Mode of action and substrate specificities of cellulases from cloned bacterial genes

Three recombinant plasmids, pEC1, pEC2, and pEC3, each containing a unique Cellulomonas fimi chromosomal DNA insert, expressed Cm-cellulase activities in Escherichia coli C600 (Whittle, D. J., Kilburn, D. H., Warren, R. A. J., and Miller, R. C., Jr. (1982) Gene (Amst.) 17, 139-145; Gilkes, N. R., Kilburn, D. G., Langsford, M. L., Miller, R. C., Jr., Wakarchuk, W. W., Warren, R. A. J., Whittle, D. J., and Wong, W. K. R. (1984) J. Gen. Microbiol. 130, 1377-1384). Viscometric and chemical analyses showed that the enzymes encoded by pEC2 and pEC3 behaved as endoglucanases, whereas that encoded by pEC1 behaved as an exoglucanase. The activities of the exoglucanase and the pEC2-encoded endodglucanase were additive on Cm-cellulose as substrate. The pEC1-encoded enzyme also hydrolyzed xylan and p-nitrophenyl cellobioside. Two substrate-bound Cm-cellulases were isolated from the residual cellulose in a C. fimi culture by guanidine hydrochloride elution, affinity chromatography, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Both were glycoproteins of apparent Mr = 58,000 and 56,000, respectively. The 56-kDa enzyme appeared to be identical with the pEC1-encoded product, suggesting that they arise from the same gene.