Family Report for: Cutinase_like

Lipases belong to a class of esterases whose activity on triglycerides is greatly enhanced at lipid-water interfaces. This phenomenon, called interfacial activation, has a structural explanation: a hydrophobic lid, which at rest covers the catalytic site, is displaced on substrate or inhibitor binding and probably interacts with the lipid matrix. Fusarium solani pisi cutinase belongs to a group of homologous enzymes of relative molecular mass 22-25K (ref. 7) capable of degrading cutin, the insoluble lipid-polyester matrix covering the surface of plants, and hydrolysing triglycerides. Cutinases differ from classical lipases in that they do not exhibit interfacial activation; they are active on soluble as well as on emulsified triglycerides. Cutinases therefore establish a bridge between esterases and lipases. We report here the three-dimensional structure of a recombinant cutinase from F. solani pisi, expressed in Escherichia coli. Cutinase is an alpha-beta protein; the active site is composed of the triad Ser 120, His 188 and Asp 175. Unlike other lipases, the catalytic serine is not buried under surface loops, but is accessible to solvent. This could explain why cutinase does not display interfacial activation.

A gene from Magnaporthe grisea was cloned using a cDNA clone of the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides cutinase gene as a heterologous probe; the nucleotide sequence of a 2 kb DNA segment containing the gene has been determined. DNA hybridization analysis shows that the M. grisea genome contains only one copy of this gene. The predicted polypeptide contains 228 amino acids and is homologous to the three previously characterized cutinases, showing 74% amino acid similarity to the cutinase of C. gloeosporioides. Comparison with previously determined cutinase sequences suggests that the gene contains two introns, 115 and 147 bp in length. The gene is expressed when cutin is the sole carbon source but not when the carbon source is cutin and glucose together or glucose alone. Levels of intracellular and extracellular cutinase activity increase in response to growth in the presence of cutin. The activity level is higher in a transformant containing multiple copies of the cloned gene than in the parent strain. Non-denaturing polyacrylamide gels stained for esterase activity show a single major band among intracellular and extracellular proteins from cutin-grown cultures that is not present among intracellular and extracellular proteins prepared from glucose-grown or carbon-starved cultures. This band stains more intensely in extracts from the multicopy transformant than in extracts from the parent strain. We conclude that the cloned DNA contains a M. grisea gene for cutinase, which we have named CUT1.

Cutinase is an extracellular fungal enzyme that allows pathogenic fungi to penetrate through the cuticular barrier into the host plant during the initial stages of the fungal infection. mRNA isolated from glucose-grown Colletotrichum capsid, induced to produce cutinase by the addition of cutin hydrolysate, was used to prepare cDNA which was cloned in the expression vector Xgtl1. The primary structure of the cutinase from C.capsid was deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the cloned cutinase cDNA. Amino acid sequences of two tryptic peptides isolated from cutinase produced by C.capsid completely matched with two segments of the amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence, strongly suggesting that the cloned cDNA was authentic cutinase cDNA. The cDNA clone was used as a probe to screen C.capsid and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides genomic libraries constructed in Charon35 and EMBL3, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of the cutinase structural genes from C.capsid and C.gloeosporioides were also determined. SI mapping was used to reveal the transcriptional start sites and polyadenylation site of the primary transcript from C.capsid. The primary sequences and gene structure of the enzymes from th eColletotrichum species were compared with the primary structure and gene structure of a cutinase from Fusarium solani f.sp. pisi. A comparison of the deduced primary structures of the enzymes showed that residues involved in the catalytic triad andd isulfide cross-linking of cutinase are strongly conserved. Yet, only 43% of the residues areconserved between all three enzymes. A comparison of the structure of the three genes revealed the location of the single intron has been conserved. The transcriptional start site of the C.capsid gene was centered on the sequence TCCAGACCA, the core of which (CAGAC) is found repeated after 21 nucleotides. The same core sequence, repeated after 11 nucleotides, was also identified in the 5' non translated regions of the C. gloeosporioides and F. solanigenes.

A purified lipase from the yeast Cryptococcus sp. strain S-2 exhibited remote homology to proteins belonging to the cutinase family rather than to lipases. This enzyme could effectively degrade the high-molecular-weight compound polylactic acid, as well as other biodegradable plastics, including polybutylene succinate, poly (epsilon-caprolactone), and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate).

Acetylxylan esterase (AXEII; 207 amino acids) from Penicillium purpurogenum has substrate specificities toward acetate esters of d-xylopyranose residues in xylan and belongs to a new class of alpha/beta hydrolases. The crystal structure of AXEII has been determined by single isomorphous replacement and anomalous scattering, and refined at 0.90- and 1.10-A resolutions with data collected at 85 K and 295 K, respectively. The tertiary structure consists of a doubly wound alpha/beta sandwich, having a central six-stranded parallel beta-sheet flanked by two parallel alpha-helices on each side. The catalytic residues Ser(90), His(187), and Asp(175) are located at the C-terminal end of the sheet, an exposed region of the molecule. The serine and histidine side chains in the 295 K structure show the frequently observed conformations in which Ser(90) is trans and the hydroxyl group is in the plane of the imidazole ring of His(187). However, the structure at 85 K displays an additional conformation in which Ser(90) side-chain hydroxyl is away from the plane of the imidazole ring of His(187). The His(187) side chain forms a hydrogen bond with a sulfate ion and adopts an altered conformation. The only other known hydrolase that has a similar tertiary structure is Fusarium solani cutinase. The exposed nature of the catalytic triad suggests that AXEII is a pure esterase, i.e. an alpha/beta hydrolase with specificity for nonlipidic polar substrates.

Acetylxylan esterase from Trichoderma reesei removes acetyl side groups from xylan. The crystal structure of the catalytic core of the enzyme was solved at 1.9 A resolution. The core has an alpha/beta/alpha sandwich fold, similar to that of homologous acetylxylan esterase from Penicillium purpurogenum and cutinase from Fusarium solani. All three enzymes belong to family 5 of the carbohydrate esterases and the superfamily of the alpha/beta hydrolase fold. Evidently, the enzymes have diverged from a common ancestor and they share the same catalytic mechanism. The catalytic machinery of acetylxylan esterase from T. reesei was studied by comparison with cutinase, the catalytic site of which is well known. Acetylxylan esterase is a pure serine esterase having a catalytic triad (Ser90, His187, and Asp175) and an oxyanion hole (Thr13 N, and Thr13 O gamma). Although the catalytic triad of acetylxylan esterase has been reported previously, there has been no mention of the oxyanion hole. A model for the binding of substrates is presented on the basis of the docking of xylose. Acetylxylan esterase from T. reesei is able to deacetylate both mono- and double-acetylated residues, but it is not able to remove acetyl groups located close to large side groups such as 4-O-methylglucuronic acid. If the xylopyranoside residue is double-acetylated, both acetyl groups are removed by the catalytic triad: first one acetyl group is removed and then the residue is reorientated so that the nucleophilic oxygen of serine can attack the second acetyl group.

Lipases belong to a class of esterases whose activity on triglycerides is greatly enhanced at lipid-water interfaces. This phenomenon, called interfacial activation, has a structural explanation: a hydrophobic lid, which at rest covers the catalytic site, is displaced on substrate or inhibitor binding and probably interacts with the lipid matrix. Fusarium solani pisi cutinase belongs to a group of homologous enzymes of relative molecular mass 22-25K (ref. 7) capable of degrading cutin, the insoluble lipid-polyester matrix covering the surface of plants, and hydrolysing triglycerides. Cutinases differ from classical lipases in that they do not exhibit interfacial activation; they are active on soluble as well as on emulsified triglycerides. Cutinases therefore establish a bridge between esterases and lipases. We report here the three-dimensional structure of a recombinant cutinase from F. solani pisi, expressed in Escherichia coli. Cutinase is an alpha-beta protein; the active site is composed of the triad Ser 120, His 188 and Asp 175. Unlike other lipases, the catalytic serine is not buried under surface loops, but is accessible to solvent. This could explain why cutinase does not display interfacial activation.

A gene from Magnaporthe grisea was cloned using a cDNA clone of the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides cutinase gene as a heterologous probe; the nucleotide sequence of a 2 kb DNA segment containing the gene has been determined. DNA hybridization analysis shows that the M. grisea genome contains only one copy of this gene. The predicted polypeptide contains 228 amino acids and is homologous to the three previously characterized cutinases, showing 74% amino acid similarity to the cutinase of C. gloeosporioides. Comparison with previously determined cutinase sequences suggests that the gene contains two introns, 115 and 147 bp in length. The gene is expressed when cutin is the sole carbon source but not when the carbon source is cutin and glucose together or glucose alone. Levels of intracellular and extracellular cutinase activity increase in response to growth in the presence of cutin. The activity level is higher in a transformant containing multiple copies of the cloned gene than in the parent strain. Non-denaturing polyacrylamide gels stained for esterase activity show a single major band among intracellular and extracellular proteins from cutin-grown cultures that is not present among intracellular and extracellular proteins prepared from glucose-grown or carbon-starved cultures. This band stains more intensely in extracts from the multicopy transformant than in extracts from the parent strain. We conclude that the cloned DNA contains a M. grisea gene for cutinase, which we have named CUT1.

Cutinase is an extracellular fungal enzyme that allows pathogenic fungi to penetrate through the cuticular barrier into the host plant during the initial stages of the fungal infection. mRNA isolated from glucose-grown Colletotrichum capsid, induced to produce cutinase by the addition of cutin hydrolysate, was used to prepare cDNA which was cloned in the expression vector Xgtl1. The primary structure of the cutinase from C.capsid was deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the cloned cutinase cDNA. Amino acid sequences of two tryptic peptides isolated from cutinase produced by C.capsid completely matched with two segments of the amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence, strongly suggesting that the cloned cDNA was authentic cutinase cDNA. The cDNA clone was used as a probe to screen C.capsid and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides genomic libraries constructed in Charon35 and EMBL3, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of the cutinase structural genes from C.capsid and C.gloeosporioides were also determined. SI mapping was used to reveal the transcriptional start sites and polyadenylation site of the primary transcript from C.capsid. The primary sequences and gene structure of the enzymes from th eColletotrichum species were compared with the primary structure and gene structure of a cutinase from Fusarium solani f.sp. pisi. A comparison of the deduced primary structures of the enzymes showed that residues involved in the catalytic triad andd isulfide cross-linking of cutinase are strongly conserved. Yet, only 43% of the residues areconserved between all three enzymes. A comparison of the structure of the three genes revealed the location of the single intron has been conserved. The transcriptional start site of the C.capsid gene was centered on the sequence TCCAGACCA, the core of which (CAGAC) is found repeated after 21 nucleotides. The same core sequence, repeated after 11 nucleotides, was also identified in the 5' non translated regions of the C. gloeosporioides and F. solanigenes.