Abstract
Aspergillus niger possesses a galactofuranosidase activity, however, the corresponding enzyme or gene encoding this enzyme has never been identified. As evidence is mounting that enzymes exist with affinity for both arabinofuranose and galactofuranose, we investigated the possibility that α-l-arabinofuranosidases, encoded by the abfA and abfB genes, are responsible for the galactofuranosidase activity of A. niger. Characterization of the recombinant AbfA and AbfB proteins revealed that both enzymes do not only hydrolyze p-nitrophenyl-α-l-arabinofuranoside (pNp-α-Araf) but are also capable of hydrolyzing p-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactofuranoside (pNp-β-Galf). Molecular modeling of the AbfB protein with pNp-β-Galf confirmed the possibility for AbfB to interact with this substrate, similarly as with pNp-α-Araf. We also show that galactomannan, a cell wall compound of A. niger, containing β-linked terminal and internal galactofuranosyl moieties, can be degraded by an enzyme activity that is present in the supernatant of inulin-grown A. niger. Interestingly, purified AbfA and AbfB did not show this hydrolyzing activity toward A. nigergalactomannan. In summary, our studies demonstrate that AbfA and AbfB, α-l-arabinofuranosidases from different families, both contain a galactofuranose (Galf)-hydrolyzing activity. In addition, our data support the presence of a Galf-hydrolase activity expressed by A. niger that is capable of degrading fungal galactomannan.
摘要:黑曲霉具有一种
半乳糖醛酸酶活性,然而,尚未鉴定出相应的酶或编码该酶的
基因。随着越来越多的证据表明存在对
阿拉伯糖醛和半
乳糖醛具有亲和力的酶,我们调查了α-
l-
阿拉伯糖苷酶,由
abfA和
abfB基因编码,是否负责黑曲霉的半
乳糖醛酶活性。对
重组AbfA和AbfB蛋白的表征显示,这两种酶不仅
水解
p-
硝基苯基-α-
l-
阿拉伯糖苷(pNp-α-Ara
f),还能
水解
p-
硝基苯基-β-
d-半
乳糖苷(pNp-β-Gal
f)。用pNp-β-Gal
f对AbfB蛋白进行的分子建模证实了AbfB与该底物相互作用的可能性,类似于与pNp-α-Ara
f的相互作用。我们还展示,包含β-连接的末端和内部半
乳糖基的黑曲霉细胞壁化合物——半
乳糖甘露聚糖,可以被存在于
菊糖培养的黑曲霉
培养基上清液中的一种酶活性降解。有趣的是,纯化的AbfA和AbfB对黑曲霉半
乳糖甘露聚糖没有显示出这种
水解活性。总之,我们的研究表明,来自不同家族的α-
l-
阿拉伯糖苷酶AbfA和AbfB都含有半
乳糖醛(Galf)
水解活性。此外,我们的数据支持黑曲霉表达的一种能够降解真菌半
乳糖甘露聚糖的Gal
f-
水解酶活性的存在。