Evidence for a general role for high-affinity non-catalytic cellulose binding domains in microbial plant cell wall hydrolases.

Cellulases expressed by Cellulomonas fimi consist of a catalytic domain and a discrete non-catalytic cellulose-binding domain (CBD). To establish whether CBDs are common features of plant cell-wall hydrolases from C. fimi, the molecular architecture of xylanase D (XYLD) from this bacterium was investigated. The gene encoding XYLD, designated xynD, consisted of an open reading frame of 1936 bp encoding a protein of M(r) 68,000. The deduced primary sequence of XYLD was confirmed by the size (64 kDa) and N-terminal sequence of the purified recombinant xylanase. Biochemical analysis of the purified enzyme revealed that XYLD is an endoacting xylanase which displays no detectable activity against polysaccharides other than xylan. The predicted primary structure of XYLD comprised an N-terminal signal peptide followed by a 190-residue domain that exhibited significant homology to Family-G xylanases. Truncated derivatives of xynD, encoding the N-terminal 193 amino acids of mature XYLD directed the synthesis of a functional xylanase, confirming that the 190-residue N-terminal sequence constitutes the catalytic domain. The remainder of the enzyme consisted of two approximately 90-residue domains, which exhibited extensive homology with each other, and limited sequence identity with CBDs from other polysaccharide hydrolases. Between the two putative CBDs is a 197-amino-acid sequence that exhibits substantial homology with Rhizobium NodB proteins. The four discrete domains in XYLD were separated by either threonine/proline-or novel glycine-rich linker regions. Although full-length XYLD adsorbed to cellulose, truncated derivatives of the enzyme lacking the C-terminal CBD hydrolysed xylan but did not bind to cellulose.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)