As part of the effort to find better cellulases for bioethanol production processes, we were looking for novel GH-7 family cellobiohydrolases, which would be particularly active on insoluble polymeric substrates and participate in the rate-limiting step in the hydrolysis of cellulose. The enzymatic properties were studied and are reported here for family 7 cellobiohydrolases from the thermophilic fungi Acremonium thermophilum, Thermoascus aurantiacus, and Chaetomium thermophilum. The Trichoderma reesei Cel7A enzyme was used as a reference in the experiments. As the native T. aurantiacus Cel7A has no carbohydrate-binding module (CBM), recombinant proteins having the CBM from either the C. thermophilum Cel7A or the T. reesei Cel7A were also constructed. All these novel acidic cellobiohydrolases were more thermostable (by 4-108C) and more active (two-to fourfold) in hydrolysis of microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel) at 458C than T. reesei Cel7A. The C. thermophilum Cel7A showed the highest specific activity and temperature optimum when measured on soluble substrates. The most effective enzyme for Avicel hydrolysis at 708C, however, was the 2-module version of the T. aurantiacus Cel7A, which was also relatively weakly inhibited by cellobiose. These results are discussed from the structural point of view based on the three-dimensional homology models of these enzymes.

A 1,4-beta-D-glucan cellobiohydrolase (EC 3.2.1.91) was purified from the culture liquid of Trichoderma reesei by using biospecific sorption on amorphous cellulose and immunoaffinity chromatography. A single protein band in polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and one arc in immunoelectrophoresis corresponded to the enzyme activity. The Mr was 65 000. The pI was 4.2-3.6. The purified enzyme contained about 10% hexose. The enzyme differs from previously described cellobiohydrolases in being more effective in the hydrolysis of cellulose.

The properties and enzymic activity of endoglucanases (EC 3.2.1.4) of the fungus Trichoderma reesei were studied by means of immunological methods and by using polyglycosidic substrates. Endoglucanases exist in the culture liquid as a series of immunologically related components. The most active endoglucanase component has an Mr of 43 000 and pI value of 4.0. The most abundant components have a value of pI about 5.0, an Mr of 56 000-67 000 and specific activity only one-fifth of that of the pI-4.0 component. During purification and storage the endoglucanases are spontaneously modified; the relative proportion of components having greater Mr values, more alkaline pI values and lower specific activities is increased. The hexose content of the endoglucanase components is 2-7%. Endoglucanases hydrolyse soluble beta-1,4 glycans. The enzymes described here differ from endoglucanase preparations described previously in not showing activity towards insoluble substrates. The role of endoglucanases in wood hydrolysis is consequently limited to the stage where wood constituents are already in soluble form.

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