Endoxylanase substrate selectivity determines degradation of wheat water-extractable and water-unextractable arabinoxylan

The relative activity of an endoxylanase towards water-unextractable (WU-AX) and water-extractable arabinoxylan (WE-AX) substrates, referred to as endoxylanase substrate selectivity, impacts the enzyme functionality in cereal-based biotechnological processes such as bread-making and gluten starch separation. A set of six endoxylanases representing a range of substrate selectivities as determined by a screening method using chromophoric substrates [Anal. Biochem.2003, 319, 73-77] was used to examine the impact of such selectivity on changes in structural characteristics of wheat WU-AX and WE-AX upon enzymic hydrolysis. While WE-AX degradation by the selected endoxylanases was very comparable with respect to apparent molecular mass (MM) profiles and arabinose to xylose ratio of the hydrolysates formed, WU-AX solubilisation and subsequent degradation of solubilised fragments gave rise to widely varying MM profiles, depending on the substrate selectivity of the enzymes. Enzymes with high selectivity towards WU-AX de facto generated higher MM fragments from WU-AX than enzymes with low selectivity. The arabinose to xylose ratios of solubilised fragments were independent of the degree of solubilisation.