Jonathan Lo

Deletion of the Cel48S cellulase from Clostridium thermocellum

Clostridium thermocellum is a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium that rapidly solubilizes cellulose with the aid of a multienzyme cellulosome complex. Creation of knockout mutants for Cel48S (also known as CelS, SS, and S8), the most abundant cellulosome subunit, was undertaken to gain insight into its role in enzymatic and microbial cellulose solubilization. Cultures of the Cel48S deletion mutant (S mutant) were able to completely solubilize 10 g/L crystalline cellulose. The cellulose hydrolysis rate of the S mutant strain was 60% lower than the parent strain, with the S mutant strain also exhibiting a 40% reduction in cell yield. The cellulosome produced by the S mutant strain was purified by affinity digestion, characterized enzymatically, and found to have a 35% lower specific activity on Avicel. The composition of the purified cellulosome was analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry with APEX quantification and no significant changes in abundance were observed in any of the major (>1% of cellulosomal protein) enzymatic subunits. Although most cellulolytic bacteria have one family 48 cellulase, C. thermocellum has two, Cel48S and Cel48Y. Cellulose solubilization by a Cel48S and Cel48Y double knockout was essentially the same as that of the Cel48S single knockout. Our results indicate that solubilization of crystalline cellulose by C. thermocellum can proceed to completion without expression of a family 48 cellulase.

The bifunctional alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase gene, adhE, is necessary for ethanol production in Clostridium thermocellum and Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum.

UNLABELLED Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and Clostridium thermocellum are anaerobic thermophilic bacteria being investigated for their ability to produce biofuels from plant biomass. The bifunctional alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase gene, adhE, is present in these bacteria and has been known to be important for ethanol formation in other anaerobic alcohol producers. This study explores the inactivation of the adhE gene in C. thermocellum and T. saccharolyticum. Deletion of adhE reduced ethanol production by >95% in both T. saccharolyticum and C. thermocellum, confirming that adhE is necessary for ethanol formation in both organisms. In both adhE deletion strains, fermentation products shifted from ethanol to lactate production and resulted in lower cell density and longer time to reach maximal cell density. In T. saccharolyticum, the adhE deletion strain lost >85% of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity. Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity did not appear to be affected, although ALDH activity was low in cell extracts. Adding ubiquinone-0 to the ALDH assay increased activity in the T. saccharolyticum parent strain but did not increase activity in the adhE deletion strain, suggesting that ALDH activity was inhibited. In C. thermocellum, the adhE deletion strain lost >90% of ALDH and ADH activity in cell extracts. The C. thermocellum adhE deletion strain contained a point mutation in the lactate dehydrogenase gene, which appears to deregulate its activation by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, leading to constitutive activation of lactate dehydrogenase. IMPORTANCE Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and Clostridium thermocellum are bacteria that have been investigated for their ability to produce biofuels from plant biomass. They have been engineered to produce higher yields of ethanol, yet questions remain about the enzymes responsible for ethanol formation in these bacteria. The genomes of these bacteria encode multiple predicted aldehyde and alcohol dehydrogenases which could be responsible for alcohol formation. This study explores the inactivation of adhE, a gene encoding a bifunctional alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase. Deletion of adhE reduced ethanol production by >95% in both T. saccharolyticum and C. thermocellum, confirming that adhE is necessary for ethanol formation in both organisms. In strains without adhE, we note changes in biochemical activity, product formation, and growth.

Cofactor Specificity of the Bifunctional Alcohol and Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (AdhE) in Wild-Type and Mutant Clostridium thermocellum and Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum

UNLABELLED Clostridium thermocellum and Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum are thermophilic bacteria that have been engineered to produce ethanol from the cellulose and hemicellulose fractions of biomass, respectively. Although engineered strains of T. saccharolyticum produce ethanol with a yield of 90% of the theoretical maximum, engineered strains of C. thermocellum produce ethanol at lower yields (∼50% of the theoretical maximum). In the course of engineering these strains, a number of mutations have been discovered in their adhE genes, which encode both alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzymes. To understand the effects of these mutations, the adhE genes from six strains of C. thermocellum and T. saccharolyticum were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, the enzymes produced were purified by affinity chromatography, and enzyme activity was measured. In wild-type strains of both organisms, NADH was the preferred cofactor for both ALDH and ADH activities. In high-ethanol-producing (ethanologen) strains of T. saccharolyticum, both ALDH and ADH activities showed increased NADPH-linked activity. Interestingly, the AdhE protein of the ethanologenic strain of C. thermocellum has acquired high NADPH-linked ADH activity while maintaining NADH-linked ALDH and ADH activities at wild-type levels. When single amino acid mutations in AdhE that caused increased NADPH-linked ADH activity were introduced into C. thermocellum and T. saccharolyticum, ethanol production increased in both organisms. Structural analysis of the wild-type and mutant AdhE proteins was performed to provide explanations for the cofactor specificity change on a molecular level. IMPORTANCE This work describes the characterization of the AdhE enzyme from different strains of C. thermocellum and T. saccharolyticum. C. thermocellum and T. saccharolyticum are thermophilic anaerobes that have been engineered to make high yields of ethanol and can solubilize components of plant biomass and ferment the sugars to ethanol. In the course of engineering these strains, several mutations arose in the bifunctional ADH/ALDH protein AdhE, changing both enzyme activity and cofactor specificity. We show that changing AdhE cofactor specificity from mostly NADH linked to mostly NADPH linked resulted in higher ethanol production by C. thermocellum and T. saccharolyticum.

Deletion of nfnAB in Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and Its Effect on Metabolism

UNLABELLED NfnAB catalyzes the reversible transfer of electrons from reduced ferredoxin and NADH to 2 NADP(+). The NfnAB complex has been hypothesized to be the main enzyme for ferredoxin oxidization in strains of Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum engineered for increased ethanol production. NfnAB complex activity was detectable in crude cell extracts of T. saccharolyticum. Activity was also detected using activity staining of native PAGE gels. The nfnAB gene was deleted in different strains of T. saccharolyticum to determine its effect on end product formation. In wild-type T. saccharolyticum, deletion of nfnAB resulted in a 46% increase in H2 formation but otherwise little change in other fermentation products. In two engineered strains with 80% theoretical ethanol yield, loss of nfnAB caused two different responses: in one strain, ethanol yield decreased to about 30% of the theoretical value, while another strain had no change in ethanol yield. Biochemical analysis of cell extracts showed that the ΔnfnAB strain with decreased ethanol yield had NADPH-linked alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity, while the ΔnfnAB strain with unchanged ethanol yield had NADH-linked ADH activity. Deletion of nfnAB caused loss of NADPH-linked ferredoxin oxidoreductase activity in all cell extracts. Significant NADH-linked ferredoxin oxidoreductase activity was seen in all cell extracts, including those that had lost nfnAB. This suggests that there is an unidentified NADH:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (distinct from nfnAB) playing a role in ethanol formation. The NfnAB complex plays a key role in generating NADPH in a strain that had become reliant on NADPH-ADH activity. IMPORTANCE Thermophilic anaerobes that can convert biomass-derived sugars into ethanol have been investigated as candidates for biofuel formation. Many anaerobes have been genetically engineered to increase biofuel formation; however, key aspects of metabolism remain unknown and poorly understood. One example is the mechanism for ferredoxin oxidation and transfer of electrons to NAD(P)(+). The electron-bifurcating enzyme complex NfnAB is known to catalyze the reversible transfer of electrons from reduced ferredoxin and NADH to 2 NADP(+) and is thought to play key roles linking NAD(P)(H) metabolism with ferredoxin metabolism. We report the first deletion of nfnAB and demonstrate a role for NfnAB in metabolism and ethanol formation in Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and show that this may be an important feature among other thermophilic ethanologenic anaerobes.

Engineering electron metabolism to increase ethanol production in Clostridium thermocellum

The NfnAB (NADH-dependent reduced ferredoxin: NADP+ oxidoreductase) and Rnf (ion-translocating reduced ferredoxin: NAD+ oxidoreductase) complexes are thought to catalyze electron transfer between reduced ferredoxin and NAD(P)+. Efficient electron flux is critical for engineering fuel production pathways, but little is known about the relative importance of these enzymes in vivo. In this study we investigate the importance of the NfnAB and Rnf complexes in Clostridium thermocellum for growth on cellobiose and Avicel using gene deletion, enzyme assays, and fermentation product analysis. The NfnAB complex does not seem to play a major role in metabolism, since deletion of nfnAB genes had little effect on the distribution of fermentation products. By contrast, the Rnf complex appears to play an important role in ethanol formation. Deletion of rnf genes resulted in a decrease in ethanol formation. Overexpression of rnf genes resulted in an increase in ethanol production of about 30%, but only in strains where the hydG hydrogenase maturation gene was also deleted.

Ferredoxin:NAD+ Oxidoreductase of Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and Its Role in Ethanol Formation

ABSTRACT Ferredoxin:NAD+ oxidoreductase (NADH-FNOR) catalyzes the transfer of electrons from reduced ferredoxin to NAD+. This enzyme has been hypothesized to be the main enzyme responsible for ferredoxin oxidization in the NADH-based ethanol pathway in Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum; however, the corresponding gene has not yet been identified. Here, we identified the Tsac_1705 protein as a candidate FNOR based on the homology of its functional domains. We then confirmed its activity in vitro with a ferredoxin-based FNOR assay. To determine its role in metabolism, the tsac_1705 gene was deleted in different strains of T. saccharolyticum. In wild-type T. saccharolyticum, deletion of tsac_1705 resulted in a 75% loss of NADH-FNOR activity, which indicated that Tsac_1705 is the main NADH-FNOR in T. saccharolyticum. When both NADH- and NADPH-linked FNOR genes were deleted, the ethanol titer decreased and the ratio of ethanol to acetate approached unity, indicative of the absence of FNOR activity. Finally, we tested the effect of heterologous expression of Tsac_1705 in Clostridium thermocellum and found improvements in both the titer and the yield of ethanol. IMPORTANCE Redox balance plays a crucial role in many metabolic engineering strategies. Ferredoxins are widely used as electron carriers for anaerobic microorganism and plants. This study identified the gene responsible for electron transfer from ferredoxin to NAD+, a key reaction in the ethanol production pathway of this organism and many other metabolic pathways. Identification of this gene is an important step in transferring the ethanol production ability of this organism to other organisms.

Correction for Lo et al., Deletion of nfnAB in Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and Its Effect on Metabolism.

Volume 197, no. 18, p. [2920–2929][1], 2015. Page 2920: The byline should read as given above. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1128/JB.00347-15

Ferredoxin:NAD+ oxidoreductase of Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and its role in ethanol formation [Identification of a ferredoxin:NAD+ oxidoreductase of Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum and its role in ethanol formation]

ABSTRACT Ferredoxin:NAD+ oxidoreductase (NADH-FNOR) catalyzes the transfer of electrons from reduced ferredoxin to NAD+. This enzyme has been hypothesized to be the main enzyme responsible for ferredoxin oxidization in the NADH-based ethanol pathway in Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum; however, the corresponding gene has not yet been identified. Here, we identified the Tsac_1705 protein as a candidate FNOR based on the homology of its functional domains. We then confirmed its activity in vitro with a ferredoxin-based FNOR assay. To determine its role in metabolism, the tsac_1705 gene was deleted in different strains of T. saccharolyticum. In wild-type T. saccharolyticum, deletion of tsac_1705 resulted in a 75% loss of NADH-FNOR activity, which indicated that Tsac_1705 is the main NADH-FNOR in T. saccharolyticum. When both NADH- and NADPH-linked FNOR genes were deleted, the ethanol titer decreased and the ratio of ethanol to acetate approached unity, indicative of the absence of FNOR activity. Finally, we tested the effect of heterologous expression of Tsac_1705 in Clostridium thermocellum and found improvements in both the titer and the yield of ethanol. IMPORTANCE Redox balance plays a crucial role in many metabolic engineering strategies. Ferredoxins are widely used as electron carriers for anaerobic microorganism and plants. This study identified the gene responsible for electron transfer from ferredoxin to NAD+, a key reaction in the ethanol production pathway of this organism and many other metabolic pathways. Identification of this gene is an important step in transferring the ethanol production ability of this organism to other organisms.