Comparative analysis of carbohydrate active enzymes in Clostridium termitidis CT1112 reveals complex carbohydrate degradation ability

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 7;9(8):e104260. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104260. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Clostridium termitidis strain CT1112 is an anaerobic, gram positive, mesophilic, cellulolytic bacillus isolated from the gut of the wood-feeding termite, Nasutitermes lujae. It produces biofuels such as hydrogen and ethanol from cellulose, cellobiose, xylan, xylose, glucose, and other sugars, and therefore could be used for biofuel production from biomass through consolidated bioprocessing. The first step in the production of biofuel from biomass by microorganisms is the hydrolysis of complex carbohydrates present in biomass. This is achieved through the presence of a repertoire of secreted or complexed carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes), sometimes organized in an extracellular organelle called cellulosome. To assess the ability and understand the mechanism of polysaccharide hydrolysis in C. termitidis, the recently sequenced strain CT1112 of C. termitidis was analyzed for both CAZymes and cellulosomal components, and compared to other cellulolytic bacteria. A total of 355 CAZyme sequences were identified in C. termitidis, significantly higher than other Clostridial species. Of these, high numbers of glycoside hydrolases (199) and carbohydrate binding modules (95) were identified. The presence of a variety of CAZymes involved with polysaccharide utilization/degradation ability suggests hydrolysis potential for a wide range of polysaccharides. In addition, dockerin-bearing enzymes, cohesion domains and a cellulosomal gene cluster were identified, indicating the presence of potential cellulosome assembly.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carbohydrate Metabolism / physiology*
  • Cellobiose / metabolism*
  • Clostridium / enzymology*
  • Ethanol / metabolism
  • Glycoside Hydrolases / metabolism*
  • Hydrogen / metabolism
  • Isoptera / microbiology
  • Monosaccharides / metabolism*
  • Species Specificity

Substances

  • Monosaccharides
  • Cellobiose
  • Ethanol
  • Hydrogen
  • Glycoside Hydrolases

Grants and funding

This work was supported by funds provided by Genome Canada, through the Applied Genomics Research in Bioproducts or Crops (ABC) program, for the grant titled, “Microbial Genomics for Biofuels and CoProducts from Biorefining Processes”, and by the Province of Manitoba, Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative (ARDI). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.