Rhodobacter capsulatus XdhC is involved in molybdenum cofactor binding and insertion into xanthine dehydrogenase
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
Authors: Neumann, Meina; Schulte, Marc; Juenemann, Nora; Stoecklein, Walter; Leimkuehler, Silke
Abstract
Rhodobacter capsulatus xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) is a cytoplasmic enzyme with an (alpha beta) 2 heterodimeric structure that is highly identical to homodimeric eukaryotic xanthine oxidoreductases. The crystal structure revealed that the molybdenum cofactor (Moco) is deeply buried within the protein. A protein involved in Moco insertion and XDH maturation has been identified, which was designated XdhC. XdhC was shown to be essential for the production of active XDH but is not a subunit of the purified enzyme. Here we describe the purification of XdhC and the detailed characterization of its role for XDH maturation. We could show that XdhC binds Moco in stoichiometric amounts, which subsequently can be inserted into Moco-free apo-XDH. A specific interaction between XdhC and XdhB was identified. We show that XdhC is required for the stabilization of the sulfurated form of Moco present in enzymes of the xanthine oxidase family. Our findings imply that enzyme-specific proteins exist for the biogenesis of molybdoenzymes, coordinating Moco binding and insertion into their respective target proteins. So far, the requirement of such proteins for molybdoenzyme maturation has been described only for prokaryotes.
Rapid ethanol production at elevated temperatures by engineered thermotolerant Kluyveromyces marxianus via the NADP(H)-preferring xylose reductase-xylitol dehydrogenase pathway
METABOLIC ENGINEERING
Authors: Zhang, Jia; Zhang, Biao; Wang, Dongmei; Gao, Xiaolian; Sun, Lianhong; Hong, Jiong
Abstract
Conversion of xylose to ethanol by yeasts is a challenge because of the redox imbalances under oxygen limited conditions. The thermotolerant yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus grows well with xylose as a carbon source at elevated temperatures, but its xylose fermentation ability is weak. In this study, a combination of the NADPH-preferring xylose reductase (XR) from Neurospora crassa and the NADP(+)- preferring xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) mutant from Scheffersomyces stipitis (Pichin stipitis) was constructed. The xylose fermentation ability and redox balance of the recombinant strains were improved significantly by over expression of several downstream genes. The intracellular concentrations of coenzymes and the reduced coenzyme/oxidized coenzyme ratio increased significantly in these metabolic strains. The byproducts, such as glycerol and acetic acid, were significantly reduced by the disruption of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD1). The resulting engineered K. murxianus YZJ088 strain produced 44.95 g/L ethanol from 118.39 g/L xylose with a productivity of 2.49 g/L/h at 42 degrees C. Additionally, YZJ088 realized glucose and xylose co-fermentation and produced 51.43 g/L ethanol from a mixture of 103.97 g/L xylose and 40.96 g/L glucose with a productivity of 2.14 g/L/h at 42 degrees C. These promising results validate the YZJO88 strain as an excellent producer of ethanol from xylose through the synthetic xylose assimilation pathway. (C) 2015 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.