I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography
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Badri S.
Rajagopal
,
Nick
Yates
,
Jake
Smith
,
Alessandro
Paradisi
,
Catherine
Tétard-Jones
,
William G. T.
Willats
,
Susan
Marcus
,
J. Paul
Knox
,
Mohd
Firdaus-Raih
,
Bernard
Henrissat
,
Gideon J.
Davies
,
Paul H.
Walton
,
Alison
Parkin
,
Glyn R.
Hemsworth
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[15378]
Open Access
Abstract: The discovery of lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), a family of copper-dependent enzymes that play a major role in polysaccharide degradation, has revealed the importance of oxidoreductases in the biological utilization of biomass. In fungi, a range of redox proteins have been implicated as working in harness with LPMOs to bring about polysaccharide oxidation. In bacteria, less is known about the interplay between redox proteins and LPMOs, or how the interaction between the two contributes to polysaccharide degradation. We therefore set out to characterize two previously unstudied proteins from the shipworm symbiont Teredinibacter turnerae that were initially identified by the presence of carbohydrate binding domains appended to uncharacterized domains with probable redox functions. Here, X-ray crystal structures of several domains from these proteins are presented together with initial efforts to characterize their functions. The analysis suggests that the target proteins are unlikely to function as LPMO electron donors, raising new questions as to the potential redox functions that these large extracellular multi-haem-containing c-type cytochromes may perform in these bacteria.
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Mar 2024
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I20-Scanning-X-ray spectroscopy (XAS/XES)
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Jingming
Zhao
,
Ying
Zhuo
,
Daniel E.
Diaz
,
Muralidharan
Shanmugam
,
Abbey J.
Telfer
,
Peter J.
Lindley
,
Daniel
Kracher
,
Takahiro
Hayashi
,
Lisa S.
Seibt
,
Florence J.
Hardy
,
Oliver
Manners
,
Tobias M.
Hedison
,
Katherine A.
Hollywood
,
Reynard
Spiess
,
Kathleen M.
Cain
,
Sofia
Diaz-Moreno
,
Nigel S.
Scrutton
,
Morten
Tovborg
,
Paul H.
Walton
,
Derren J.
Heyes
,
Anthony P.
Green
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[28477]
Open Access
Abstract: Oxygenase and peroxygenase enzymes generate intermediates at their active sites which bring about the controlled functionalization of inert C–H bonds in substrates, such as in the enzymatic conversion of methane to methanol. To be viable catalysts, however, these enzymes must also prevent oxidative damage to essential active site residues, which can occur during both coupled and uncoupled turnover. Herein, we use a combination of stopped-flow spectroscopy, targeted mutagenesis, TD-DFT calculations, high-energy resolution fluorescence detection X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to study two transient intermediates that together form a protective pathway built into the active sites of copper-dependent lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs). First, a transient high-valent species is generated at the copper histidine brace active site following treatment of the LPMO with either hydrogen peroxide or peroxyacids in the absence of substrate. This intermediate, which we propose to be a CuII–(histidyl radical), then reacts with a nearby tyrosine residue in an intersystem-crossing reaction to give a ferromagnetically coupled (S = 1) CuII–tyrosyl radical pair, thereby restoring the histidine brace active site to its resting state and allowing it to re-enter the catalytic cycle through reduction. This process gives the enzyme the capacity to minimize damage to the active site histidine residues “on the fly” to increase the total turnover number prior to enzyme deactivation, highlighting how oxidative enzymes are evolved to protect themselves from deleterious side reactions during uncoupled turnover.
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Sep 2023
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I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Federico
Sabbadin
,
Saioa
Urresti
,
Bernard
Henrissat
,
Anna O.
Avrova
,
Lydia R. J.
Welsh
,
Peter J.
Lindley
,
Michael
Csukai
,
Julie N.
Squires
,
Paul H.
Walton
,
Gideon J.
Davies
,
Neil C.
Bruce
,
Stephen C.
Whisson
,
Simon J.
Mcqueen-Mason
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9948]
Abstract: The oomycete Phytophthora infestans is a damaging crop pathogen and a model organism to study plant-pathogen interactions. We report the discovery of a family of copper-dependent lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) in plant pathogenic oomycetes and its role in plant infection by P. infestans. We show that LPMO-encoding genes are up-regulated early during infection and that the secreted enzymes oxidatively cleave the backbone of pectin, a charged polysaccharide in the plant cell wall. The crystal structure of the most abundant of these LPMOs sheds light on its ability to recognize and degrade pectin, and silencing the encoding gene in P. infestans inhibits infection of potato, indicating a role in host penetration. The identification of LPMOs as virulence factors in pathogenic oomycetes opens up opportunities in crop protection and food security.
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Aug 2021
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I04-1-Macromolecular Crystallography (fixed wavelength)
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13587, 18598]
Abstract: Alternatives to petroleum-based chemicals are highly sought-after for on-going efforts to reduce the damaging effects of human activity on the environment. Copper radical oxidases from Auxiliary Activity Family 5/Subfamily 2 (AA5_2) are attractive biocatalysts because they oxidize primary alcohols in a chemo-selective manner without complex organic cofactors. However, despite numerous studies on canonical galactose oxidases (GalOx, EC 1.1.3.9) and engineered variants, and the recent discovery of a Colletotrichum graminicola copper radical alcohol oxidase (AlcOx, EC 1.1.3.13), the catalytic potentials of very few AA5_2 members have been characterized. Guided by sequence similarity network and phylogenetic analyses, in this study we targeted a distinct paralog from the fungus C. graminicola as a representative member of a large uncharacterized subgroup of AA5_2. Through recombinant production and detailed kinetic analysis, we demonstrated that this enzyme is weakly active towards carbohydrates, but efficiently catalyzes the oxidation of aryl alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes. As such, this represents the initial characterization of a demonstrable aryl alcohol oxidase (AAO, EC 1.1.3.7) in AA5, an activity which is classically associated with flavin-dependent glucose-methanol-choline (GMC) oxidoreductases of Auxiliary Activity Family 3 (AA3). X-ray crystallography revealed a distinct multidomain architecture comprising an N-terminal PAN domain abutting a canonical AA5 seven-bladed propeller catalytic domain. Of direct relevance to biomass processing, the wild-type enzyme exhibits the highest activity on the primary alcohol of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a product of significant interest in the lignocellulosic bio-refinery concept. Thus, the chemoselective oxidation of HMF to 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF) by C. graminicola aryl alcohol oxidase (CgrAAO) from AA5 provides a fundamental building block for chemistry via biotechnology.
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Feb 2020
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B18-Core EXAFS
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[17052]
Open Access
Abstract: Hydrogen peroxide is a co-substrate for the oxidative cleavage of saccharidic substrates by copper-containing lytic poly-saccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs). The rate of reaction of LPMOs with hydrogen peroxide is high but it is accompa-nied by rapid inactivation of the enzymes, presumably through protein oxidation. Herein, we use UV/vis, CD, XAS, EPR, VT/VH-MCD and resonance Raman spectroscopies, augmented with mass spectrometry and DFT calculations, to show that the product of reaction of an AA9 LPMO with H2O2 at higher pHs is a singlet Cu(II)-tyrosyl radical species, which is inactive for the oxidation of saccharidic substrates. The Cu(II)-tyrosyl radical center entails the formation of significant Cu(II)-(●OTyr) overlap, which in turn requires that the plane of the d(x2-y2) SOMO of the Cu(II) is orientated towards the tyrosyl radical. We propose from the Marcus cross-relation that the active site tyrosine is part of a ‘hole-hopping’ charge-transfer mechanism formed of a pathway of conserved tyrosine and tryptophan residues, which can protect the protein active site from inactivation during uncoupled turnover.
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Nov 2019
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I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13587]
Open Access
Abstract: Background: The quest for novel enzymes for cellulosic biomass-degradation has recently been focussed on lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs/PMOs), Cu-containing proteins that catalyse the oxidative degradation of otherwise recalcitrant polysaccharides using O2 or H2O2 as a co-substrate.
Results: Although classical saprotrophic fungi and bacteria have been a rich source of lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), we were interested to see if LPMOs from less evident bio-environments could be discovered and assessed for their cellulolytic activity in a biofuel context. In this regard, the marine shipworm Lyrodus pedicellatus represents an interesting source of new enzymes, since it must digest wood particles ingested during its natural tunnel boring behaviour and plays host to a symbiotic bacterium, Teredinibacter turnerae, the genome of which has revealed a multitude of enzymes dedicated to biomass deconstruction. Here, we show that T. turnerae encodes a cellulose-active AA10 LPMO. The 3D structure, at 1.4 Å resolution, along with its EPR spectrum is distinct from other AA10 polysaccharide monooxygenases insofar as it displays a “histidine-brace” catalytic apparatus with changes to the surrounding coordination sphere of the copper. Furthermore, TtAA10A possesses a second, surface accessible, Cu site 14 Å from the classical catalytic centre. Activity measurements show that the LPMO oxidises cellulose and thereby significantly augments the rate of degradation of cellulosic biomass by classical glycoside hydrolases.
Conclusion: Shipworms are wood-boring marine molluscs that can live on a diet of lignocellulose. Bacterial symbionts of shipworms provide many of the enzymes needed for wood digestion. The shipworm symbiont T. turnerae produces one of the few LPMOs yet described from the marine environment, notably adding to the capability of shipworms to digest recalcitrant polysaccharides.
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Sep 2019
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9948, 13587]
Open Access
Abstract: The biological conversion of lignocellulosic matter into high-value chemicals or biofuels is of increasing industrial importance as the sector slowly transitions away from nonrenewable sources. Many industrial processes involve the use of cellulolytic enzyme cocktails – a selection of glycoside hydrolases and, increasingly, polysaccharide oxygenases – to break down recalcitrant plant polysaccharides. ORFs from the genome of Teredinibacter turnerae, a symbiont hosted within the gills of marine shipworms, were identified in order to search for enzymes with desirable traits. Here, a putative T. turnerae glycoside hydrolase from family 8, hereafter referred to as TtGH8, is analysed. The enzyme is shown to be active against β-1,4-xylan and mixed-linkage (β-1,3,β-1,4) marine xylan. Kinetic parameters, obtained using high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection and 3,5-dinitrosalicyclic acid reducing-sugar assays, show that TtGH8 catalyses the hydrolysis of β-1,4-xylohexaose with a kcat/Km of 7.5 × 107 M−1 min−1 but displays maximal activity against mixed-linkage polymeric xylans, hinting at a primary role in the degradation of marine polysaccharides. The three-dimensional structure of TtGH8 was solved in uncomplexed and xylobiose-, xylotriose- and xylohexaose-bound forms at approximately 1.5 Å resolution; the latter was consistent with the greater kcat/Km for hexasaccharide substrates. A 2,5B boat conformation observed in the −1 position of bound xylotriose is consistent with the proposed conformational itinerary for this class of enzyme. This work shows TtGH8 to be effective at the degradation of xylan-based substrates, notably marine xylan, further exemplifying the potential of T. turnerae for effective and diverse biomass degradation.
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Oct 2018
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I02-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[13587]
Open Access
Abstract: The recent discovery of `lytic' polysaccharide monooxygenases, copper-dependent enzymes for biomass degradation, has provided new impetus for the analysis of unusual metal-ion sites in carbohydrate-active enzymes. In this context, the CAZY family GH124 endoglucanase from Ruminiclostridium thermocellum contains an unusual metal-ion site, which was originally modelled as a Ca2+ site but features aspartic acid, asparagine and two histidine imidazoles as coordinating residues, which are more consistent with a transition-metal binding environment. It was sought to analyse whether the GH124 metal-ion site might accommodate other metals. It is demonstrated through thermal unfolding experiments that this metal-ion site can accommodate a range of transition metals (Fe2+, Cu2+, Mn2+ and Ni2+), whilst the three-dimensional structure and mass spectrometry show that one of the histidines is partially covalently modified and is present as a 2-oxohistidine residue; a feature that is rarely observed but that is believed to be involved in an `off-switch' to transition-metal binding. Atomic resolution (<1.1 Å) complexes define the metal-ion site and also reveal the binding of an unusual fructosylated oligosaccharide, which was presumably present as a contaminant in the cellohexaose used for crystallization. Although it has not been possible to detect a biological role for the unusual metal-ion site, this work highlights the need to study some of the many metal-ion sites in carbohydrate-active enzymes that have long been overlooked or previously mis-assigned.
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Aug 2018
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I04-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[9948]
Abstract: The enzymatic deconstruction of recalcitrant polysaccharide biomass is central to the conversion of these substrates for societal benefit, such as in biofuels. Traditional models for enzyme-catalysed polysaccharide degradation involved the synergistic action of endo-, exo- and processive glycoside hydrolases working in concert to hydrolyse the substrate. More recently this model has been succeeded by one featuring a newly discovered class of mononuclear copper enzymes: lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs; classified as Auxiliary Activity (AA) enzymes in the CAZy classification). In 2013, the structure of an LPMO from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, BaAA10, was solved with the Cu centre photoreduced to Cu(I) in the X-ray beam. Here we present the catalytic activity of BaAA10. We show that it is a chitin-active LPMO, active on both α and β chitin, with the Cu(II) binding with low nM KD, and the substrate greatly increasing the thermal stability of the enzyme. A spiral data collection strategy has been used to facilitate access to the previously unobservable Cu(II) state of the active centre, revealing a coordination geometry around the copper which is distorted from axial symmetry, consistent with the previous findings from EPR spectroscopy.
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Sep 2016
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I03-Macromolecular Crystallography
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Diamond Proposal Number(s):
[7461]
Abstract: Copper-dependent lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are enzymes that oxidatively deconstruct polysaccharides. The active site copper in LPMOs is coordinated by a histidine-brace. This utilizes the amino group and side chain of the N-terminal His residue with the side chain of a second His residue to create a T-shaped arrangement of nitrogen ligands. We report a structural, kinetic, and thermodynamic appraisal of copper binding to the histidine-brace in an auxiliary activity family 10 (AA10) LPMO from Streptomyces lividans (SliLPMO10E). Unexpectedly, we discovered the existence of two apo-SliLPMO10E species in solution that can each bind copper at a single site with distinct kinetic and thermodynamic (exothermic and endothermic) properties. The experimental EPR spectrum of copper-bound SliLPMO10E requires the simulation of two different line shapes, implying two different copper-bound species, indicative of three and two nitrogen ligands coordinating the copper. Amino group coordination was probed through the creation of an N-terminal extension variant (SliLPMO10E-Ext). The kinetics and thermodynamics of copper binding to SliLPMO10E-Ext are in accord with copper binding to one of the apo-forms in the wild-type protein, suggesting that amino group coordination is absent in the two-nitrogen coordinate form of SliLPMO10E. Copper binding to SliLPMO10B was also investigated, and again it revealed the presence of two apo-forms with kinetics and stoichiometry of copper binding identical to that of SliLPMO10E. Our findings highlight that heterogeneity exists in the active site copper coordination sphere of LPMOs that may have implications for the mechanism of loading copper in the cell.
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Jun 2016
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