Common amino acid domain among endopolygalacturonases of ascomycete fungi

The endopolygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.15) enzymes produced in vitro by three ascomycete fungi, Aspergillus niger, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and Colletotrichum lindemuthianum were studied by using thin-layer isoelectric focusing and activity stain overlay techniques. The polygalacturonases from A. niger and S. sclerotiorum consisted of numerous isoforms, whereas the endopolygalacturonase from C. lindemuthianum consisted of a single protein species. The most abundant endopolygalacturonase isoform produced by each of these organisms was purified and characterized. Biochemical parameters, including molecular weight, isoelectric point, kinetic parameters, temperature and pH optima, and thermal stability, were determined. Considerable differences in physical and chemical properties were demonstrated among these fungal polygalacturonases. Antibodies raised against individual proteins exhibited little cross-reaction, suggesting that these enzymes differ structurally as well as biochemically. In contrast, the analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequences of the three proteins showed extensive homology, particularly in a region labeled domain 1 in which 84% of the amino acids were conserved.     

The polygalacturonases of Aspergillus niger are encoded by a family of diverged genes.

Aspergillus niger produces several polygalacturonases that, with other enzymes, are involved in the degradation of pectin. One of the two previously characterized genes coding for the abundant polygalacturonases I and II (PGI and PGII) found in a commercial pectinase preparation was used as a probe to isolate five more genes by screening a genomic DNA library in phage lambda EMBL4 using conditions of moderate stringency. The products of these genes were detected in the culture medium of Aspergillus nidulans transformants on the basis of activity measurements and Western-blot analysis using a polyclonal antibody raised against PGI. These transformants were, with one exception, constructed using phage DNA. A. nidulans transformants secreted high amounts of PGI and PGII in comparison to the previously characterized A. niger transformants and a novel polygalacturonase (PGC) was produced at high levels by A. nidulans transformed with the subcloned pgaC gene. This gene was sequenced and the protein-coding region was found to be interrupted by three introns; the different intron/exon organization of the three sequenced A. niger polygalacturonase genes can be explained by the gain or loss of two single introns. The pgaC gene encodes a putative 383-amino-acid prepro-protein that is cleaved after a pair of basic amino acids and shows approximately 60% amino acid sequence similarity to the other polygalacturonases in the mature protein. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of the A. niger polygalacturonases display characteristic amino acid insertions or deletions that are also observed in polygalacturonases of phytopathogenic fungi. In the upstream regions of the A. niger polygalacturonase genes, a sequence of ten conserved nucleotides comprising a CCAAT sequence was found, which is likely to represent a binding site for a regulatory protein as it shows a high similarity to the yeast CYC1 upstream activation site recognized by the HAP2/3/4 activation complex.     

The active site topology of Aspergillus niger endopolygalacturonase II as studied by site-directed mutagenesis

Strictly conserved charged residues among polygalacturonases (Asp-180, Asp-201, Asp-202, His-223, Arg-256, and Lys-258) were subjected to site-directed mutagenesis in Aspergillus niger endopolygalacturonase II. Specific activity, product progression, and kinetic parameters (K(m) and V(max)) were determined on polygalacturonic acid for the purified mutated enzymes, and bond cleavage frequencies on oligogalacturonates were calculated. Depending on their specific activity, the mutated endopolygalacturonases II were grouped into three classes. The mutant enzymes displayed bond cleavage frequencies on penta- and/or hexagalacturonate different from the wild type endopolygalacturonase II. Based on the biochemical characterization of endopolygalacturonase II mutants together with the three-dimensional structure of the wild type enzyme, we suggest that the mutated residues are involved in either primarily substrate binding (Arg-256 and Lys-258) or maintaining the proper ionization state of a catalytic residue (His-223). The individual roles of Asp-180, Asp-201, and Asp-202 in catalysis are discussed. The active site topology is different from the one commonly found in inverting glycosyl hydrolases.     

Activity stain for rapid characterization of pectic enzymes in isoelectric focusing and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels

A system was developed for the rapid characterization of microbial pectic enzyme complexes and then tested on Erwinia chrysanthemi and Sclerotium rolfsii. Pectic enzymes in minute samples of crude culture filtrates were resolved by ultrathin-layer polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and then assayed with an ultrathin pectate-agarose overlay stained with ruthenium red. The simple procedure can be completed within 30 min after isoelectric focusing, can detect extremely low levels of pectate lyase (6.4 x 10 mumol of product per min), and is sufficiently sensitive to determine the pectate lyase isozyme profile of a single bacterial colony with a diameter of 4 mm. Pectate lyases and polygalacturonases can be distinguished by altering buffer conditions in the overlays. The assay system revealed additional isozymes not resolved by classical techniques and generally corroborated the previously published isoelectric points and molecular weights of the pectate lyase isozymes and exo-poly-alpha-d-galacturonosidase produced by E. chrysanthemi and the endopolygalacturonase and exopolygalacturonase produced by S. rolfsii.     

两种类型聚半乳糖醛酸酶的提纯及性质

黑曲霉(AspergilluS niger)AS 3.3883所产果胶酶经DEAE Sephadex A50及Sephadex G100柱层析分离出电泳纯的两种聚半乳糖醛酸酶(PG1,PG2),并对它们的性质及结构进行了比较研究。结果证明两种酶作用的最适条件、动力学性质、分子量、氨基酸组成及金属离子对酶活力影响等方面有很大差异,但二者的每个摩尔的活力及酶的构象很相似。     

Polygalacturonases Release Cell-Wall-bound Proteins

Purified polygalacturonases from two fungi released proteins from wall fractions prepared from three plant species. Peroxidase activity was associated with the proteins released from the cell walls, and several of the protein fractions released contained hydroxyproline. Cellulase, purified free of pectic enzyme activity, was ineffective in releasing cell wall proteins. Specific inhibition of endopolygalacturonase activity prevented release of the proteins.     

Changing a single amino acid residue switches processive and non-processive behavior of Aspergillus niger endopolygalacturonase I and II.

Processivity, also known as multiple attack on a single chain, is a feature commonly encountered only in enzymes in which the substrate binds in a tunnel. However, of the seven Aspergillus niger endopolygalacturonases, which have an open substrate binding cleft, four enzymes show processive behavior, whereas the other endopolygalacturonases are randomly acting enzymes. In a previous study (Benen, J.A.E., Kester, H.C.M., and Visser, J. (1999) Eur. J. Biochem. 259, 577-585) we proposed that the high affinity for the substrate of subsite -5 of processive endopolygalacturonase I constitutes the origin of the multiple attack behavior. Based on primary sequence alignments of A. niger endopolygalacturonases and three-dimensional structure analysis of endopolygalacturonase II, an arginine residue was identified in the processive enzymes at a position commensurate with subsite -5, whereas a serine residue was present at this position in the non-processive enzymes. In endopolygalacturonase I mutation R95S was introduced, and in endopolygalacturonase II mutation S91R was introduced. Product progression analysis on polymer substrate and bond cleavage frequency studies using oligogalacturonides of defined chain length for the mutant enzymes revealed that processive/non-processive behavior is indeed interchangeable by one single amino acid substitution at subsite -5, Arg-->Ser or Ser-->Arg.     

Psychrophilic, mesophilic, and thermophilic triosephosphate isomerases from three clostridial species.

Triosephosphate isomerase was purified to homogeneity as judged by analytical gel electrophoresis from clostridium sp. strain 69, clostridium pasteurianum, and C. thermosaccharolyticum, which grow optimally at 18, 37, and 55 C, respectively. Comparative studies on these purified proteins showed that they had the same molecular weight (53,000) and subunit molecular weight (26,500). They were equally susceptible to the active site-directed inhibitor, glycidol phosphate. However, their temperature and pH optima, as well as their stabilities to heat, urea, and sodium dodecyl sulfate, differed. The proteins also had different mobilities in acrylamide gel electrophoresis. This difference in ionic character was also reflected in the elution behavior of the enzymes from hydroxyapatite and in the isoelectric points determined by isoelectric focusing in acrylamide gel. The amino acid composition of these proteins showed that the thermophilic enzyme contains a greater amount of proline than the other enzymes. The ratio of acidic amino acids to basic amino acids was 1.79, 1.38, and 1.66 for the thermophilic mesophilic and psychrophilic enzymes, respectively. This is consistent with the relative isoelectric point values of these three enzymes.     

Inhibition of Some Rot Fungi Polygalacturonases by Allium cepa L. and Allium porrum L. Extracts

Extracts of Allium cepa and A. porrum - contain factors that inhibit to various extents polygalacturonases (PGs) produced in vitro by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium moniliforme, Phoma terrestris, Sclerotium cepivorum, Macrophomina phaseolina, Didymella bryoniae and Phoma lycopersici. The PG inhibition rank changed using leek or onion extract. The inhibition factors are possibly proteins, do not present particular specificity and act against PGs of fungi pathogens and non pathogens for these plant species.     

Production and biochemical characterization of polygalacturonases produced byAureobasidium pullulans from forest soil

The production of individual form of extracellular polygalacturonase byAureobasidium pullulans from forest soil was found to depend on the pH of cultivation medium as well as on the nitrogen source in the precultivation or cultivation medium. Polygalacturonases were purified and characterized. The pH optima of polygalacturonases produced in the first phases of cultivation (24 or 48 h) and after 10 days as well as their molecular masses, isoelectric points, action pattern and ability to cleave polymeric and oligomeric substrates were different. Generally, polygalacturonases with random action pattern (EC 3.2.1.15) were produced only in the first phases of cultivation in acidic medium. The function of these enzymes for A.pullulans in the colonization of plant material rather than in the destruction of plant was hypothesized in physiological conditions. Exopolygalacturonases (EC 3.2.1.67) with terminal action pattern were produced in later phases of growth. Oligogalacturonate hydrolase as well as strongly basic polygalacturonase with unusual action pattern on substrates were found.     

Enzymes with new biochemical properties in the pectinolytic complex produced by Aspergillus niger MIUG 16

A comprehensive study on the purification and characterization of pectinolytic enzymes produced by Aspergillus niger MIUG 16 on raw materials solid-state fermentation is reported. Five pectinolytic enzymes were purified using a combination of chromatographic techniques. The properties of these homogenous enzymes were analyzed. The purified enzymes were classified with respect to their biochemical properties and substrate specificity. Among these proteins, one revealed polygalacturonase activity, another appeared to be a pectin methylesterase and three were identified as pectate lyases. The capacity of the fungus A. niger to produce pectate lyases with optimum pH in acidic domain was reported for the first time.     

Heterogeneity of Rice Glutelin

Three forms of endopolygalacturonase from Saccharomyces fragilis (Kluyveromyces fragilis) were separated by a procedure including adsorption on Amberlite IRC-50, CM Sephadex C-50 column chromatography and repeated preparative disc electrophoresis. Each endo-PG was almost homogenoeus as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrofocusing and disc electrophoresis. The three enzyme were designated as enzymes I, II and III. Enzymes I and II were similar but enzyme HI different from I and II in isoelectric point. The three enzymes resembled one another in eznyme action on pectic acid and other properties. All the three enzymes showed macerating activity toward the potato and carrot tissues.     

Kinetic characterization of Aspergillus niger N400 endopolygalacturonases I, II and C.

Endopolygalacturonases I, II and C isolated from recombinant Aspergillus niger strains were characterized with respect to pH optimum, activity on polygalacturonic acid and mode of action and kinetics on oligogalacturonates of different chain length (n = 3-7). Apparent Vmax values using polygalacturonate as a substrate at the pH optimum, pH 4.1, were calculated as 13.8 mukat.mg-1, 36.5 mukat.mg-1 and 415 nkat.mg-1 for endopolygalacturonases I, II and C, respectively. K(m) values were < 0.15 mg.mL-1 for all three enzymes. Product progression analysis using polygalacturonate as a substrate revealed a random cleavage pattern for all three enzymes and suggested processive behavior for endopolygalacturonases I and C. This result was confirmed by analysis of the mode of action using oligogalacturonates. Processivity was observed when the degree of polymerization of the substrate exceeded 5 or 6 for endopolygalacturonase I and endopolygalacturonase C, respectively. The bond-cleavage frequencies obtained for the hydrolysis of the oligogalacturonates were used to assess subsite maps. The maps indicate that the minimum number of subsites is seven for all three enzymes. Using pectins of various degrees of esterification, it was shown that endopolygalacturonase II is the most sensitive to the presence of methyl esters. Like endopolygalacturonase II, endopolygalacturonases I, C and E, which was also included in this part of the study, preferred the non-esterified pectate. Additional differences in substrate specificity were revealed by analysis of the reaction products of hydrolysis of a mixture of pectate lyase-generated delta 4,5-unsaturated oligogalacturonates of degree of polymerization 4-8. Whereas endopolygalacturonase I showed a strong preference for generating the delta 4,5-unsaturated dimer, with endopolygalacturonase II the delta 4,5-unsaturated trimer accumulated, indicating further differences in substrate specificity. For endopolygalacturonases C and E both the delta 4,5-unsaturated dimer and trimer were observed, although in different ratios.     

Two novel, putatively cell wall-associated and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored alpha-glucanotransferase enzymes of Aspergillus niger

In the genome sequence of Aspergillus niger CBS 513.88, three genes were identified with high similarity to fungal alpha-amylases. The protein sequences derived from these genes were different in two ways from all described fungal alpha-amylases: they were predicted to be glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchored, and some highly conserved amino acids of enzymes in the alpha-amylase family were absent. We expressed two of these enzymes in a suitable A. niger strain and characterized the purified proteins. Both enzymes showed transglycosylation activity on donor substrates with alpha-(1,4)-glycosidic bonds and at least five anhydroglucose units. The enzymes, designated AgtA and AgtB, produced new alpha-(1,4)-glycosidic bonds and therefore belong to the group of the 4-alpha-glucanotransferases (EC 2.4.1.25). Their reaction products reached a degree of polymerization of at least 30. Maltose and larger maltooligosaccharides were the most efficient acceptor substrates, although AgtA also used small nigerooligosaccharides containing alpha-(1,3)-glycosidic bonds as acceptor substrate. An agtA knockout of A. niger showed an increased susceptibility towards the cell wall-disrupting compound calcofluor white, indicating a cell wall integrity defect in this strain. Homologues of AgtA and AgtB are present in other fungal species with alpha-glucans in their cell walls, but not in yeast species lacking cell wall alpha-glucan. Possible roles for these enzymes in the synthesis and/or maintenance of the fungal cell wall are discussed.     

Phytoalexin synthesis in soybean cells: elicitor induction of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and chalcone synthase mRNAs and correlation with phytoalexin accumulation

A glucan elicitor from cell walls of the fungus Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. glycinea, a pathogen of soybean (Glycine max), induced large and rapid increases in the activities of enzymes of general phenylpropanoid metabolism, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, and of the flavonoid pathway, acetyl-CoA carboxylase and chalcone synthase, in suspension-cultured soybean cells. The changes in phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and chalcone synthase activities were correlated with corresponding changes in the mRNA activities encoding these enzymes, as determined by enzyme synthesis in vitro in a mRNA-dependent reticulocyte lysate. The time courses of the elicitor-induced changes in mRNA activities for both enzymes were very similar with respect to each other. Following the onset of induction, the two mRNA activities increased significantly at 3 h, reached highest levels at 5 to 7 h, and subsequently returned to low values at 10 h. Similar degrees of induction of mRNA activities and of the catalytic activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and chalcone synthase were observed in response to three diverse microbial compounds, the glucan elicitor from P. megasperma, xanthan, an extracellular polysaccharide from Xanthomonas campestris, and endopolygalacturonase from Aspergillus niger. However, whereas the glucan elicitor induced the accumulation of large amounts of the phytoalexin, glyceollin, in soybean cells, endopolygalacturonase induced only low, albeit significant, amounts; xanthan did not enhance glyceollin accumulation under the conditions of this study. This result might imply that enzymes other than phenylalanine ammonia-lyase or chalcone synthase exert an important regulatory function in phytoalexin synthesis in soybean cells.     

Three aspartic acid residues of polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein (PGIP) from Phaseolus vulgaris are critical for inhibition of Fusarium phyllophilum PG

Polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) are plant cell wall proteins that specifically inhibit the activity of endo polygalacturonases (PGs) produced by fungi during the infection process. The interaction with PGIPs limits the destructive potential of PGs and may trigger plant defence responses through the release of elicitor active oligogalacturonides. In order to pinpoint the residues of PvPGIP2 from Phaseolus vulgaris involved in the interaction with PGs, we used site-directed mutagenesis to mutate the residues D131, D157 and D203, and tested for the inhibitory activity of the mutant proteins expressed in Pichia pastoris against Fusarium phyllophilum and Aspergillus niger PGs. Here, we report that mutation of these residues affects the inhibition capacity of PvPGIP2 against F. phyllophilum PG.     

Characterization of a novel endopolygalacturonase from Aspergillus niger with unique kinetic properties

We isolated and characterized a new type of endopolygalacturonase (PG)-encoding gene, pgaD, from Aspergillus niger. The primary structure of PGD differs from that of other A. niger PGs by a 136 amino acid residues long N-terminal extension. Biochemical analysis demonstrated extreme processive behavior of the enzyme on oligomers longer than five galacturonate units. Furthermore, PGD is the only A. niger PG capable of hydrolyzing di-galacturonate. It is tentatively concluded that the enzyme is composed of four subsites. The physiological role of PGD is discussed.     

Purification, characterization, and cDNA cloning of opine dehydrogenases from the polychaete rockworm Marphysa sanguinea

Alanopine dehydrogenase (AlDH) and three isoforms of strombine/alanopine dehydrogenase (St/AlDH) were purified from muscle tissue of the polychaete rockworm Marphysa sanguinea. The four enzymes, which can be distinguished by the isoelectric point, are monomeric 42 kDa proteins, possess similar pH-activity profiles, and display specificity for pyruvate and NAD(H). The three isoforms of St/AlDH show equivalent Km and Vmax for glycine and L-alanine and for D-strombine and meso-alanopine. Free amino acid levels in the muscle and D-strombine accumulation in vivo during muscle activity suggest that St/AlDHs function physiologically as StDH. AlDH shows specificity for L-alanine and meso-alanopine, but not for glycine or D-strombine. The amino acid sequences of AlDH and one of the St/AlDH isoforms were determined by a combination of amino acid sequence analysis and cDNA cloning. St/AlDH cDNA consisted of 1586 bp nucleotides that encode a 399-residue protein (43,346.70 Da), and AlDH cDNA consisted of 1587 bp nucleotides that encode a 399-residue protein (43,886.68 Da). The two amino acid sequences deduced from the cDNA displayed 67% amino acid identity, with greatest similarity to that of tauropine dehydrogenase from the polychaete Arabella iricolor.     

Structural features of a polygalacturonase gene cloned from Aspergillus oryzae KBN616

Abstract A genomic gene encoding a polygalacturonase from Aspergillus oryzae , used in soy sauce production, was cloned and sequenced. The structural gene comprises 1227 bp coding for 363 amino acids with a putative prepropeptide of 28 amino acids and the open reading frame is disrupted by two short introns of 57 bp and 81 bp. The deduced amino acid sequence of the mature protein showed 63, 63, 63 and 64% homology with those of Aspergillus niger polygalacturonase I, Aspergillus niger polygalacturonase II, Aspergillus tubingensis polygalacturonase II and Cochliobolus carbonum polygalacturonase, respectively. There is, however, little homology among fungal, plant and bacterial polygalacturonases.