Factors affecting autolysis of a subtilisin-like serine proteinase secreted by Ophiostoma piceae and identification of the cleavage site.

The extracellular serine proteinase secreted by Ophiostoma piceae was degraded by autoproteolysis under certain conditions. At elevated temperatures the mature protein of 33 kDa was rapidly degraded without any accumulation of protein breakdown products. Glycerol, calcium ions and ammonium sulfate raised the heat stability of the enzyme, increasing its half-life at 45 degrees C from 1.9 min to 9.4 min, 40.4 min and 2 h, respectively. Thermal unfolding of the proteinase also occurred at higher temperatures in the presence of calcium ions and ammonium sulfate. Under conditions of heating, altered pH or partial depletion of protein-bound ions by EDTA, the structure of the proteinase was more susceptible to proteolysis. The major hydrolytic fragments of 19 kDa and 14 kDa, had N-terminal sequences of Ala1-Tyr2-Thr3-Thr4-Gln5-Thr6-Gly7-Ala8-Pro9-and Ser170-Glu171-Pro172-Se173-Val174-X-Thr 176-Val177-Gly178-Ala179-, respectively. Since the former sequence was identical to the N-terminus of the native protein, the major autoproteolytic cleavage site for a class II subtilase appeared to be the N-side of Ser170 using numbering based on the sequence of proteinase K. The secondary structure of the proteinase from O. piceae was similar to that of proteinase K based on circular dichroic spectra in the far ultraviolet region. This cleavage site was in a similar region to that identified for class I subtilases, which was located in an outer exposed loop of the tertiary structure of subtilisin-like serine proteinases.