Structure and transcription analysis of the gene encoding a cellobiase from Agrobacterium sp. strain ATCC 21400

The DNA sequence was determined for the cloned Agrobacterium sp. strain ATCC 21400 beta-glucosidase gene, abg. High-resolution nuclease S1 protection studies were used to map the abg mRNA 5' and 3' termini. A putative abg promoter was identified whose sequence shows similarities to the consensus promoter of Escherichia coli and with the nif promoter regions of Klebsiella. The abg coding sequence was 1,374 nucleotides long. The molecular weight of the enzyme, based on the predicted amino acid sequence, was 51,000. The observed Mr was 50,000 to 52,000. A region of deduced protein sequence was homologous to a region from two other beta-glucosidase sequences. This region of homology contained a putative active site by analogy with the active site of hen egg white lysozyme.