Cellulosomes are poly-protein machineries that efficiently degrade cellulosic material. Crucial to their function are scaffolds consisting of highly homologous cohesin domains, which serve a dual role by coordinating a multiplicity of enzymes as well as anchoring the microbe to its substrate. Here we combined two approaches to elucidate the mechanical properties of the main scaffold ScaA of Acetivibrio cellulolyticus. A newly developed parallelized onepot in vitro transcription-translation and protein pulldown protocol enabled high-throughput atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) measurements of all cohesins from ScaA with a single cantilever, thus promising improved relative force comparability. Albeit very similar in sequence, the hanging cohesins showed considerably lower unfolding forces than the bridging cohesins, which are subjected to force when the microbe is anchored to its substrate. Additionally, all-atom steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations on homology models offered insight into the process of cohesin unfolding under force. Based on the differences among the individual force propagation pathways and their associated correlation communities, we designed mutants to tune the mechanical stability of the weakest hanging cohesin. The proposed mutants were tested in a second high-throughput AFM SMFS experiment revealing that in one case a single alanine to glycine point mutation suffices to more than double the mechanical stability. In summary, we have successfully characterized the force induced unfolding behaviour of all cohesins from the scaffoldin ScaA, as well as revealed how small changes in sequence can have large effects on force resilience in cohesin domains. Our strategy provides an efficient way to test and improve the mechanical integrity of protein domains in general.

Understanding the process of biomass degradation by cellulolytic enzymes is of urgent importance for biofuel and chemical production. Optimizing pretreatment conditions and improving enzyme formulations both require assays to quantify saccharification products on solid substrates. Typically, such assays are performed using freely diffusing fluorophores or dyes that measure reducing polysaccharide chain ends. These methods have thus far not allowed spatial localization of hydrolysis activity to specific substrate locations with identifiable morphological features. Here we describe a hydrogel reagent signaling (HyReS) system that amplifies saccharification products and initiates crosslinking of a hydrogel that localizes to locations of cellulose hydrolysis, allowing for imaging of the degradation process in real time. Optical detection of the gel in a rapid parallel format on synthetic and natural pretreated solid substrates was used to quantify activity of T. emersonii and T. reesei enzyme cocktails. When combined with total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and AFM imaging, the reagent system provided a means to visualize enzyme activity in real-time with high spatial resolution (<2 μm). These results demonstrate the versatility of the HyReS system in detecting cellulolytic enzyme activity and suggest new opportunities in real-time chemical imaging of biomass depolymerization.

On the Front Cover, cellulolytic enzymes break down plant fibers into fermentable sugars, providing a route to biofuel production. A hydrogel reagent signaling (HyReS) system is developed that converts oligosaccharides produced during biomass hydrolysis into a fluorescent hydrogel. When combined with total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, this system allows the real‐time detection and localization of enzyme activity. More details can be found in the Full Paper on page 2825 (DOI: ), while more information about the research group is available in the Cover Profile (DOI: ). Image courtesy Christoph Hohmann, Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM).

Invited for this month′s cover is the group of Michael Nash at the University of Munich. The image shows cellulase enzymes digesting cellulose fibers and converting the signal into fluorescent hydrogel, as described in their article. The Full Paper itself is available at