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- Title
Cellulase genes from the parabasalian symbiont Pseudotrichonympha grassii in the hindgut of the wood-feeding termite Coptotermes formosanus.
- Authors
Nakashima, K.; Watanabe, H.; Azuma, J.-I.
- Abstract
Cellulase genes of Pseudotrichonympha grassii (Hypermastigida: Eucomonymphidae), the symbiotic flagellate in the hindgut of the wood-feeding termite Coptotermes formosanus, were isolated and characterized. The nucleotide sequences of the major cellulase component in the hindgut of C. formosanus were determined based on its N-terminal amino acid sequence. The five isolated nucleotide sequences (PgCBH-homos) had an open reading frame of 1350 bp showing similarity to catalytic domains of glycoside hydrolase family (GHF) 7 members, and primary structure comparison with GHF7 members whose tertiary structures are well-characterized revealed the overall similarity between PgCBH-homo and the catalytic domain of a processive cellulase Cel7A (formerly CBHI) from the aerobic fungus Trichoderma reesei. Functional expression of PgCBH-homos in Escherichia coli, using the carboxymethylcellulose-Congo red assay, demonstrated the actual cellulolytic activity of PgCBH-homo. RT-PCR showed that PgCBH-homos were expressed, from the three flagellates in the hindgut, specifically in P. grassii.
- Subjects
CELLULASE; PSEUDOTRICHONYMPHA; TERMITES; WOOD decay; ESCHERICHIA coli
- Publication
Cellular & Molecular Life Sciences, 2002, Vol 59, Issue 9, p1554
- ISSN
1420-682X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00018-002-8528-1