted 500 g l⁻¹ l-xylulose to 350 g l⁻¹ l-lyxose after 3 h, and yielded 450 g l⁻¹ l-tagatose from 500 g l⁻¹ l-talose after 5 h. These results suggest that RpiB from S. pneumoniae can be employed as a potential producer of l-form monosaccharides.     

Fungal arabinan and <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose metabolism

l-Arabinose is the second most abundant pentose beside d-xylose and is found in the plant polysaccharides, hemicellulose and pectin. The need to find renewable carbon and energy sources has accelerated research to investigate the potential of l-arabinose for the development and production of biofuels and other bioproducts. Fungi produce a number of extracellular arabinanases, including α-l-arabinofuranosidases and endo-arabinanases, to specifically release l-arabinose from the plant polymers. Following uptake of l-arabinose, its intracellular catabolism follows a four-step alternating reduction and oxidation path, which is concluded by a phosphorylation, resulting in d-xylulose 5-phosphate, an intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway. The genes and encoding enzymes l-arabinose reductase, l-arabinitol dehydrogenase, l-xylulose reductase, xylitol dehydrogenase, and xylulokinase of this pathway were mainly characterized in the two biotechnological important fungi Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma reesei. Analysis of the components of the l-arabinose pathway revealed a number of specific adaptations in the enzymatic and regulatory machinery towards the utilization of l-arabinose. Further genetic and biochemical analysis provided evidence that l-arabinose and the interconnected d-xylose pathway are also involved in the oxidoreductive degradation of the hexose d-galactose.     

Engineering of an <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose metabolic pathway in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Corynebacterium glutamicum</Emphasis>

Corynebacterium glutamicum was metabolically engineered to broaden its substrate utilization range to include the pentose sugar l-arabinose, a product of the degradation of lignocellulosic biomass. The resultant CRA1 recombinant strain expressed the Escherichia coli genes araA, araB, and araD encoding l-arabinose isomerase, l-ribulokinase, and l-ribulose-5-phosphate 4-epimerase, respectively, under the control of a constitutive promoter. Unlike the wild-type strain, CRA1 was able to grow on mineral salts medium containing l-arabinose as the sole carbon and energy source. The three cloned genes were expressed to the same levels whether cells were cultured in the presence of d-glucose or l-arabinose. Under oxygen deprivation and with l-arabinose as the sole carbon and energy source, strain CRA1 carbon flow was redirected to produce up to 40, 37, and 11%, respectively, of the theoretical yields of succinic, lactic, and acetic acids. Using a sugar mixture containing 5% d-glucose and 1% l-arabinose under oxygen deprivation, CRA1 cells metabolized l-arabinose at a constant rate, resulting in combined organic acids yield based on the amount of sugar mixture consumed after d-glucose depletion (83%) that was comparable to that before d-glucose depletion (89%). Strain CRA1 is, therefore, able to utilize l-arabinose as a substrate for organic acid production even in the presence of d-glucose.     

Characterization of ribose-5-phosphate isomerase of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clostridium thermocellum</Emphasis> producing <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-allose from <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-psicose

The rpiB gene, encoding ribose-5-phosphate isomerase (RpiB) from Clostridium thermocellum, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. RpiB converted d-psicose into d-allose but it did not convert d-xylose, l-rhamnose, d-altrose or d-galactose. The production of d-allose by RpiB was maximal at pH 7.5 and 65°C for 30 min. The half-lives of the enzyme at 50°C and 65°C were 96 h and 4.7 h, respectively. Under stable conditions of pH 7.5 and 50°C, 165 g d-allose l⁻¹ was produced without by-products from 500 g d-psicose l⁻¹ after 6 h.     

Substrate specificity of a peptidyl-aminoacyl-<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-isomerase from frog skin

In the skin of fire-bellied toads (Bombina species), an aminoacyl-l/d-isomerase activity is present which catalyses the post-translational isomerization of the l- to the d-form of the second residue of its substrate peptides. Previously, this new type of enzyme was studied in some detail and genes potentially coding for similar polypeptides were found to exist in several vertebrate species including man. Here, we present our studies to the substrate specificity of this isomerase using fluorescence-labeled variants of the natural substrate bombinin H with different amino acids at positions 1, 2 or 3. Surprisingly, this enzyme has a rather low selectivity for residues at position 2 where the change of chirality at the alpha-carbon takes place. In contrast, a hydrophobic amino acid at position 1 and a small one at position 3 of the substrate are essential. Interestingly, some peptides containing a Phe at position 3 also were substrates. Furthermore, we investigated the role of the amino-terminus for substrate recognition. In view of the rather broad specificity of the frog isomerase, we made a databank search for potential substrates of such an enzyme. Indeed, numerous peptides of amphibia and mammals were found which fulfill the requirements determined in this study. Expression of isomerases with similar characteristics in other species can therefore be expected to catalyze the formation of peptides containing d-amino acids.     

Removal of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-alanine from the production of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-2-aminobutyric acid by introduction of alanine racemase and <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-amino acid oxidase

l-2-Aminobutyric acid can be synthesized in a transamination reaction from l-threonine and l-aspartic acid as substrates by the action of threonine deaminase and aromatic aminotransferase, but the by-product l-alanine was produced simultaneously. A small amount of l-alanine increased the complexity of the l-2-aminobutyric acid recovery process because of their extreme similarity in physical and chemical properties. Acetolactate synthase has been introduced to remove the pyruvate intermediate for reducing the l-alanine concentration partially. To eliminate the remnant l-alanine, alanine racemase of Bacillus subtilis in combination with d-amino acid oxidase of Rhodotorula gracilis or Trigonopsis variabilis respectively was introduced into the reaction system for the l-2-aminobutyric acid synthesis. l-Alanine could be completely removed by the action of alanine racemase of B. subtilis and d-amino acid oxidase of R. gracilis; thereby, high-purity l-2-aminobutyric acid was achieved. The results revealed that alanine racemase could discriminate effectively between l-alanine and l-2-aminobutyric acid, and selectively catalyzed l-alanine to d-alanine reversibly. d-Amino acid oxidase then catalyzed d-alanine to pyruvate stereoselectively. Furthermore, this method was also successfully used to remove the by-product l-alanine in the production of other neutral amino acids such as l-tertiary leucine and l-valine, suggesting that multienzymatic whole-cell catalysis can be employed to provide high purity products.     

A novel <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-aspartate dehydrogenase from the mesophilic bacterium <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis> PAO1: molecular characterization and application for <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-aspartate production

l-aspartate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.21; l-AspDH) is a rare member of amino acid dehydrogenase superfamily and so far, two thermophilic enzymes have been reported. In our study, an ORF PA3505 encoding for a putative l-AspDH in the mesophilic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 was identified, cloned, and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The homogeneously purified enzyme (PaeAspDH) was a dimeric protein with a molecular mass of about 28 kDa exhibiting a very high specific activity for l-aspartate (l-Asp) and oxaloacetate (OAA) of 127 and 147 U mg⁻¹, respectively. The enzyme was capable of utilizing both nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) as coenzyme. PaeAspDH showed a T _m value of 48°C for 20 min that was improved to approximately 60°C by the addition of 0.4 M NaCl or 30% glycerol. The apparent K _m values for OAA, NADH, and ammonia were 2.12, 0.045, and 10.1 mM, respectively; comparable results were observed with NADPH. The l-Asp production system B consisting of PaeAspDH, Bacillus subtilis malate dehydrogenase and E. coli fumarase, achieved a high level of l-Asp production (625 mM) from fumarate in fed-batch process with a molar conversion yield of 89.4%. Furthermore, the fermentative production system C released 33 mM of l-Asp after 50 h by using succinate as carbon source. This study represented an extensive characterization of the mesophilic AspDH and its potential applicability for efficient and attractive production of l-Asp. Our novel production systems are also hopeful for developing the new processes for other compounds production.     

Spectroscopic,theoretical and structural characterization of hydrogensquarates of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-threonyl-<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-serine and <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-serine

Summary. Hydrogensquarates of dipeptide l-threonyl-l-serine (H-Thr-Ser-OH) and l-serine (HSq × Ser) have been synthesized, isolated and spectroscopic characterized by solid-state linear-polarized IR-spectroscopy, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR, ESI-MS and HPLC with tandem masspectrometry (MS-MS) methods. The structures of the salts and neutral dipeptide have been predicted theoretically by ab initio calculations. In the case of H-Thr-Ser-OH the theoretical data are supported by IR-LD ones. The hydrogensquarates consist in positive charged dipeptide or amino acid moiety and negative hydrogensquarate anion (HSq) stabilizing by strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds. The data about the l-serine hydrogensquarate are compared with known crystallographic data thus indicating a good correlation between the theoretical predicted structures and experimentally obtained by single crystal X-ray diffraction.     

<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-Psicose production from <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-fructose using an isolated strain, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sinorhizobium</Emphasis> sp.

Sinorhizobium sp., which can convert d-fructose into d-psicose, was isolated from soil. The optimal pH, temperature, and cell concentration for d-psicose production with the isolated strain were 8.5, 40°C, and 60 mg/ml, respectively. The toluene-treated cells showed 2.5- and 4.8-fold increases in the d-psicose concentration and productivity compared with untreated washed cells. Under the optimal conditions, the toluene-treated cells produced 37 g d-psicose/l from 70% (w/v) (3.9 M) d-fructose after 15 h.     

Membrane-bound <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>- and <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-lactate dehydrogenase activities of a newly isolated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas stutzeri</Emphasis> strain

Pseudomonas stutzeri SDM was newly isolated from soil, and two stereospecific NAD-independent lactate dehydrogenase (iLDH) activities were detected in membrane of the cells cultured in a medium containing dl-lactate as the sole carbon source. Neither enzyme activities was constitutive, but both of them might be induced by either enantiomer of lactate. P. stutzeri SDM preferred to utilize lactate to growth, when both l-lactate and glucose were available, and the consumption of glucose was observed only after lactate had been exhausted. The Michaelis–Menten constant for l-lactate was higher than that for d-lactate. The l-iLDH activity was more stable at 55°C, while the d-iLDH activity was lost. Both enzymes exhibited different solubilization with different detergents and different oxidation rates with different electron acceptors. Combining activity staining and previous proteomic analysis, the results suggest that there are two separate enzymes in P. stutzeri SDM, which play an important role in converting lactate to pyruvate. Ma and Gao contributed equally to this work.     

Current studies on biological tagatose production using <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose isomerase: a review and future perspective

d-Tagatose is a hexoketose monosaccharide sweetener, which is an isomer of d-galactose and is rarely found in nature. Recently, there has been industrial interest in d-tagatose as a low-calorie sugar-substituting sweetener. This article describes the properties and metabolism of tagatose as well as its commercial importance. The comparison between the biological tagatose production and the chemical production was reviewed based on the example of the glucose isomerization into fructose. The industrial problems facing its commercial application is described and evolving potential solutions are suggested.     

Characterization of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-tagatose-3-epimerase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhodobacter sphaeroides</Emphasis> that converts <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-fructose into <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d-</Emphasis>psicose

A non-characterized gene, previously proposed as the d-tagatose-3-epimerase gene from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Its molecular mass was estimated to be 64 kDa with two identical subunits. The enzyme specificity was highest with d-fructose and decreased for other substrates in the order: d-tagatose, d-psicose, d-ribulose, d-xylulose and d-sorbose. Its activity was maximal at pH 9 and 40°C while being enhanced by Mn²⁺. At pH 9 and 40°C, 118 g d-psicose l⁻¹ was produced from 700 g d-fructose l⁻¹ after 3 h. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Fermentation of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-glucose and <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-xylose mixtures by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Candida tropicalis</Emphasis> NBRC 0618 for xylitol production

The fermentation of d-glucose and d-xylose mixtures by the yeast Candida tropicalis NBRC 0618 has been studied under the most favourable operation conditions for the culture, determining the most adequate initial proportion in these sugars for xylitol production. In all the experiments a synthetic culture medium was used, with an initial total substrate concentration of 25 g L⁻¹, a constant pH of 5.0 and a temperature of 30 °C. From the experimental results, it was deduced that the highest values of specific rates of production and of overall yield in xylitol were achieved for the mixtures with the highest percentage of d-xylose, specifically in the culture with the initial d-glucose and d-xylose concentrations of 1 and 24 g L⁻¹, respectively, with an overall xylitol yield of 0.28 g g⁻¹. In addition, the specific rates of xylitol production declined over the time course of the culture and the formation of this bioproduct was favoured by the presence of small quantities of d-glucose. The sum of the overall yield values in xylitol and ethanol for all the experiments ranged from 0.26 to 0.56 g bioproduct/g total substrate.     

Enhanced activity and stability of <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-arabinose isomerase by immobilization on aminopropyl glass

Immobilization of Bacillus licheniformis l-arabinose isomerase (BLAI) on aminopropyl glass modified with glutaraldehyde (4 mg protein g support⁻¹) was found to enhance the enzyme activity. The immobilization yield of BLAI was proportional to the quantity of amino groups on the surface of support. Reducing particle size increased the adsorption capacity (q _m) and affinity (k _a). The pH and temperature for immobilization were optimized to be pH 7.1 and 33°C using response surface methodology (RSM). The immobilized enzyme was characterized and compared to the free enzyme. There is no change in optimal pH and temperature before and after immobilization. However, the immobilized BLAI enzyme achieved 145% of the activity of the free enzyme. Correspondingly, the catalytic efficiency (k _cat/K _m) was improved 1.47-fold after immobilization compared to the free enzyme. The thermal stability was improved 138-fold (t _1/2 increased from 2 to 275 h) at 50°C following immobilization.     

Identification and characterization of the bacterial <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">d</Emphasis>-gluconate dehydratase in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Achromobacter xylosoxidans</Emphasis>

Achromobacter xylosoxidans is known to utilize d-glucose via the modified Entner-Doudoroff pathway. Although d-gluconate dehydratase produced from this bacterium was purified and partially characterized previously, a gene that encodes this enzyme has not yet been identified. To obtain protein information on bacterial d-gluconate dehydratase, we partially purified d-gluconate dehydratase in A. xylosoxidans and investigated its biochemical properties. Two degenerate primers were designed based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the partially purified d-gluconate dehydratase. Through PCR performed using degenerate primers, a 1,782-bp DNA sequence encoding the A. xylosoxidans d-gluconate dehydratase (gnaD) was obtained. The deduced amino acid sequence of A. xylosoxidans gnaD showed strong similarity with that of proteins belonging to the dihydroxy-acid dehydratase/phosphogluconate dehydratase family (COG0129). This is in contrast to the archaeal d-gluconate dehydratase, which belongs to the enolase superfamily (COG4948). The phylogenetic tree showed that A. xylosoxidans d-gluconate dehydratase is closer to the 6-phosphogluconate dehydratase than the dihydroxy-acid dehydratase. Interestingly, a clade containing A. xylosoxidans enzyme was clustered with proteins annotated as a second and a third dihydroxy-acid dehydratase in the genomes of Clostridium acetobutylicum (Cac_ilvD2) and Streptomyces ceolicolor (Sco_ilvD2, Sco_ilvD3), indicating that the function of these enzymes is the dehydration of d-gluconate.