The haloalkane dehalogenase from Sphingomonas paucimobilis UT26 (LinB) is the enzyme involved in the degradation of the important environmental pollutant gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane. The enzyme hydrolyzes a broad range of halogenated cyclic and aliphatic compounds. Here, we present the 1.58 A crystal structure of LinB and the 2.0 A structure of LinB with 1,3-propanediol, a product of debromination of 1,3-dibromopropane, in the active site of the enzyme. The enzyme belongs to the alpha/beta hydrolase family and contains a catalytic triad (Asp108, His272, and Glu132) in the lipase-like topological arrangement previously proposed from mutagenesis experiments. The LinB structure was compared with the structures of haloalkane dehalogenase from Xanthobacter autotrophicus GJ10 and from Rhodococcus sp. and the structural features involved in the adaptation toward xenobiotic substrates were identified. The arrangement and composition of the alpha-helices in the cap domain results in the differences in the size and shape of the active-site cavity and the entrance tunnel. This is the major determinant of the substrate specificity of this haloalkane dehalogenase.

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The maize (Zea mays) ␤-glucosidase Zm-p60.1 has been implicated in regulation of plant development by the targeted release of free cytokinins from cytokinin-O-glucosides, their inactive storage forms. The crystal structure of the wild-type enzyme was solved at 2.05-Å resolution, allowing molecular docking analysis to be conducted. This indicated that the enzyme specificity toward substrates with aryl aglycones is determined by aglycone aromatic system stacking with W373, and interactions with edges of F193, F200, and F461 located opposite W373 in a slot-like aglycone-binding site. These aglyconeactive site interactions recently were hypothesized to determine substrate specificity in inactive enzyme substrate complexes of ZM-Glu1, an allozyme of Zm-p60.1. Here, we test this hypothesis by kinetic analysis of F193I/Y/W mutants. The decreased K m of all mutants confirmed the involvement of F193 in determining enzyme affinity toward substrates with an aromatic aglycone. It was unexpected that a 30-fold decrease in k cat was found in F193I mutant compared with the wild type. Kinetic analysis and computer modeling demonstrated that the F193-aglycone-W373 interaction not only contributes to aglycone recognition as hypothesized previously but also codetermines catalytic rate by fixing the glucosidic bond in an orientation favorable for attack by the catalytic pair, E186 and E401. The catalytic pair, assigned initially by their location in the structure, was confirmed by kinetic analysis of E186D/Q and E401D/Q mutants. It was unexpected that the E401D as well as C205S and C211S mutations dramatically impaired the assembly of a catalysis-competent homodimer, suggesting novel links between the active site structure and dimer formation.␤-Glucosidases (␤-glucoside glucohydrolases, EC 3.2.1.21) are a widespread group of enzymes hydrolyzing a broad variety of aryl-and alkyl-␤-dglucosides as well as glucosides with only a carbohydrate moiety. Interest in ␤-glucosidase research reflects essential functions of ␤-glucosidases in a variety of basic biological processes ranging from developmental regulation to chemical defense against pathogen attack, and in a number of industrial applications such as biomass conversion. In plants, ␤-glucosidases have been implicated in regulating various aspects of development, e.g. phytohormone activation (Smith and van Staden, 1978; Brzobohatý et al., 1994), cell wall degradation in the endosperm during germination (Leah et al., 1995), and pathogen defense reactions (Poulton, 1990).Plant ␤-glucosidases are classified as family 1 of retaining glycosyl hydrolases according to their primary structure (Henrissat and Bairoch, 1993;Henrissat et al., 1995). Hydrolysis of a glycosidic bond involves two essential carboxylates, one acting as a general acid/base catalyst and the other as a nucleophile (Sinnott, 1990). The hydrolysis is initiated by the nucleophilic attack at the anomeric carbon (C1) of the substrate that results in the formation of glycosyl enzyme intermediate followed by the release of the...