Two New Xylanases with Different Substrate Specificities from the Human Gut Bacterium Bacteroides intestinalis DSM 17393
ABSTRACTXylan is an abundant plant cell wall polysaccharide and is a dominant component of dietary fiber. Bacteria in the distal human gastrointestinal tract produce xylanase enzymes to initiate the degradation of this complex heteropolymer. These xylanases typically derive from glycoside hydrolase (GH) families 10 and 11; however, analysis of the genome sequence of the xylan-degrading human gut bacteriumBacteroides intestinalisDSM 17393 revealed the presence of two putative GH8 xylanases. In the current study, we demonstrate that the two genes encode enzymes that differ in activity. Thexyn8Agene encodes an endoxylanase (Xyn8A), andrex8Aencodes a reducing-end xylose-releasing exo-oligoxylanase (Rex8A). Xyn8A hydrolyzed both xylopentaose (X5) and xylohexaose (X6) to a mixture of xylobiose (X2) and xylotriose (X3), while Rex8A hydrolyzed X3through X6to a mixture of xylose (X1) and X2. Moreover,rex8Ais located downstream of a GH3 gene (xyl3A) that was demonstrated to exhibit β-xylosidase activity and would be able to further hydrolyze X2to X1. Mutational analyses of putative active site residues of both Xyn8A and Rex8A confirm their importance in catalysis by these enzymes. Recent genome sequences of gut bacteria reveal an increase in GH8 Rex enzymes, especially among theBacteroidetes, indicating that these genes contribute to xylan utilization in the human gut.