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Isolation of xylose isomerases by sequence- and function-based screening from a soil metagenomic library

Skorupa Parachin, Nadia LU and Gorwa-Grauslund, Marie-Francoise LU (2011) In Biotechnology for Biofuels 4.
Abstract
Background: Xylose isomerase (XI) catalyses the isomerisation of xylose to xylulose in bacteria and some fungi. Currently, only a limited number of XI genes have been functionally expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the microorganism of choice for lignocellulosic ethanol production. The objective of the present study was to search for novel XI genes in the vastly diverse microbial habitat present in soil. As the exploitation of microbial diversity is impaired by the ability to cultivate soil microorganisms under standard laboratory conditions, a metagenomic approach, consisting of total DNA extraction from a given environment followed by cloning of DNA into suitable vectors, was undertaken. Results: A soil metagenomic library was... (More)
Background: Xylose isomerase (XI) catalyses the isomerisation of xylose to xylulose in bacteria and some fungi. Currently, only a limited number of XI genes have been functionally expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the microorganism of choice for lignocellulosic ethanol production. The objective of the present study was to search for novel XI genes in the vastly diverse microbial habitat present in soil. As the exploitation of microbial diversity is impaired by the ability to cultivate soil microorganisms under standard laboratory conditions, a metagenomic approach, consisting of total DNA extraction from a given environment followed by cloning of DNA into suitable vectors, was undertaken. Results: A soil metagenomic library was constructed and two screening methods based on protein sequence similarity and enzyme activity were investigated to isolate novel XI encoding genes. These two screening approaches identified the xym1 and xym2 genes, respectively. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the genes shared 67% similarity and belonged to different bacterial groups. When xym1 and xym2 were overexpressed in a xylA-deficient Escherichia coli strain, similar growth rates to those in which the Piromyces XI gene was expressed were obtained. However, expression in S. cerevisiae resulted in only one-fourth the growth rate of that obtained for the strain expressing the Piromyces XI gene. Conclusions: For the first time, the screening of a soil metagenomic library in E. coli resulted in the successful isolation of two active XIs. However, the discrepancy between XI enzyme performance in E. coli and S. cerevisiae suggests that future screening for XI activity from soil should be pursued directly using yeast as a host. (Less)
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publication status
published
subject
in
Biotechnology for Biofuels
volume
4
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • wos:000291651500001
  • scopus:79955563999
  • pmid:21545702
ISSN
1754-6834
DOI
10.1186/1754-6834-4-9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a1556b93-6d60-42a9-92b2-b2c74b97bc37 (old id 2056844)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:11:35
date last changed
2022-03-21 17:17:08
@article{a1556b93-6d60-42a9-92b2-b2c74b97bc37,
  abstract     = {{Background: Xylose isomerase (XI) catalyses the isomerisation of xylose to xylulose in bacteria and some fungi. Currently, only a limited number of XI genes have been functionally expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the microorganism of choice for lignocellulosic ethanol production. The objective of the present study was to search for novel XI genes in the vastly diverse microbial habitat present in soil. As the exploitation of microbial diversity is impaired by the ability to cultivate soil microorganisms under standard laboratory conditions, a metagenomic approach, consisting of total DNA extraction from a given environment followed by cloning of DNA into suitable vectors, was undertaken. Results: A soil metagenomic library was constructed and two screening methods based on protein sequence similarity and enzyme activity were investigated to isolate novel XI encoding genes. These two screening approaches identified the xym1 and xym2 genes, respectively. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the genes shared 67% similarity and belonged to different bacterial groups. When xym1 and xym2 were overexpressed in a xylA-deficient Escherichia coli strain, similar growth rates to those in which the Piromyces XI gene was expressed were obtained. However, expression in S. cerevisiae resulted in only one-fourth the growth rate of that obtained for the strain expressing the Piromyces XI gene. Conclusions: For the first time, the screening of a soil metagenomic library in E. coli resulted in the successful isolation of two active XIs. However, the discrepancy between XI enzyme performance in E. coli and S. cerevisiae suggests that future screening for XI activity from soil should be pursued directly using yeast as a host.}},
  author       = {{Skorupa Parachin, Nadia and Gorwa-Grauslund, Marie-Francoise}},
  issn         = {{1754-6834}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Biotechnology for Biofuels}},
  title        = {{Isolation of xylose isomerases by sequence- and function-based screening from a soil metagenomic library}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1754-6834-4-9}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/1754-6834-4-9}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}