Role of scaffolding protein CipC of Clostridium cellulolyticum in cellulose degradation.

The role of a miniscaffolding protein, miniCipC1, forming part of Clostridium cellulolyticum scaffolding protein CipC in insoluble cellulose degradation was investigated. The parameters of the binding of miniCipC1, which contains a family III cellulose-binding domain (CBD), a hydrophilic domain, and a cohesin domain, to four insoluble celluloses were determined. At saturating concentrations, about 8.2 micromol of protein was bound per g of bacterial microcrystalline cellulose, while Avicel, colloidal Avicel, and phosphoric acid-swollen cellulose bound 0.28, 0.38, and 0.55 micromol of miniCipC1 per g, respectively. The dissociation constants measured varied between 1.3 x 10(-7) and 1.5 x 10(-8) M. These results are discussed with regard to the properties of the various substrates. The synergistic action of miniCipC1 and two forms of endoglucanase CelA (with and without the dockerin domain [CelA2 and CelA3, respectively]) in cellulose degradation was also studied. Although only CelA2 interacted with miniCipC1 (K(d), 7 x 10(-9) M), nonhydrolytic miniCipC1 enhanced the activities of endoglucanases CelA2 and CelA3 with all of the insoluble substrates tested. This finding shows that miniCipC1 plays two roles: it increases the enzyme concentration on the cellulose surface and enhances the accessibility of the enzyme to the substrate by modifying the structure of the cellulose, leading to an increased available cellulose surface area. In addition, the data obtained with a hybrid protein, CelA3-CBD(CipC), which was more active towards all of the insoluble substrates tested confirm that the CBD of the scaffolding protein plays an essential role in cellulose degradation.     

Solution structure of the module X2 1 of unknown function of the cellulosomal scaffolding protein CipC of Clostridium cellulolyticum

Multidimensional, homo- and heteronuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy combined with dynamical annealing has been used to determine the structure of a 94 residue module (X2 1) of the scaffolding protein CipC from the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium cellulolyticum. An experimental data set comprising 1647 nuclear Overhauser effect-derived restraints, 105 hydrogen bond restraints and 66 phi torsion angle restraints was used to calculate 20 converging final solutions. The calculated structures have an average rmsd about the mean structure of 0.55(+/-0.11) A for backbone atoms and 1.40(+/-0.11) A for all heavy atoms when fitted over the secondary structural elements. The X2 1 module has an immunoglobulin-like fold with two beta-sheets packed against each other. One sheet contains three strands, the second contains four strands. An additional strand is intercalated between the beta-sandwich, as well as two turns of a 3(.10) helix. X2 1 has a surprising conformational stability and may act as a conformational linker and solubility enhancer within the scaffolding protein. The fold of X2 1 is very similar to that of telokin, titin Ig domain, hemolin D2 domain, twitchin immunoglobulin domain and the first four domains of the IgSF portion of transmembrane cell adhesion molecule. As a consequence, the X2 1 module is the first prokaryotic member assigned to the I set of the immunoglobulin superfamily even though no sequence similarity with any member of this superfamily could be detected.     

Characterization of endoglucanase A from Clostridium cellulolyticum.

A construction was carried out to obtain a high level of expression in Escherichia coli of the gene celCCA, coding for the endoglucanase A from Clostridium cellulolyticum (EGCCA). The enzyme was purified in two forms with different molecular weights, 51,000 and 44,000. The smaller protein was probably the result of proteolysis, although great care was taken to prevent this process from occurring. Evidence was found for the loss of the conserved reiterated domains which are characteristic of C. thermocellum and C. cellulolyticum cellulases. The two forms were extensively studied, and it was demonstrated that although they had the same pH and temperature optima, they differed in their catalytic properties. The truncated protein gave the more efficient catalytic parameters on carboxymethyl cellulose and showed improved endoglucanase characteristics, whereas the intact enzyme showed truer cellulase characteristics. The possible role of clostridial reiterated domains in the hydrolytic activity toward crystalline cellulose is discussed.     

A rhamnogalacturonan lyase in the Clostridium cellulolyticum cellulosome

Clostridium cellulolyticum secretes large multienzymatic complexes with plant cell wall-degrading activities named cellulosomes. Most of the genes encoding cellulosomal components are located in a large gene cluster: cipC-cel48F-cel8C-cel9G-cel9E-orfX-cel9H-cel9J-man5K-cel9M. Downstream of the cel9M gene, a new open reading frame was discovered and named rgl11Y. Amino acid sequence analysis indicates that this gene encodes a multidomain pectinase, Rgl11Y, containing an N-terminal signal sequence, a catalytic domain belonging to family 11 of the polysaccharide lyases, and a C-terminal dockerin domain. The present report describes the biochemical characterization of a recombinant form of Rgl11Y. Rgl11Y cleaves the alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->4)-alpha-D-GalpA glycosidic bond in the backbone of rhamnogalacturonan I (RGI) via a beta-elimination mechanism. Its specific activity on potato pectic galactan and rhamnogalacturonan was found to be 28 and 3.6 IU/mg, respectively, indicating that Rgl11Y requires galactan decoration of the RGI backbone. The optimal pH of Rgl11Y is 8.5 and calcium is required for its activity. Rgl11Y was shown to be incorporated in the C. cellulolyticum cellulosome through a typical cohesin-dockerin interaction. Rgl11Y from C. cellulolyticum is the first cellulosomal rhamnogalacturonase characterized.     

Sequence analysis of scaffolding protein CipC and ORFXp, a new cohesin-containing protein in Clostridium cellulolyticum: comparison of various cohesin domains and subcellular localization of ORFXp

The gene encoding the scaffolding protein of the cellulosome from Clostridium cellulolyticum, whose partial sequence was published earlier (S. Pagès, A. Béla?ch, C. Tardif, C. Reverbel-Leroy, C. Gaudin, and J.-P. Béla?ch, J. Bacteriol. 178:2279-2286, 1996; C. Reverbel-Leroy, A. Béla?ch, A. Bernadac, C. Gaudin, J. P. Béla?ch, and C. Tardif, Microbiology 142:1013-1023, 1996), was completely sequenced. The corresponding protein, CipC, is composed of a cellulose binding domain at the N terminus followed by one hydrophilic domain (HD1), seven highly homologous cohesin domains (cohesin domains 1 to 7), a second hydrophilic domain, and a final cohesin domain (cohesin domain 8) which is only 57 to 60% identical to the seven other cohesin domains. In addition, a second gene located 8.89 kb downstream of cipC was found to encode a three-domain protein, called ORFXp, which includes a cohesin domain. By using antiserum raised against the latter, it was observed that ORFXp is associated with the membrane of C. cellulolyticum and is not detected in the cellulosome fraction. Western blot and BIAcore experiments indicate that cohesin domains 1 and 8 from CipC recognize the same dockerins and have similar affinity for CelA (Ka = 4.8 x 10(9) M-1) whereas the cohesin from ORFXp, although it is also able to bind all cellulosome components containing a dockerin, has a 19-fold lower Ka for CelA (2.6 x 10(8) M-1). Taken together, these data suggest that ORFXp may play a role in cellulosome assembly.     

Heterologous expression and site-directed mutagenesis of endoglucanase CelA from Clostridium thermocellum

The endoglucanase CelA from Clostridium thermocellum was strongly expressed in Bacillus subtilis. The enzyme was purified by Ni²⁺-affinity chromatography. Site-directed substitution of D278 with an asparagine or an alanine residue surprisingly did not decrease the apparent k _cat value. Further substitutions of two other potentially critical residues, Y215 and D152, resulted in a 2-fold decrease in apparent k _cat value for Y215P and complete loss of activity for D152N.     

Introduction of glycine and proline residues onto protein surface increases the thermostability of endoglucanase CelA from Clostridium thermocellum

A saturation mutagenesis library was constructed at the position 329 of the endoglucanase CelA from Clostridium thermocellum based on previous results (Yi and Wu, 2010), and one mutation, S329G, was identified to contribute to the enhanced thermostability. The result inspired a rational design approach focusing on the introduction of Gly or Pro residue onto the protein surface, which led to the identification of two additional beneficial mutations, H194G and S269P. Combination of these three mutations resulted in a mutant with a 10-fold increase in half-life of inactivation (60 min) at 86°C without compromising activity compared with the wild-type. Its reaction temperature for maximum activity increased from 75 to 85°C. The results provide valuable thermostability-related structural information on this thermophilic enzyme.     

Cel9M, a new family 9 cellulase of the Clostridium cellulolyticum cellulosome

A new cellulosomal protein from Clostridium cellulolyticum Cel9M was characterized. The protein contains a catalytic domain belonging to family 9 and a dockerin domain. Cel9M is active on carboxymethyl cellulose, and the hydrolysis of this substrate is accompanied by a decrease in viscosity. Cel9M has a slight, albeit significant, activity on both Avicel and bacterial microcrystalline cellulose, and the main soluble sugar released is cellotetraose. Saccharification of bacterial microcrystalline cellulose by Cel9M in association with two other family 9 enzymes from C. cellulolyticum, namely, Cel9E and Cel9G, was measured, and it was found that Cel9M acts synergistically with Cel9E. Complexation of Cel9M with the mini-CipC1 containing the cellulose binding domain, the X2 domain, and the first cohesin domain of the scaffoldin CipC of the bacterium did not significantly increase the hydrolysis of Avicel and bacterial microcrystalline cellulose.     

Overproduction of a Clostridium cellulolyticum endoglucanase by mutant strains of Escherichia coli

We have studied the expression of an endoglucanase from Clostridium cellulolyticum in mutant strains of Escherichia coli that overproduce haemolysin. When these mutants were transformed with plasmids encoding the endoglucanase, they showed a significantly enhanced endoglucanase activity, compared to transformed parental strains. Among the mutants, strain Hha-2 showed the highest production. We have identified the endoglucanase gene product synthesized in E. coli Hha-2/pBP8 and detected an increased amount of the enzyme parallel to the increase of endoglucanase activity. This was mainly localized in the periplasm and only a small percentage of it was found in the culture fluid.     

CelG from Clostridium cellulolyticum: a multidomain endoglucanase acting efficiently on crystalline cellulose.

The gene coding for CelG, a family 9 cellulase from Clostridium cellulolyticum, was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Four different forms of the protein were genetically engineered, purified, and studied: CelGL (the entire form of CelG), CelGcat1 (the catalytic domain of CelG alone), CelGcat2 (CelGcat1 plus 91 amino acids at the beginning of the cellulose binding domain [CBD]), and GST-CBD(CelG) (the CBD of CelG fused to glutathione S-transferase). The biochemical properties of CelG were compared with those of CelA, an endoglucanase from C. cellulolyticum which was previously studied. CelG, like CelA, was found to have an endo cutting mode of activity on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) but exhibited greater activity on crystalline substrates (bacterial microcrystalline cellulose and Avicel) than CelA. As observed with CelA, the presence of the nonhydrolytic miniscaffolding protein (miniCipC1) enhanced the activity of CelG on phosphoric acid swollen cellulose (PASC), but to a lesser extent. The absence of the CBD led to the complete inactivation of the enzyme. The abilities of CelG and GST-CBD(CelG) to bind various substrates were also studied. Although the entire enzyme is able to bind to crystalline cellulose at a limited number of sites, the chimeric protein GST-CBD(CelG) does not bind to either of the tested substrates (Avicel and PASC). The lack of independence between the two domains and the weak binding to cellulose suggest that this CBD-like domain may play a special role and be either directly or indirectly involved in the catalytic reaction.     

Influence of positioning of carbohydrate binding module on the activity of endoglucanase CelA of Clostridium thermocellum

This study reports characteristics of different derivatives produced between CelA, a major endoglucanase of Clostridium thermocellum and carbohydrate binding domain of family 3a (CBM3a). In addition to the native form of the endoglucanase containing catalytic and dockerin domains (CelA-CD), its derivatives consisting of catalytic domain without dockerin domain (CelA-C), catalytic domain linked with the binding domain at N-, C- and both termini (CelA-BC, CelA-CB and CelA-BCB, respectively), two catalytic domains cloned in tandem (CelA-CC) and two catalytic domains intervened by a binding domain (CelA-CBC) were expressed in Escherichia coli at levels of 40, 43, 28, 30, 20, 20 and 10%, respectively of the total cell proteins. Specific activities of CelA-CD, CelA-C, CelA-BC, CelA-CB, CelA-CC, CelA-BCB and CelA-CBC against carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were 8.1, 7.0, 12.1, 8.5, 11.8, 10.2 and 23.5Umg(-1) enzyme while activities against pre-treated bagasse were 490, 250, 1400, 600, 810, 710 and 2270μmoles reducing sugars released per μmole of the enzyme, respectively, under the assay conditions used. Thus the activities of CelA-BC and CelA-CBC showed nearly 3- and 5-fold increase against pre-treated bagasse as compared to that of the native form of the enzyme, CelA-CD. Molecular modeling studies using MODELLER show that the binding residues of CBM3a and the active site residues of the catalytic domain are more favorably oriented for binding and hydrolysis of the polysaccharide in the case of CelA-BC as compared to those in CelA-CB, which corresponds with higher activity of the former.     

The processive endocellulase CelF, a major component of the Clostridium cellulolyticum cellulosome: purification and characterization of the recombinant form.

The recombinant form of the cellulase CelF of Clostridium cellulolyticum, tagged by a C-terminal histine tail, was overproduced in Escherichia coli. The fusion protein was purified by affinity chromatography on a Ni-nitrilotriacetic acid column. The intact form of CelF (Mr, 79,000) was rapidly degraded at the C terminus, giving a shorter stable form, called truncated CelF (Mr, 71,000). Both the entire and the truncated purified forms degraded amorphous cellulose (kcat = 42 and 30 min(-1), respectively) and microcrystalline cellulose (kcat = 13 and 10 min(-1), respectively). The high ratio of soluble reducing ends to insoluble reducing ends released by truncated CelF from amorphous cellulose showed that CelF is a processive enzyme. Nevertheless, the diversity of the cellodextrins released by truncated CelF from phosphoric acid-swollen cellulose at the beginning of the reaction indicated that the enzyme might randomly hydrolyze beta-1,4 bonds. This hypothesis was supported by viscosimetric measurements and by the finding that CelF and the endoglucanase CelA are able to degrade some of the same cellulose sites. CelF was therefore called a processive endocellulase. The results of immunoblotting analysis showed that CelF was associated with the cellulosome of C. cellulolyticum. It was identified as one of the three major components of cellulosomes. The ability of the entire form of CelF to interact with CipC, the cellulosome integrating protein, or mini-CipC1, a recombinant truncated form of CipC, was monitored by interaction Western blotting (immunoblotting) and by binding assays using a BIAcore biosensor-based analytical system.     

Organization of a Clostridium thermocellum gene cluster encoding the cellulosomal scaffolding protein CipA and a protein possibly involved in attachment of the cellulosome to the cell surface.

The nucleotide sequence was determined for a 9.4-kb region of Clostridium thermocellum DNA extending from the 3' end of the gene (now termed cipA), encoding the S1/SL component of the cellulosome. Three open reading frames (ORFs) belonging to two operons were detected. They encoded polypeptides of 1,664, 688, and 447 residues, termed ORF1p, ORF2p, and ORF3p, respectively. The COOH-terminal regions of the three polypeptides were highly similar and contained three reiterated segments of 60 to 70 residues each. Similar segments have been found at the NH2 terminus of the S-layer proteins of Bacillus brevis and Acetogenium kivui, suggesting that ORF1p, ORF2p, and ORF3p might also be located on the cell surface. Otherwise, the sequence of ORF1p and ORF2p gave little clue concerning their potential function. However, the NH2-terminal region of ORF3p was similar to the reiterated domains previously identified in CipA as receptors involved in binding the duplicated segment of 22 amino acids present in catalytic subunits of the cellulosome. Indeed, it was found previously that ORF3p binds 125I-labeled endoglucanase CelD containing the duplicated segment (T. Fujino, P. Béguin, and J.-P. Aubert, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 94:165-170, 1992). These findings suggest that ORF3p might serve as an anchoring factor for the cellulosome on the cell surface by binding the duplicated segment that is present at the COOH end of CipA.     

Interaction between a type-II dockerin domain and a type-II cohesin domain from Clostridium thermocellum cellulosome

The interaction between the type-II dockerin domain of the scaffoldin protein CipA and the type-II cohesin domain of the outer layer protein SdbA is the fundamental mechanism for anchoring the cellulosome to the cell surface of Clostridium thermocellum. We constructed and purified a dockerin polypeptide and a cohesin polypeptide, and determined affinity constants of the interaction between them by the surface plasmon resonance method. The dissociation constant (K(D)) value was 1.8 x 10(-9) M, which is a little larger than that for the combination of a type-I dockerin and a type-I cohesin.     

Molecular cloning of a new endoglucanase gene from Clostridium cellulolyticum and its expression in Escherichia coli

Summary Two genes coding for endoglucanase activity in Clostridium cellulolyticum were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli by using plasmid pUC18. The sizes of two fragments harbouring endoglucanase genes are 4.4 kb and 2.0 kb, respectively. The 2.0-kb fragment was identical with a reported DNA fragment encoding an endoglucanase of C. cellulolyticum. The 4.4-kb fragment was obtained first in this study. Deletion analysis showed that a 1.3-kb portion of the 4.4-kb fragment is necessary for the endoglucanase expression by its own promoter. The 4.4-kb fragment hybridized with several different fragments of the genomic DNA in C. cellulolyticum.Offprint requests to: T. Kodama     

Purification and properties of two truncated endoglucanases produced in Escherichia coli harbouring Clostridium cellulolyticum endoglucanase gene celCCD

The endoglucanase gene, celCCD, of Clostridium cellulolyticum has been expressed in Escherichia coli. Multiple active polypeptides were detected in the E. coli cells. The relative molecular mass (M_r) of two major active polypeptides were 56 000 (D56) and 38 000 (D38), which were smaller than the deduced M_r of the mature protein (63 401). D56 and D38 were purified from the periplasmic fraction. The N-terminal sequences of the two purified polypeptides were identical to that of the mature endoglucanase (Ala-Ile-Asn-Ser-Gln-Asp-Met-Val---) deduced from the nucleotide sequence. These data indicated that these polypeptides were produced by processing the original mature protein in the C-terminal region. The enzymatic properties of these two polypeptides were very similar, except that the specific activity of D38 was 2–3.5-fold higher than that of D56, and D38 was more heat stable than D56. Correspondence to: T. Kodama     

Organization and distribution of the cellulosome in Clostridium thermocellum.

The properties of the cellulosome (the cellulose-binding, multicellulase-containing protein complex) in Clostridium thermocellum were examined by comparing the cellulase systems derived from the wild type and an adherence-defective mutant. The growth conditions--specifically, growth either on cellulose (Avicel) or on cellobiose as insoluble or soluble carbon sources, respectively--were found to be critical to the distribution of the cellulosome in the mutant system: the cellobiose-grown mutant (in contrast to the wild type) lacked the cellulosome on its surface and produced only minor quantities of the extracellular cellulosome accompanied by other relatively low-molecular-weight cellulases. The polypeptide composition of the respective purified cellulosome was dependent on the nature of the carbon source and was similar for both wild-type and mutant cells. Ultrastructural analysis revealed the presence of novel polycellulosomal protuberances on the cell surface of the cellobiose-grown wild type which were absent in the mutant.     

X-Ray crystal structure of the multidomain endoglucanase Cel9G from Clostridium cellulolyticum complexed with natural and synthetic cello-oligosaccharides

Complete cellulose degradation is the first step in the use of biomass as a source of renewable energy. To this end, the engineering of novel cellulase activity, the activity responsible for the hydrolysis of the beta-1,4-glycosidic bonds in cellulose, is a topic of great interest. The high-resolution X-ray crystal structure of a multidomain endoglucanase from Clostridium cellulolyticum has been determined at a 1.6-A resolution. The endoglucanase, Cel9G, is comprised of a family 9 catalytic domain attached to a family III(c) cellulose-binding domain. The two domains together form a flat platform onto which crystalline cellulose is suggested to bind and be fed into the active-site cleft for endolytic hydrolysis. To further dissect the structural basis of cellulose binding and hydrolysis, the structures of Cel9G in the presence of cellobiose, cellotriose, and a DP-10 thio-oligosaccharide inhibitor were resolved at resolutions of 1.7, 1.8, and 1.9 A, respectively.     

The catalytic domain of endoglucanase A from Clostridium cellulolyticum: effects of arginine 79 and histidine 122 mutations on catalysis.

Sequence analysis of the endoglucanase EGCCA of Clostridium cellulolyticum indicates the existence of two domains: a catalytic domain extending from residue 1 to residue 376 and a reiterated domain running from residue 390 to 450. A small deletion in the C terminal end of the catalytic domain inactivated the protein. From the analysis of the sequences of 26 endoglucanases belonging to family A, we focused on seven amino acids which were totally conserved in all the catalytic domains compared. The roles of two of these, Arg-79 and His-122, were studied and defined on the basis of the mutants obtained by introducing various substitutions. Our findings suggest that Arg-79 is involved in the structural organization of the protein; the His-122 residue seems to be more essential for catalysis. The role of His-123, which is conserved only in subfamily A4, was also investigated.