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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2004, p . 4318-4325, Vol . 70, No . 7
Restoration of a Defective Lactococcus lactis Xylose Isomerase
Joo-Heon Park and Carl A . Batt*
Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
Received 11 November 2003/
Accepted 8 March 2004
The genes (xylA) encoding xylose isomerase (XI) from two Lactococcus lactis subsp . lactis strains, 210 (Xyl) and IO-1 (Xyl+), were cloned, and the activities of their expressed proteins in recombinant strains of Escherichia coli were investigated . The nucleotide and amino acid sequence homologies between the xylA genes were 98.4 and 98.6%, respectively, and only six amino acid residues differed between the two XIs . The purified IO-1 XI was soluble with Km and kcat being 2.25 mM and 184/s, respectively, while the 210 XI was insoluble and inactive . Site-directed mutagenesis on 210 xylA showed that a triple mutant possessing R202M/Y218D/V275A mutations regained XI activity and was soluble . The Km and kcat of this mutant were 4.15 mM and 141/s, respectively . One of the IO-1 XI mutants, S388T, was insoluble and showed negligible activity similar to that of 210 XI . The introduction of a K407E mutation to the IO-1 S388T XI mutant restored its activity and solubility . The dissolution of XI activity in L . lactis subsp . lactis involves a series of mutations that collectively eliminate enzyme activity by reducing the solubility of the enzyme .
D-Xylose, upon transport in prokaryotes, is isomerized to D-xylulose and then converted to xylulose-5-phosphate, which is further metabolized via the phosphoenolpyruvate pathway or the pentose phosphate pathway (16, 26) . The specifics of the transport mechanism and metabolism of D-xylose to xylulose-5-phosphate depend on the genus and species (8, 11, 23) . Isomerization and phosphorylation are catalyzed by D-xylose isomerase (XI; encoded by xylA) and D-xylulose kinase (encoded by xylB), respectively . In most cases, these genes are clustered into an operon (xyl operon) (14, 22, 24, 33, 39) .
The XIs can be classified into two groups, based on their size, amino acid sequence similarity, and divalent cation preference . Group I includes XIs from genera such as Streptomyces (15, 35, 38, 39), Actinoplanes (21, 29, 36), Thermus (9), and Arthrobacter (27, 37) . The average length of their polypeptide chains is 380 to 390 amino acids, and they have about 60% amino acid sequence identity, with the active-site residues being highly conserved . The enzymes from Klebsiella (14), Escherichia (22, 34), Lactobacillus (3, 4, 24, 40), Lactococcus (13), Clostridium (25), Bacillus (28), Staphylococcus (33), and Thermoanaerobacter (23) are classified in group II . They are 440 to 460 amino acids long and show more than 50% amino acid sequence identity among the group members . Although they share only 20 to 30% amino acid sequence identity with group I XIs, the active-site residues in group I and group II enzymes are highly conserved (Table 1) . The structures of monomeric, homodimeric, and homotetrameric XIs from a number of microbial sources including Streptomyces (5-7), Actinoplanes (1, 21, 29, 36), Arthrobacter (37), Bacillus (28), and Thermus (9) were solved by X-ray crystallography . A structural feature of monomeric XIs is that they consist of an ( /ß)8 barrel having an active site and a C-terminal loop region . There are two ways of forming homodimers (15, 17, 27) . One is the barrel-to-barrel facing way, in which the C-terminal loop of one subunit extends to the barrel domain of the other subunit, forming an active dimer . The active site of XI is completed when a conserved amino acid residue, Phe, is provided from the other subunit (37) . A dimer can also be formed when two subunits are parallel to and leaning against each other, forming an inactive dimer . In the inactive dimer conformation, the active sites of two subunits face in the opposite direction, with the result that they cannot share the Phe residue, while their C-terminal loops are forming the active dimers in the manner described above . The quaternary structure of a tetrameric enzyme is a dimer of an active dimer and an inactive dimer, and it can be dissociated into the dimers by mild treatment with a denaturant such as urea .
| TABLE 1 . Active-site and subunit-interacting residues in groups I and II and their corresponding residues in IO-1 and 210 XIs
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In the lactic acid bacteria, the ability to metabolize xylose is a function of their original habitats . Most of the xylose-metabolizing lactic acid bacterial genera such as Leuconostoc and Lactobacillus were isolated from fruits, vegetables, and fermented vegetables, in which D-xylose is the primary constituent of xylan and, therefore, is the primary carbon source for the microorganisms . On the other hand, only a few strains of Lactococcus lactis subsp . lactis, which has been used for dairy fermentation, have been reported as xylose-utilizing bacteria (18) . Some L . lactis subsp . lactis and Lactococcus lactis subsp . cremoris strains show only a trace of XI (13) . In previous studies, genotypic and phenotypic investigations into D-xylose metabolism were conducted with several L . lactis strains . L . lactis subsp . lactis strains CM56, MS39, 210, FB61, and 61 possessed a xylA gene but could not utilize D-xylose as a sole carbon source . Also L . lactis subsp . cremoris strains 160, BO32, and MS44 had a xylA gene of a larger than usual size due to an insertion, and they were all Xyl . Two strains, L . lactis subsp . lactis 210 and L . lactis subsp . lactis IO-1, were selected for further study .
L . lactis subsp . lactis 210, which is a commercial starter culture, does not utilize D-xylose but does produce an inactive XI, while L . lactis subsp . lactis IO-1, isolated from a kitchen sink, can grow on D-xylose as a sole carbon source . It produces an active XI whose expression is regulated by D-xylose (19) . In this study, the amino acid sequence differences between the XIs from strains IO-1 (XylA+) and 210 (XylA) were examined, and mutants of these enzymes were constructed to characterize the effects of the different residues on enzymatic activity and solubility .
Bacterial strains and plasmids.
L . lactis subsp . lactis IO-1 was obtained from P . Stanbury (University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom), while L . lactis subsp . lactis 210 was obtained from Marshall Products (Madison, Wis.) . Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)pLysS [F] ompT hsdSB(rBmB) gal dcm (DE3) pLysS was used for the overproduction of wild-type and mutant XIs with the use of pET-19b (Novagen, Madison, Wis.) .
Media and culture conditions.
E . coli was grown in Luria broth (Sigma, St . Louis, Mo.) plus chloramphenicol or ampicillin at 37°C with shaking . For induction, E . coli transformants were grown to an optical density at 600 nm of 0.5 to 0.6, and then isopropyl-ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) was added to the culture to a final concentration of 100 µM . The culture was incubated for another 3 h, and then cells were harvested . Lactococci were grown at 30°C without agitation . M17 medium (Difco, Detroit, Mich.) supplemented with 0.5% glucose was used to culture lactococcal strains . A mixture of 0.4% D-xylose and 0.1% D-glucose was used for induction of XI overexpression in lactococcal strains .
Reagents and chemicals.
All restriction enzymes were purchased from New England Biolabs (Beverly, Mass.) . T4 DNA ligase was from Gibco BRL Life Technologies (Grand Island, N.Y.), and AmpliTaq was from Perkin-Elmer (Foster City, Calif.) . Chemicals were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co .
PCR.
The primers used in this study are listed in Table 2 . The primers (NFX and BRX) used to amplify the wild-type and mutated xylA genes were designed on the basis of the nucleotide sequence of xylA from Lactobacillus brevis (3) . They included BamHI (BRX) or NcoI (NFX) restriction sites that are compatible with the multiple cloning site of pET-19b . The primers were synthesized at the Cornell University BioResource Center (Ithaca, N.Y.) . The 100-µl PCR mixture contained 1x PCR buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl [pH 8.8], 50 mM KCl, 1% Triton X-100), 4 µl of IO-1 or 210 crude cell lysate, 50 pmol of each primer, 5 nmol of deoxynucleoside triphosphate, 75 nmol of MgCl2, and 4 U of AmpliTaq DNA polymerase . The PCR mixture was cycled in a Perkin-Elmer GeneAmp PCR System 2400 thermocycler with a program of one cycle of 4 min at 94°C; 30 cycles of 1 min at 94°C, 1 min at 55°C, and 1.5 min at 72°C; and a final cycle of 10 min at 72°C .
| TABLE 2 . PCR and mutational primers used in this study
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Cloning of wild-type and mutated xylA genes.
The 100-µl PCR products were purified using a Qiagen purification kit (Qiagen Inc., Chatsworth, Calif.) and resuspended in 50 µl of sterile water . About 20 µg of the purified PCR products was digested by the restriction enzymes BamHI and NcoI, in a final volume of 50 µl along with 800 ng of pET-19b at 37°C . The reaction mixture was purified, lyophilized, and resuspended in 11 µl of sterile water . Ligation mixture contained the digested 100 ng of PCR product and 10 ng of pET-19b, 1 U of T4 DNA ligase (Gibco, Gaithersburg, Md.), and 3 µl of 5x ligase buffer (250 mM Tris-HCl [pH 7.6], 50 mM MgCl2, 5 mM dithiothreitol, 25% [wt/vol] polyethylene glycol 8000) and was incubated at 16°C for 20 h . The ligation mixture was transformed into competent E . coli BL21(DE3)pLysS, which was prepared by the calcium chloride method (30) .
All the clones were sequenced at the Cornell University BioResource Center using an ABI 377 automated DNA sequencer . Lasergene software (DNAStar, Inc., Madison, Wis.) was used to analyze the sequences .
Site-directed mutagenesis.
A two-step PCR method using megaprimers was used to conduct site-directed mutagenesis (31) . Briefly, oligonucleotides containing the mutated sequence(s) were synthesized and used in the first-round PCR with the primer BRX . The first-round PCR product, a partial xylA fragment containing the mutated sequence(s), was purified and used as a megaprimer in the second-round PCR with the forward primer NFX, generating a complete xylA gene containing the desired mutation . The conditions for the second PCR were modified by extending the annealing time from 1 to 4 min and by lowering the primer concentration from 50 to 10 pmol .
Enzyme purification.
The purification of the recombinant XIs overproduced in the E . coli strain was conducted according to the protocol of Yamanaka and Takahara (40) with modifications . The induced cells were harvested, washed, resuspended in a 50 mM triethanolamine (TEA) buffer (pH 7), and lysed by sonication (Heat Systems-Ultrasonics Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y.) . The lysed cells were centrifuged at 14,300 x g for 20 min . MnCl2 was added to the supernatant to a final concentration of 70 mM, and the supernatant was held at 55°C for 10 min . The precipitate was removed by centrifugation at 12,000 x g for 20 min . The enzyme was precipitated with 60% saturation of ammonium sulfate . The precipitate was resuspended in 50 mM TEA buffer (pH 7) and dialyzed overnight against the same buffer containing 1 mM MnCl2 . The dialyzed solution was applied to a Q Sepharose (Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden) fast flow ionic column . The fractions eluted between 0.2 M and 0.3 M NaCl were pooled and then applied to a Sephadex G-200 (1.5- by 90-cm) column (Pharmacia) . The active fractions eluted with 50 mM TEA were pooled and applied to the ionic column and gel filtration again for higher purification . The active fractions after the second round of the ionic column and gel filtration were pooled, dialyzed, and concentrated using an Ultrafree-4 centrifugal filter and tube (Millipore Corporation, Bedford, Mass.) .
Protein analysis.
A 1-ml aliquot of E . coli recombinant cells was centrifuged at 14,000 x g for 5 min and resuspended in 100 µl of a 50 mM TEA buffer (pH 7) containing 10 µl of lysozyme (50 mg/ml) . The suspension was incubated at 37°C for 1 h and centrifuged, and then the supernatant was saved for sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) . The total protein concentration of the supernatant was measured using a Bio-Rad kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Richmond, Calif.) . About 5 µg of total protein was used for the SDS-PAGE and separated by electrophoresis (100 V for 90 min) on a 12% polyacrylamide gel .
For Western blotting, lactococcal strains IO-1 and 210 were harvested, washed, lysed, and used for SDS-PAGE . After separation, the proteins were transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane in a transfer buffer containing 20% (vol/vol) methanol, 3.03 g of Tris/liter, and 14.4 g of glycine/liter at 0.04 A overnight . The immunoblotting was performed in four steps with a washing step between each one . The membrane was washed in TBST (Tris-buffered saline [TBS] buffer plus 1% Tween 20) three times with agitation for 5 min each time and washed once in TBS (pH 7.5) (29.22 g of NaCl and 2.41 g of Tris per liter) for 5 min . Then, the membrane was blocked with 0.4% bovine serum albumin in TBS buffer at room temperature for an hour and washed . The blocked membrane was treated with 1:500-diluted primary antibody (rabbit anti-E . coli XI polyclonal antibody) in TBS for an hour at room temperature, washed, and incubated with 1:1,000-diluted goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (alkaline phosphatase conjugate) in TBS buffer containing 0.4% bovine serum albumin . The membrane was washed and incubated in 10 ml of Sigma Fast 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolylphosphate-nitroblue tetrazolium solution (0.15 mg of 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolylphosphate/ml, 0.3 mg of nitroblue tetrazolium/ml, 100 mM Tris buffer [pH 9.5], 5 mM MgCl2) for 5 min, and the reaction was stopped by rinsing the membrane with water .
Enzyme assays.
XI activity was qualitatively measured using the cysteine-carbazole assay (12) . Whole-cell lysate was used, and the amount of xylulose produced was calculated with a standard curve which was made using different concentrations of xylulose . The Km and kcat values were determined by a coupled enzymatic assay with D-sorbitol dehydrogenase (Boehringer Mannheim, Indianapolis, Ind.) (20) . The reaction mixture contained 0.2 to 0.3 U of XI (1 U was defined as the amount of enzyme that converts 1 µM D-xylose to D-xylulose/min), 1 U of D-sorbitol dehydrogenase (1 U was defined as the amount of enzyme that oxidizes 1 µM NADH/min), 2 to 30 mM D-xylose, and 0.15 mM NADH (Boeringer Mannheim) . The oxidation rate of NADH was measured at 340 nm with a DU Series 600 spectrophotometer (Beckman Instruments, Fullerton, Calif.) . Kinetic parameters, Km (millimolar) and kcat (per second), were calculated from a 1/v versus 1/S plot .
Cloning and sequencing of IO-1 and 210 xylA genes.
The xylA genes of IO-1 and 210 were amplified by PCR, cloned into pET-19b, and sequenced . The recombinant pET-19b plasmids harboring each xylA gene were designated as pET-IO-xylA and pET-210-xylA, respectively . Both xylA genes showed an open reading frame of 1,320 bp encoding a protein of 439 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 49.7 kDa . They shared 98.4 and 98.6% identity in their nucleotide sequence and amino acid sequence, respectively . Alignment of the two XIs showed that a total of six amino acid residues were different at positions 202, 218, 247, 275, 388, and 407 (Table 3) . The amino acid residues R202, Y218, and V275 of 210 XI are not conserved or predominant in group II XIs, while T388 and E407 are in nonconserved regions .
| TABLE 3 . Amino acid sequences and relative activities of the wild-type and mutant XIs of IO-1 and 210
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Wild-type XIs of 210 and IO-1.
Cell crude extracts of lactococcal strains IO-1 and 210 induced by D-xylose were prepared, and the cell debris and supernatant were separated by centrifugation and then analyzed by SDS-PAGE . Western blotting showed that the XI enzymes were expressed in both strains (Fig . 1) . Western blotting, however, showed two differences between IO-1 and 210 . First, the total amount of 210 XI in the extract was less than that of IO-1 . Second, immunoreactive material was found in the cell debris but not in the supernatant from L . lactis subsp . lactis 210, suggesting that the enzyme is insoluble (Fig . 1, lanes 1 and 2) . Their activities were measured using the cysteine carbazole method . 210 XI displayed no activity compared to that of the blank, while IO-1 XI was active .
| FIG . 1 . Western blotting of lactococcal strains IO-1 and 210 . Lane 1, cell debris-free 210 cell lysate; lane 2, 210 cell debris; lane 3, cell debris-free IO-1 cell lysate; lane 4, IO-1 cell debris; lane 5, whole-cell lysate of recombinant E . coli harboring pET-210-xylA; lane 6, molecular mass (kilodalton) markers . The molecular mass of the immunoreactive XI is approximately 49 kDa.
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The IO-1 XI was purified, and the kinetics of the purified enzyme were measured . The native 210 XI could not be purified, because the protein always precipitated with the cell debris . The optimal temperature for IO-1 XI activity was around 65°C, and activity decreased dramatically above 74°C (Fig . 2) . The Km and kcat of purified IO-1 XI were 2.25 mM and 184/s, respectively (Table 4) .
| FIG . 2 . Optimum temperature of IO-1 wild-type XI . The specific activity was measured by the cysteine carbazole method with the whole-cell lysate . One unit was defined as micromolar D-xylulose production in 1 min.
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| TABLE 4 . Kinetic values of IO-1 wild-type XI, IO-1 S388T/K407E XI, and 210 R202M/Y218D/V275A XI on D-xylose
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The wild-type XIs that were cloned into pET-19b, designated pET-IO-xylA and pET-210-xylA, were expressed in E . coli . 210 XI expressed in E . coli precipitated with cell debris and was inactive, similar to the enzyme found in the native host strain, while IO-1 XI was soluble and active (Table 3; Fig . 3C, lane 3) . 210 XI was never found in a soluble form despite modification of induction conditions such as reducing the agitation speed, shortening the induction time, lowering the temperature, and decreasing the IPTG concentration .
| FIG . 3 . SDS-PAGE of wild type and mutants of D-xylose isomerases expressed in E . coli . Only cell debris-free cell lysates were used for SDS-PAGE . Lanes 1 to 3 of each panel are purified IO-1 XI, the cell debris-free cell lysate of E . coli harboring intact plasmid pET-19b, and wild-type XI, respectively . (A) 210 recombinant XIs . Lane 4, R202M XI; lane 5, Y218D XI; lane 6, V275A XI; lane 7, T388S XI; lane 8, E407K XI . (B) 210 recombinant XIs . Lane 4, R202M/Y218D XI; lane 5, R202M/V275A XI; lane 6, Y218D/V275A XI; lane 7, R202M/Y218D/V275A XI . (C) IO-1 recombinant XIs . Lane 4, S247A XI; lane 5, S388T XI; lane 6, K407E XI; lane 7, S247A/S388T XI; lane 8, S388T/K407E XI; lane 9, S247A/K407E XI.
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XI mutants of 210 and IO-1.
Among the six amino acids that differ between the 210 and IO-1 XIs, five residues (R202, Y218, V275, T388, and E407) of 210 XI were individually changed to the corresponding residue from IO-1 XI by site-directed mutagenesis, and the effects on activity and solubility of 210 XI were examined . Ala247 of 210 XI was not changed because Ala is the conserved residue in group II XIs . None of the mutants gained any detectable activity except the 210 XI V275A mutant . This mutant showed about 24% relative activity compared to the wild-type IO-1 XI activity (Table 3) . Three different 210 XI double mutants, R202M/Y218D, R202M/V275A, and Y218D/V275A, were constructed . The R202M/V275A and Y218D/V275A mutants showed levels of activities similar to that of the V275A single mutant, 26 and 24%, respectively . The R202M/Y218D mutant did not gain any activity (Table 3) . A triple 210 XI mutant, R202M/Y218D/V275A, was constructed . It showed about 60% relative activity and was soluble (Table 3; Fig . 3B, lane 7) . The Km of the mutant was 3.46 mM, and its kcat was 142/s (Table 4) .
Several IO-1 XI single mutants including S247A, S388T, and K407E were constructed . The S388T mutation in IO-1 XI resulted in a complete loss of its activity (Table 3), and the mutant protein was insoluble (Fig . 3C, lane 5) . To confirm the absence of any unintended secondary mutations, the S388T mutation was mutated back to T388S, which resulted in restoration of full activity to IO-1 XI . Residues 247 and 407 are the only differences between the S388T IO-1 mutant and the 210 XI R202M/Y218D/V275A mutant (Table 3) . These differences therefore define the activity and solubility of the 210 XI R202M/Y218D/V275A mutant and IO-1 XI S388T mutant . While the former is an active, soluble protein, the latter is inactive and insoluble . To examine the effect of the two residues, a second mutation (either S247A or K407E) was added to the IO-1 XI S388T mutant . Two double mutants of IO-1 XI, S247A/S388T and S388T/K407E, showed 27 and 50% relative activity, respectively (Table 3) . Also, the IO-1 XI S388T/K407E mutant clearly produced a soluble protein (Fig . 3C, lane 8) . The Km and kcat of the IO-1 XI S388T/K407E mutant were 4.4 mM and 124/s, respectively (Table 4) . On the other hand, the single and double mutations S247A and K407E had no significant effect on the activity and solubility of IO-1 XI (Table 3; Fig . 3C, lane 9) .
According to Kahl (19) and Erlandson (13), L . lactis strains IO-1 and 210 have xylA, which is induced by D-xylose . The 210 XI was inactive, however, and could be responsible for the Xyl phenotype of the strain . In this study, it was confirmed that D-xylose induced the expression of the inactive 210 XI and also that the expression level of 210 XI in its natural host was lower than that of IO-1 in its respective lactococcal host strain (Fig . 1) . The lower-level expression of 210 XI could be the result of the reduced D-xylose transport in L . lactis 210, which was not induced by D-xylose but remained at a basal level . In contrast D-xylose transport in IO-1 was fully induced by D-xylose (19) .
The 210 XI always precipitated with cell debris when it was expressed in the native lactococcal strain or in E . coli (Fig . 3A, lane 3) . All of the inactive 210 mutant XIs and the inactive IO-1 XI S388T mutant expressed in E . coli also precipitated with cell debris (Fig . 3) . Expression in E . coli under alternative induction conditions (lower IPTG or lower temperature) did not yield soluble protein (data not shown) . It is therefore difficult to separate the lack of activity of this protein from its insolubility .
The crystallographic structures of a few group II XIs have been submitted to the Protein Data Base (PDB) (PDB accession numbers 1A0C, 1A0D, and 1A0E) . The active-site residues and residues mediating subunit interactions in the group I XIs are conserved in the group II XIs (2, 14, 25, 32) . The active-site residues of the Streptomyces rubiginosus XI (38) are conserved through the 20 group I and II XIs including the 210 and IO-1 XIs (Table 1) . In addition, the residues (D24, R140, L200, A201, and A224) having a role in the subunit interactions are also conserved or similar, except that the 210 XI has V275 instead of A224 (Table 1) . The three-dimensional structure of a monomeric 210 XI was predicted by SwissProt homology modeling (http://www.expasy.org/spdbv/text/modeling) with the XIs of Thermoanaerobacter and Thermotoga as templates (Fig . 4) . Superimposition of the
-backbones of the predicted 210 XI and those of Thermoanaerobacter and Thermotoga XIs showed no significant deviation between them (data not shown) . Also the six amino acids that are different between 210 and IO-1 do not appear to be directly involved in substrate or metal binding . However, these residues could affect the subunit binding . The alignment suggests that the structure of 210 and IO-1 XI is similar to those of other group I and II XIs and that the influence of the six amino acid differences on activity is not a result of a catalytic defect but more likely a significant structural perturbation .
| FIG . 4 . Predicted model of monomeric 210 XI . The model was produced by SwissProt homology modeling (http://www.expasy.org/spdbv/text/modeling.htm) . The side chains of conserved active-site residues and subunit-interacting residues (Table 2) are shown in pink and green, respectively . The side chains of six amino acid residues different between IO-1 XI and 210 XI are shown in yellow with labeling . Panels A and B are the same molecule shown from different angles.
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Residue A275 of IO-1 XI is highly conserved in group I and II XIs, and the corresponding residue in group I XIs (for example, A224 of the Streptomyces) is located in a turn structure and is involved in subunit interaction that leads to an active tetramer (5) . The 210 XI has, however, Val instead of Ala at the corresponding residue, and Val is least likely to promote a turn in the protein structure (10) . The V275 might destabilize the turn structure or the subunit interactions or both, inhibiting the formation of an active tetramer (Table 3) .
Neither the single nor the double mutation of residues 202 and 218 of 210 XI gave rise to an active, soluble enzyme . When the two mutations were combined with the V275A mutation, however, there was a significant increase in the activity and solubility of 210 XI (Table 3; Fig . 3B, lane 7) . The prevalent amino acid at position 202 in the group II XIs is Met, while an Arg is found in 210 XI . The predominant amino acid at position 218 is Asp or Asn in the group I and II XIs, while the 210 XI has Tyr . The R group of Tyr is bulky and hydrophobic compared to Asp or Asn and cannot participate in electrostatic interactions . Although these two residues do not directly contribute to the activity and solubility of the group I and II XIs, all three residues (202, 218, and 275) appear to be important for enzymatic activity and solubility and changes to them rendered the 210 XI soluble and active .
Amino acid residues 247 and 407 distinguish the 210 XI R202M/Y218D/V275A mutant from the IO-1 XI S388T mutant . When A247 and E407 are present in the 210 XI R202M/Y218D/V275A mutant, the enzyme is soluble and active, while S247 and K407 resulted in an inactive and insoluble protein in the IO-1 XI S388T mutant (Fig . 3B, lane 7, and 3C, lane 5) . The S247A/K407E mutation suppressed the defective S388T mutation in IO-1, restoring the activity and solubility . To determine which of these two residues is responsible for the suppression, the S247A and K407E mutations were added to the IO-1 S388T mutant, separately . The IO-1 XI S388T/K407E mutant showed significantly increased activity and solubility, while the IO-1 XI S247A/S388T mutant showed only slightly increased activity (Table 3; Fig . 3C, lanes 7 and 8) . Therefore, the K407E mutation suppressed the S388T mutation on the IO-1 XI . Amino acid residues 388 and 407 are located in the C-terminal loop that plays an important role in the homologous oligomerization of the subunits, leading to an active tetramer (29) . This suggests that the S388T mutation on the IO-1 XI probably causes some critical structural defect which results in an insoluble and inactive protein . K407E did not affect the activity or the solubility of wild-type IO-1 XI (Table 3; Fig . 3C, lane 6) . Probably the K407E mutation compensates for the predicted volumetric distortion in the structure as a result of the S388T mutation .
In conclusion, the 210 XI seems to have lost its activity and solubility due in part to the cumulative effect of the three mutations R202/Y218/V275 . The S388 residue of the IO-1 XI appears to play a critical role in maintaining enzymatic activity and solubility . There may exist an interaction between the 388 and 407 residues, and the K407E mutation suppresses the S388T mutation .
This work was supported by the Northeast Dairy Center, whose support is derived from Dairy Management Inc .
* Corresponding author . Mailing address: Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 . Phone: (607) 254-5376 . Fax: (607) 255-8741 . E-mail: cab10{at}cornell.edu .
Present address: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 .
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