An endo-(1→3)-β-d-glucanase from the scallop Chlamys albidus: catalytic properties, cDNA cloning and secondary-structure characterization

An endo-(1→3)-β-d-glucanase (L0) with molecular mass of 37 kDa was purified to homogeneity from the crystalline style of the scallop Chlamys albidus. The endo-(1→3)-β-d-glucanase was extremely thermolabile with a half-life of 10 min at 37 °C. L0 hydrolyzed laminaran with Km ∼ 0.75 mg/mL, and catalyzed effectively transglycosylation reactions with laminaran as donor and p-nitrophenyl βd-glucoside as acceptor (Km ∼ 2 mg/mL for laminaran) and laminaran as donor and as acceptor (Km ∼ 5 mg/mL) yielding p-nitrophenyl βd-glucooligosaccharides (n = 2–6) and high-molecular branching (1→3),(1→6)-β-d-glucans, respectively. Efficiency of hydrolysis and transglycosylation processes depended on the substrate structure and decreased appreciably with the increase of the percentage of β-(1→6)-glycosidic bonds, and laminaran with 10% of β-(1→6)-glycosidic bonds was the optimal substrate for both reactions. The CD spectrum of L0 was characteristic for a protein with prevailing β secondary-structural elements. Binding L0 with d-glucose as the best acceptor for transglycosylation was investigated by the methods of intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence and CD. Glucose in concentration sufficient to saturate the enzyme binding sites resulted in a red shift in the maximum of fluorescence emission of 1–1.5 nm and quenching the Trp fluorescence up to 50%. An apparent association constant of L0 with glucose (Ka = 7.4 × 105 ± 1.1 × 105 M−1) and stoichiometry (n = 13.3 ± 0.7) was calculated. The cDNA encoding L0 was sequenced, and the enzyme was classified in glycoside hydrolases family 16 on the basis of the amino acid sequence similarity.

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