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Xylans are major hemicellulose components of plant cell wall which can be hydrolyzed by xylanolytic enzymes. Three forms of endo-β-1,4-xylanases (XynSW1, XynSW2A, and XynSW2B) produced by thermotolerant Streptomyces sp. SWU10 have been reported. In the present study, we described the expression and characterization of the fourth xylanase enzyme from this bacteria, termed XynSW3. The gene containing 726 bp was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzyme (rXynSW3) was purified from cell-free extract to homogeneity using Ni-affinity column chromatography. The apparent molecular mass of rXynSW3 was 48 kDa. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that it belonged to a xylanase of glycoside hydrolase family 11. The optimum pH and temperature for enzyme activity were 5.5-6.5 and 50 °C, respectively. The enzyme was stable up to 40 °C and in wide pH ranges (pH 0.6-10.3). Xylan without arabinosyl side chain is the most preferable substrate for the enzyme. By using birch wood xylan as substrate, rXynSW3 produced several oligosaccharides in the initial stage of hydrolysis, and their levels increased with time, demonstrating that the enzyme is an endo-acting enzyme. The major products were xylobiose, triose, and tetraose. The rXynSW3 can be applied in several industries such as food, textile, and biofuel industries, and waste treatment.

We previously described an endo-acting rhamnogalacturonan (RG) lyase, termed PcRGL4A, of Penicillium chrysogenum 31B. Here, we describe a second RG lyase, called PcRGLX. We determined the cDNA sequence of the Pcrglx gene, which encodes PcRGLX. Based on analyses using a BLAST search and a conserved domain search, PcRGLX was found to be structurally distinct from known RG lyases and might belong to a new polysaccharide lyase family together with uncharacterized fungal proteins of Nectria haematococca, Aspergillus oryzae, and Fusarium oxysporum. The Pcrglx cDNA gene product (rPcRGLX) expressed in Escherichia coli demonstrated specific activity against RG but not against homogalacturonan. Divalent cations were not essential for the enzymatic activity of rPcRGLX. rPcRGLX mainly released unsaturated galacturonosyl rhamnose (ΔGR) from RG backbones used as the substrate from the initial stage of the reaction, indicating that the enzyme can be classified as an exo-acting RG lyase (EC 4.2.2.24). This is the first report of an RG lyase with this mode of action in Eukaryota. rPcRGLX acted synergistically with PcRGL4A to degrade soybean RG and released ΔGR. This ΔGR was partially decorated with galactose (Gal) residues, indicating that rPcRGLX preferred oligomeric RGs to polymeric RGs, that the enzyme did not require Gal decoration of RG backbones for degradation, and that the enzyme bypassed the Gal side chains of RG backbones. These characteristics of rPcRGLX might be useful in the determination of complex structures of pectins.