Substrate Specificity of GH29 α-L-Glucosidases from Cecembia lonarensis

We recently found two α-L-glucosidases, which can hydrolyze p-nitrophenyl α-L-glucopyranoside (PNP L-Glc) rather than p-nitrophenyl α-L-fucopyranoside, in glycoside hydrolase family 29. This study evaluated their substrate specificity for p-nitrophenyl α-L-rhamnopyranoside (PNP L-Rha), α-L-quinovopyranoside (PNP L-Qui), and α-L-xylopyranoside (PNP L-Xyl), of which structure is similar to PNP L-Glc. The two α-L-glucosidases had little activity toward PNP L-Rha. They exhibited higher k _cat/K _m values for PNP L-Qui but smaller for PNP L-Xyl than for PNP L-Glc. The molecular docking studies indicated that these specificities were correlated well with the active-site structure of the α-L-glucosidases. The finding that α-L-quinovoside, which has been suggested to occur in nature, is also a substrate for α-L-glucosidases indicates that this enzyme are not solely dedicated to α-L-glucoside hydrolysis.