The human gut microbiome is a complex ecosystem composed mainly of uncultured bacteria. It plays an essential role in the catabolism of dietary fibers, the part of plant material in our diet that is not metabolized in the upper digestive tract, because the human genome does not encode adequate carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes). We describe a multi-step functionally based approach to guide the in-depth pyrosequencing of specific regions of the human gut metagenome encoding the CAZymes involved in dietary fiber breakdown. High-throughput functional screens were first applied to a library covering 5.4 3 10 9 bp of metagenomic DNA, allowing the isolation of 310 clones showing beta-glucanase, hemicellulase, galactanase, amylase, or pectinase activities. Based on the results of refined secondary screens, sequencing efforts were reduced to 0.84 Mb of nonredundant metagenomic DNA, corresponding to 26 clones that were particularly efficient for the degradation of raw plant polysaccharides. Seventy-three CAZymes from 35 different families were discovered. This corresponds to a fivefold target-gene enrichment compared to random sequencing of the human gut metagenome. Thirty-three of these CAZy encoding genes are highly homologous to prevalent genes found in the gut microbiome of at least 20 individuals for whose metagenomic data are available. Moreover, 18 multigenic clusters encoding complementary enzyme activities for plant cell wall degradation were also identified. Gene taxonomic assignment is consistent with horizontal gene transfer events in dominant gut species and provides new insights into the human gut functional trophic chain.

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Amylosucrase (E.C. 2.4.1.4) is a member of Family 13 of the glycoside hydrolases (the ␣-amylases), although its biological function is the synthesis of amylose-like polymers from sucrose. The structure of amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea is divided into five domains: an all helical N-terminal domain that is not similar to any known fold, a (␤/␣) 8 -barrel A-domain, B-and B-domains displaying ␣/␤-structure, and a C-terminal eightstranded ␤-sheet domain. In contrast to other Family 13 hydrolases that have the active site in the bottom of a large cleft, the active site of amylosucrase is at the bottom of a pocket at the molecular surface. A substrate binding site resembling the amylase 2 subsite is not found in amylosucrase. The site is blocked by a salt bridge between residues in the second and eight loops of the (␤/␣) 8 -barrel. The result is an exo-acting enzyme. Loop 7 in the amylosucrase barrel is prolonged compared with the loop structure found in other hydrolases, and this insertion (forming domain B) is suggested to be important for the polymer synthase activity of the enzyme. The topology of the B-domain creates an active site entrance with several ravines in the molecular surface that could be used specifically by the substrates/ products (sucrose, glucan polymer, and fructose) that have to get in and out of the active site pocket.

Amylosucrase is a glucosyltransferase that synthesises an insoluble alpha-glucan from sucrose. The catalytic properties of the highly purified amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea were characterised. Contrary to previously published results, it was demonstrated that in the presence of sucrose alone, several reactions are catalysed, in addition to polymer synthesis: sucrose hydrolysis, maltose and maltotriose synthesis by successive transfers of the glucosyl moiety of sucrose onto the released glucose, and finally turanose and trehalulose synthesis - these two sucrose isomers being obtained by glucosyl transfer onto fructose. The effect of initial sucrose concentration on initial activity demonstrated a non-Michaelian profile never previously described.

Glucan formation catalyzed by two GH-family 70 enzymes, Leuconostoc mesenteroides NRRL B-512F dextransucrase and L. mesenteroides NRRL B-1355 alternansucrase, was investigated by combining biochemical and kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzymes and their respective products. Using HPAEC analysis, we showed that two molecules act as initiator of polymerization: sucrose itself and glucose produced by hydrolysis, the latter being preferred when produced in sufficient amounts. Then, elongation occurs by transfer of the glucosyl residue coming from sucrose to the non-reducing end of initially formed products. Dextransucrase preferentially produces an isomaltooligosaccharide series, whose concentration is always low because of the high ability of these products to be elongated and form high molecular weight dextran. Compared with dextransucrase, alternansucrase has a broader specificity. It produces a myriad of oligosaccharides with various ␣-1,3 and/or ␣-1,6 links in early reaction stages. Only some of them are further elongated. Overall alternan polymer is smaller in size than dextran. In dextransucrase, the A repeats often found in C-terminal domain of GH family 70 were found to play a major role in efficient dextran elongation. Their truncation result in an enzyme much less efficient to catalyze high molecular weight polymer formation. It is thus proposed that, in dextransucrase, the A repeats define anchoring zones for the growing chains, favoring their elongation. Based on these results, a semi-processive mechanism involving only one active site and an elongation by the non-reducing end is proposed for the GH-family 70 glucansucrases. Glucansucrases from Glycoside-Hydrolase (GH)2 -family 70 (EC. 2.4.1.5) are extracellular enzymes produced by lactic acid bacteria of the genus Leuconostoc, Streptococcus, or Lactobacillus (1). From sucrose, they catalyze the synthesis of high molecular weight glucans. They can also produce oligosaccharides or glucoconjugates by a transglucosylation reaction from the sucrose donor to an exogenous acceptor, and this so called "acceptor reaction" occurs at the cost of polymer synthesis (2, 3). An interesting diversity exists in the GH-family 70, where there are enzymes able to synthesize all the types of glucosidic linkages, namely ␣-1,2; ␣-1,3; ␣-1,4; or ␣-1,6 glucosidic bonds. So, depending on the enzyme specificity, a wide range of glucans can be produced, varying in terms of size, structure, degree of branches and spatial arrangements.Primary structures of at least 44 different glucansucrases are now available in GH-family 70.3 With an average predicted molecular mass of more than 160,000 Da, they all show the same organization consisting of a variable region at the N terminus, a conserved catalytic domain, and a C-terminal domain typically containing a series of homologous repeating units. In a number of streptococcal glucansucrases, as well as for the L. mesenteroides NRRL B-512F dextransucrase, the repeats have been demonstrated to play a role in enzyme glucan bindi...

Amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea is a remarkable transglucosidase from family 13 of the glycoside-hydrolases that synthesizes an insoluble amyloselike polymer from sucrose in the absence of any primer. Amylosucrase shares strong structural similarities with ␣-amylases. Exactly how this enzyme catalyzes the formation of ␣-1,4-glucan and which structural features are involved in this unique functionality existing in family 13 are important questions still not fully answered. Here, we provide evidence that amylosucrase initializes polymer formation by releasing, through sucrose hydrolysis, a glucose molecule that is subsequently used as the first acceptor molecule. Maltooligosaccharides of increasing size were produced and successively elongated at their nonreducing ends until they reached a critical size and concentration, causing precipitation. The ability of amylosucrase to bind and to elongate maltooligosaccharides is notably due to the presence of key residues at the OB1 acceptor binding site that contribute strongly to the guidance (Arg 415 , subsite ؉4) and the correct positioning (Asp 394 and Arg 446 , subsite ؉1) of acceptor molecules. On the other hand, Arg 226 (subsites ؉2/؉3) limits the binding of maltooligosaccharides, resulting in the accumulation of small products (G to G3) in the medium. A remarkable mutant (R226A), activated by the products it forms, was generated. It yields twice as much insoluble glucan as the wild-type enzyme and leads to the production of lower quantities of by-products.Amylosucrase (EC 2.4.1.4) is a glucansucrase belonging to glycoside-hydrolase (GH) 1 family 13 (1, 2). 2 This transglucosidase catalyzes the synthesis of an insoluble amylose-like polymer from sucrose (3), a cheap and easily available agroresource. This is in contrast to starch or glycogen synthases (4), which require nucleotide-activated sugar as a donor. Amylosucrase is thus attractive for the industrial synthesis of amyloselike polymers and for the modification of glucans (in particular to form nondigestible glucans) (5). Remarkably, amylosucrase is the only member of GH family 13 displaying polymerase activity and is clearly unique in this family that mainly contains starch-degrading enzymes. Amylosucrase was first isolated in the culture supernatant of Neisseria perflava (3) and later identified in various Neisseria strains (6, 7). Recently, data mining has revealed the presence of genes encoding putative amylosucrases in the genome of many other organisms such as Deinococcus radiodurans (8), Caulobacter crescentus (9), Xanthomonas campestris, Xanthomonas axonopodis (10), and Pirellula sp. (11). Recombinant amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea (AS) has been the most extensively studied amylosucrase. The gene encoding AS (1) has been cloned, and its product has been purified to homogeneity. Characterization of the reaction products synthesized from sucrose substrate showed that sucrose isomers (turanose and trehalulose), glucose, maltose, and maltotriose were also produced besides the insoluble...

The recombinant amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea was used to synthesize in vitro amylose from sucrose as unique substrate. The morphology and structure of the insoluble residue were shown to depend only on the initial sucrose concentration (100, 300, or 600 mM), which controlled both the chain length and concentration at the precipitation stage. The average degree of polymerization (DP) in the precipitated product varied from 58 for the lowest initial sucrose concentration (100 mM) to 45 and 35 for higher sucrose concentrations (300 and 600 mM, respectively). The shorter chains (DP 35 and 45), produced in high yields (54 and 24 g/L respectively), precipitated as polycrystalline aggregates with exceptional crystallinity, without optimization of the reaction medium for crystallization. The longer chains (DP 58), produced in lower amount (2.9 g/L), formed networks similar to those observed for amylose gels. All synthesized products displayed a B-type crystal structure. Their melting behavior was also studied, the thermostability being higher for the precipitate containing the longer chains. Further thermal treatments were shown to still improve the crystallinity and yield substrates usable as new standards for the determination of the relative crystallinity of starchy products. The kinetics of chain elongation and aggregation were thoroughly investigated in order to explain how the action of amylosucrase resulted in such different amylose structures. These results emphasize the potentiality of amylosucrase in the design of amylodextrins with controlled morphology, structure, and physicochemical properties.

The Neisseria polysaccharea gene encoding amylosucrase was subcloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Sequencing revealed that the deduced amino acid sequence differs significantly from that previously published. Comparison of the sequence with that of enzymes of the α-amylase family predicted a (β/α)8-barrel domain. Six of the eight highly conserved regions in amylolytic enzymes are present in amylosucrase. Among them, four constitute the active site in α-amylases. These sites were also conserved in the sequence of glucosyltransferases and dextransucrases. Nevertheless, the evolutionary tree does not show strong homology between them. The amylosucrase was purified by affinity chromatography between fusion protein glutathioneS-transferase–amylosucrase and glutathione-Sepharose 4B. The pure enzyme linearly elongated some branched chains of glycogen, to an average degree of polymerization of 75.