Characterization of a β-1,4-glucosidase from a newly isolated strain of Pholiota adiposa and its application to the hydrolysis of biomass

•We isolate and identify a high β-glucosidase (BGL)-producing strain, Pholiota adiposa.•The purified BGL (PaBGL) from P. adiposa shows the highest activity towards cellobiose ever reported.•PaBGL hydrolyzes cellobiose more efficiently than Novozyme 188.•PaBGL serves as a potential source for the maximum sugar production from saccharification of biomasses.

The highly efficient β-1,4-glucosidase (BGL)-secreting strain, Pholiota adiposa SKU0714, was isolated and identified based on its morphological features and sequence analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA. P. adiposa BGL (PaBGL), which contained a carbohydrate moiety, was purified to homogeneity from P. adiposa culture supernatants by 2-step chromatography on DEAE and Sephacryl gel filtration columns. The relative molecular weight of PaBGL was 60 kDa by SDS-PAGE or 59 kDa by size exclusion chromatography, indicating that the enzyme is a monomer. The pH and temperature optima for hydrolysis were 5.0 and 65 °C, respectively. PaBGL showed the highest activity towards p-nitrophenyl-β-d-glucopyranoside (Vmax = 4390 U mg protein−1, Km = 2.23 mol m−3) and cellobiose (Vmax = 3460 U mg protein−1, Km = 5.60 mol m−3) ever reported. Its internal amino acid sequences showed homology with hydrolases from the glycoside hydrolase family 3 (GH3), indicating that PaBGL is a member of the GH3 family. The hydrolysis of rice straw using a commercial cellulase, Celluclast® 1.5L, resulted in a higher saccharification yield with the addition of PaBGL than with Novozyme 188. PaBGL may be a good candidate for applications that convert biomasses to biofuels and chemicals.