Many pectin methylesterases (PMEs) are expressed in plants to modify plant cell-wall pectins for various physiological roles. These pectins are also attacked by PMEs from phytopathogens and phytophagous insects. The de-methylesterification by PMEs of the O6-methyl ester groups of the homogalacturonan component of pectin, exposing galacturonic acids, can occur processively or non-processively, respectively, describing sequential versus single de-methylesterification events occurring before enzyme-substrate dissociation. The high resolution x-ray structures of a PME from Aspergillus niger in deglycosylated and Asn-linked N-acetylglucosamine-stub forms reveal a 10 2 ⁄ 3-turn parallel -helix (similar to but with less extensive loops than bacterial, plant, and insect PMEs). Capillary electrophoresis shows that this PME is non-processive, halophilic, and acidophilic. Molecular dynamics simulations and electrostatic potential calculations reveal very different behavior and properties compared with processive PMEs. Specifically, uncorrelated rotations are observed about the glycosidic bonds of a partially de-methyl-esterified decasaccharide model substrate, in sharp contrast to the correlated rotations of processive PMEs, and the substrate-binding groove is negatively not positively charged.The heterogeneous polysaccharide pectin (1-4) is a key component of the plant cell wall (5). A host of enzymes, including pectin methylesterase (PME) 3 as well as endo-and exopolygalacturonases, modifies pectin fine-structure locally in space and time for purposes of plant-cell differentiation, cell adhesion/separation, growth, and development from roots to meristem, morphogenesis, seed and fruit development, and defense against pathogens (6 -16). PMEs hydrolyze the O6-methyl ester groups of the homogalacturonan (HG) chains that form the backbone of pectin (Fig. 1). As well as being ubiquitous in plants, and frequently manifesting in a staggering number of isoforms (more than 66 for Arabidopsis thaliana) (8, 10), PMEs are found in phytopathogenic bacteria and fungi (17-26) and in Archaea (especially Halobacteriaceae (27)), and they have also been observed in the genomes of several phytophagous insects (28 -30) and in human gut microflora (31). Recently, plant pollen PMEs have been identified as a key human allergen (32, 33). Bacterial and plant PMEs that have been functionally characterized are generally observed to be processive (34 -55), i.e. the enzyme binds to the HG substrate and then successively hydrolyzes a block of methyl ester groups before dissociating. In all cases characterized to date, the direction of processivity is from the non-reducing end of the HG chain toward the reducing end, as shown in Fig. 1. The degree of processivity (also called the action pattern) has been reported to be dependent on ionic strength and pH (56), and various classifications of PMEs exist (48,49,(57)(58)(59)(60). In general, processive PMEs have their isoelectric points, pI, and pH for optimum activity at near-neutral to basic pH, although ...