Construction of GH16 β-glucanase mini-cellulosomes to improve the nutritive value of barley-based diets for broilers

Anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria organize a comprehensive range of cellulases and hemicellulases in high molecular weight multienzyme complexes termed cellulosomes. Integration of cellulosomal components occurs via highly ordered protein-protein interactions between cohesins and dockerins. This paper reports the production of mini-cellulosomes containing one (GH16-1C) or three (GH16-3C) copies of Clostridium thermocellum glucanase 16A (CtGlc16A). Barley β-1,3-1,4-glucans are known to be antinutritive for monogastric animals, particularly for poultry. GH16-1C and GH16-3C were used to supplement barley-based diets for broilers. The data revealed that the two mini-cellulosomes effectively improved the nutritive value of barley-based diets for broilers. Analysis of mini-cellulosome molecular integrity revealed that linker sequences separating protein domains in scaffoldins and cellulosomal catalytic units are highly susceptible to proteolytic attack in vivo. The data suggest that linker protection could result in further improvements in enzyme efficacy to improve the nutritive value of barley-based diets for monogastric animals.