Chemicals, vectors and genes
All chemicals were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA), Carl Roth (Karlsruhe, DE) or VWR (Radnor, PA, USA) in the highest purity available. Reagents for molecular biological methods were obtained from New England Biolabs (NEB, Ipswich, MA, USA). The nucleotide sequence of PcCDH including its native signal peptide was obtained from GenBank (entry U46081.1) that contains the cDNA cloned from Phanerochaete chrysosporium strain OGC101 (a derivative of VKM-F-1767) [37]. The coding region of the cDNA flanked by a BclI restriction site on the 5’-end and NotI on the 3’-end for further cloning experiments, was synthesized by BioCat GmbH (Heidelberg, DE) and provided in a pPICZ A plasmid. As expression vector, the plasmid pLH_hph_nat (Figure S1) – a modified version of the plasmid pPcdna1 [22] – was used for transforming and expressing the Pccdh in T. reesei. Purified H2O (> 18 MΩ cm) was obtained from a SG system (Barsbüttel, GER) feeded with deionized water.
Strains and media
For vector construction and amplification, chemically competent E. coli strain NEB 5α and methyltransferase-deficient (dam−/dcm−) chemically competent E. coli cells were purchased from NEB. E. coli cultures were grown at 37 °C in liquid LB (lysogeny broth) medium or on agar-containing LB plates supplemented with suitable selection marker (100 µg mL− 1 ampicillin, 25 µg mL− 1 zeocin). Protein expression was carried out in Trichoderma reesei strain Δxyr1 [23] that was grown on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates. Selection and growth of transformants was maintained on PDA plates containing 50 µg mL− 1 hygromycin B. Expression of PcCDHTr was performed in modified Mandels-Andreotti (MA) medium containing 10 g L− 1 glucose, 1.4 g L− 1 (NH4)2SO4, 4.0 g L− 1 KH2PO4, 0.3 g L− 1 urea, 0.3 g L− 1 MgSO4·7H2O, 0.4 g L− 1, CaCl2·2H2O, 1 g L− 1 peptone, and 1% (v/v) of trace element solution (0.5 g L− 1 FeSO4·7H2O, 0.16 g L− 1 MnSO4·H2O, 0.14 g L− 1 ZnSO4·7H2O, 0.2 g L− 1 CoCl2·2H2O), titrated to pH 6.0 and inoculated with 106 spores mL− 1. The production of PcCDH by Phanerochaete chrysosporium K3 (a kind gift of the late Prof. Jindřich Volc, Inst. of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences) was done in a medium containing 30 g L− 1 α-cellulose, 30 g L− 1 yeast extract and 1 g L− 1 MgSO4 ⋅7 H2O titrated with H3PO4 to pH 5.0.
Construction of T. reesei expression vector
The expression vector pLH_hph_nat was amplified in E. coli strain NEB 5α, purified using the Monarch® Plasmid Miniprep Kit (NEB) and digested with restriction enzymes BglII and NotI from NEB according to their Double Digest Protocol. Plasmid pPICZ A carrying the gene encoding for PcCDH was amplified in methyltransferase-deficient (dam−/dcm−) chemically competent E. coli cells because the BclI restriction site on the 5’-terminus is blocked by methylated DNA. Purification of the plasmid was again performed with the Monarch® Plasmid Miniprep Kit and the gene cut from the pPICZ A vector backbone using restriction enzymes BclI and NotI. Since BclI and BglII create the same overhangs, the gene fragment could be ligated into pLH_hph_nat using T4 DNA ligase. Successful cloning was verified by agarose gel electrophoreses and DNA sequencing with primers 5pLHseq1 and 3pLHseq1 (Microsynth, Balgach, CH). For transformation, the ligated plasmid was linearized with SbfI.
Table 4
Nucleotide sequences of primers used in this study.
Primer name
|
Sequence (5’ to 3’)
|
5pLHseq1
|
GCCGGCTTCAAAACACACAG
|
3pLHseq1
|
CAACATAGCATGTCTTATATATTAAGCC
|
3PcCDH_colPCR
|
CCTCTCCGATGAACTCAGTGG
|
Transformation into T. reesei Δxyr1
T. reesei transformation was done by electroporation using the SbfI-cut DNA plasmid. T.reesei strain Δxyr1 was cultivated on PDA plates for 7 days at 30 °C until the plate was fully sporulated. The spores were harvested with sterile, purified H2O, filtered through glass-wool to remove mycelium and centrifuged at 3000 ⋅ g for 3 min at 4 °C. After removing the supernatant, the spores were washed with 1 M 4 °C-cold sorbitol solution twice and resuspended in 100 µL 1 M cold sorbitol solution to obtain a dark-green spore suspension. The linearized plasmid (2.8 µg) was added to 100 µL spore suspension and electroporation carried out in a 0.1 cm electroporation cuvette with an applied voltage of 2.1 kV (MicroPulser Electroporator, Bio-Rad). The spores were immediately resuspended in 1 mL CML (Complete Media Lactose) medium containing 5 g L− 1 yeast extract, 5 g L− 1 tryptone and 10 g L− 1 lactose, and transferred into one well of a 12-well plate. The plate was covered with a breathable sealing film and incubated for 48 h at room temperature on daylight to recover the cells. Finally, the spore suspension was plated in various concentrations onto selective PDA plates containing 100 µg mL− 1 hygromycin B for antibiotic selection and 0.1% Triton X-100 as colony restrictor. Colonies appeared after 3 days and were further cultivated separately on PDA plates containing 50 µg mL− 1 hygromycin B and 50 µg mL− 1 streptomycin (PDAhyg/strep plates).
Transformants were screened in 300-mL Erlenmeyer flasks in 75 mL of a modified MA-medium at 30 °C and 175 rpm for 7 days. The samples were monitored and tested for enzyme activity using the cytochrome c activity assay.
Genomic DNA extraction and colony PCR
Genomic DNA was extracted from a small amount of mycelium collected from a PDA plate. It was put into a screw-cap microfuge tube together with 0.5-mm glass beads and disrupted using a Precellys 24 homogenizer. Three cycles at 5000 rpm were performed for 60 s with suspending for 5 s. Subsequently, 150 µL of 25 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.0 containing 50 mM glucose and 10 mM EDTA was added and the tube inverted 5 times. It was centrifuged for 1 min at 9500 x g and the supernatant transferred to another tube. For a cleaner sample, the centrifugation was repeated. Fivehundred µL of isopropanol was added to the clear supernatant and incubated at -20 °C for 2 h. The DNA precipitate was centrifuged at 9500 x g and 4 °C for 10 min and washed with 4 °C-cold 70% ethanol. The pellet was dried at 60 °C for 30 min and re-suspended in 30 µL purified H2O.
ColonyPCR was performed with OneTaq DNA polymerase from NEB according to the manufacturer’s manual. As forward primer, the sequencing primer (5pLHseq1, Table 4) that attaches in the promoter region was used. The reverse primer (3PcCDH_colPCR, Table 4) was designed to obtain a 300-bp fragment at the beginning of the gene. The PCR was analyzed by gel electrophoresis using 0.8% agarose gel, Gel Loading Dye (6X, NEB) and 2-Log DNA Ladder (NEB) in a horizontal Mini-Sub Cell electrophoresis system (Bio-Rad).
Production of PcCDH
Expression of PcCDHTr in T. reesei was performed in 8 1-L Erlenmeyer flasks in 200 mL modified MA-medium containing 50 µg mL− 1 streptomycin and 25 µg mL− 1 chloramphenicol.
Spores were harvested from 8days-old PDAhyg/strep plates with NaCl-Tween 80 solution (0.9% NaCl, 0.06% Tween 80) and each flask was inoculated to a final spore concentration of 1 × 106 mL− 1. The cultures were incubated at 30 °C and 160 rpm. Samples were taken, cleared by centrifugation (13500 x g, 10 min, 4 °C) and tested for activity using the cytochrome c activity assay.
The production of PcCDH by P. chrysosporium was performed in 1-L Erlenmeyer flasks placed in an orbital shaker at 130 rpm (2.5 cm eccentricity) and 30 °C. As inoculum, a 1-cm2 slab of a five days old culture on PDA was used and homogenized with an Ultra Turrax blender in 250 mL of the medium. The supernatant was harvested after eleven days of growth when exhibiting maximum DCIP activity (130 U L− 1) and cytochrome c activity (130 U L− 1).
Purification of PcCDH
The shaking flask cultures were harvested by centrifugation (6500 x g, 30 min, 4 °C) and vacuum-filtration through a cellulose-filter. The supernatant of each flask was tested for cytochrome c activity and pooled for further purification.
As first purification step, hydrophobic interaction chromatography was performed. Solid ammonium sulfate was added to the pooled supernatant to reach 25% saturation and the suspension was cleared from particles by centrifugation (6500 x g, 30 min, 4 °C) and filtration. The sample was loaded to a Phenyl Sepharose FF hydrophobic column (250 mL, GE Healthcare) equilibrated with 50 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 5.5 containing 25% (satd.) (NH4)2SO4. A linear gradient from 25 to 0% (NH4)2SO4 in 10 mM sodium acetate buffer (pH 5.5) in 4 column volumes was applied and the protein eluted at 5% (NH4)2SO4. Active fractions were pooled, concentrated and dialyzed against 20 mM MES buffer, pH 6.0 containing 25 mM NaCl using a Vivaflow®50 crossflow module. The sample was applied to a Source 15Q anion exchange column (19 mL, GE Healthcare) equilibrated with the same buffer. The enzymes were eluted with a linear gradient from 25 to 500 mM NaCl in 10 column volumes at a flow rate of 1 mL min− 1. PcCDHTr eluted at 135 mM NaCl. Fractions were pooled according to cytochrome c activity and RZ (A420/A280) value. The enzyme solution was dialyzed against 50 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 5.5 and concentrated using a Vivaflow®50 crossflow module with a cut-off of 30 kDa. The molecular weight of the recombinant protein was determined by SDS-PAGE. PcCDH obtained from P. chrysosporium cultures was purified with the same procedure and resulted in an enzyme preparation with an RZ-value of 0.59.
Electrophoretic analysis
SDS-PAGE analysis was carried out by using Mini-PROTEAN TGX Stain-Free precast gels (Bio-Rad) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For determination of the molecular mass, the Precision Plus Protein Dual Color Standard marker (Bio-Rad) was used. The deglycosylation of recombinant and native CDHs was carried out with Endo Hf from NEB according to their protocol.
MS analysis of glycosylation sites
The samples were digested in solution. The proteins were S-alkylated with iodoacetamide and digested with Trypsin (Promega, Madison, WI). The digested samples were loaded on a BioBasic C18 column (BioBasic-18, 150 × 0.32 mm, 5 µm, Thermo Scientific, Waltham, MA) using 80 mM ammonium formiate buffer as the aqueous solvent. A gradient from 5% B (B: 80% acetonitrile) to 40% B in 45 min was applied, followed by a 15-min gradient from 40% B to 90% B that facilitates elution of large peptides, at a flow rate of 6 µL min− 1. Detection was performed with QTOF MS (Bruker maXis 4G) equipped with the standard ESI source in positive ion, DDA mode (= switching to MSMS mode for eluting peaks). MS-scans were recorded (range: 150–2200 Da) and the 3 highest peaks were selected for fragmentation. Instrument calibration was performed using ESI calibration mixture (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA). The 6 possible glycopeptides were identified as sets of peaks consisting of the peptide moiety and the attached N-glycan varying in the number of HexNAc units, hexose and phosphate residues. The theoretical masses of these glycopeptides were determined with an EXCEL spread sheet using the monoisotopic masses for amino acids and monosaccharides. Manual glycopeptide searches were made using DataAnalysis 4.0 (Bruker, Billerica, MA). Potential glycosylation sites were determined using the online prediction tool provided by the Department of Bio and Health Informatics from the Technical University of Denmark (http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/NetNGlyc).
Spectrophotometry
The FAD occupancy was determined by the method of trichloroacetic acid (TCA) precipitation. TCA was added to 60 µM purified enzyme to a final concentration of 5%. The mixture was heavily mixed for 2 min and cleared by centrifugation (16000 ⋅ g, 10 min). The supernatant was adjusted to pH 5.5 by adding grains of Na2CO3. After another centrifugation step, a spectrum of the supernatant was recorded. The amount of FAD was calculated using the molar absorption coefficient for free FAD (ε450 = 11.3 mM− 1cm− 1). The CDH concentration was calculated from the absorbance at 280 nm. The molar absorption coefficient of the protein (ε280 = 142 mM− 1cm− 1) was determined by the ProtParam tool (https://web.expasy.org/protparam) based on the mature amino acid sequence of PcCDH. The FAD co-factor also contributes to the absorbance at 280 nm. Therefore, the molar absorption coefficient of free FAD at 280 nm (ε280 = 20.6 mM− 1cm− 1) was added proportionally to the FAD loading, resulting in a molar absorption coefficient of 156.4 mM− 1cm− 1 for PcCDHTr (70% FAD occupancy) and 162.6 mM− 1cm− 1 for PcCDH (100% FAD occupancy) used for the calculation of the protein concentration.
UV/Vis spectra were recorded from 250 to 700 nm with 70 µM purified enzyme in 20 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 4.0. For measuring the reduced spectrum, 1 mM cellobiose (final concentration) was added to the enzyme solution.
Activity assays and steady-state kinetic measurements
The catalytic activity in the expression cultures was monitored photometrically by following cytochrome c (ε550 = 19.6 mM− 1 cm− 1) reduction at 550 nm. The assay was performed in 100 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 4.5 containing 30 mM lactose as substrate and 20 µM cytochrome c as electron acceptor. The reaction was followed for 180 s at 30 °C.
The pH profiles were measured in 100 mM Britton-Robinson buffer (pH range 2.5–8) containing 500 µM cellobiose as substrate. Twenty µM of cytochrome c, 300 µM of 2,6-dichloroindophenol (DCIP, ε520 = 6.9 mM− 1 cm− 1), or 500 µM of 1,4-benzoquinone (ε290 = 2.24 mM− 1 cm− 1) were used as electron acceptors, and the reaction followed at 550, 520, or 290 nm, respectively.
The catalytic constants for cytochrome c were determined in 50 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 4.0 with 500 µM cellobiose as saturating substrate and a cytochrome c concentration ranging from 0.125 to 20 µM. Catalytic constants for DCIP were measured in 50 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 4.5 with 500 µM cellobiose as saturating substrate and a DCIP concentration between 0.5 and 100 µM. The determination of the catalytic constants for electron donors was performed with 300 µM DCIP in 50 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 4.5. The cellobiose concentration was varied between 10 and 800 µM, lactose was measured between 0.25 and 80 mM and for glucose a range from 0.1 to 2.6 M was used. Catalytic constants were calculated by fitting the measured data to the Michaelis–Menten equation using a non-linear least squares regression in SigmaPlot 12.0 (Systat Software). All measurements were performed in triplicates.
The determination of the reaction rates of mono- and di-substituted 1,4-benzoquinones was performed in 50 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 4.0 with 0.5 mM cellobiose as substrate and 50 µM of the respective quinone (2,5-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone was measured with 38 µM due to solubility reasons). Five mM stock solutions of 1,4-benzoquinone, methyl-1,4-benzoquinone and methoxy-1,4-benzoquinone were prepared in water. 2,6-Dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone and 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone were prepared as 5 mM stock solutions in DMSO, 2,5-dimethoxy-benzoquinone as 1 mM stock solution in DMSO. Their reaction was followed using their respective molar absorption coefficients: ε246 = 20.30 mM− 1 cm− 1, ε251 = 21.45 mM− 1 cm− 1, ε256 = 15.29 mM− 1 cm− 1, ε257 = 18.04 mM− 1 cm− 1, ε292 = 13.68 mM− 1 cm− 1, and ε281 = 25.96 mM− 1 cm− 1 nm.
Redox potential of PcCDHTr
Preparation of CDH-thiol-modified gold electrodes (Ø 3 mm, BAS Inc,) started with mechanical cleaning of the electrode by polishing in an aqueous alumina suspension (Masterprep 0.05 µm, Buehler, DE), rinsed with purified H2O and sonicated in purified H2O for 10 min to remove residual alumina particles. The electrodes were then subjected to electrochemical cleaning in 0.5 M H2SO4 for 20 cycles with a scan rate of 200 mV s− 1, between − 250 and 1700 mV versus Ag/AgCl using cyclic voltammetry, and finally rinsed with purified H2O. Thiol pretreatment of the gold electrodes was achieved by immersion in 15 mM 1thioglycerol in 96% ethanol for 90 min to form a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on the gold surface. Then, 2 µL of enzyme (5 mg mL− 1) solution was smeared onto the thiol-modified electrodes. The entrapment of enzyme was achieved by covering the electrode with a dialysis membrane (cut-off 6000–8000 Da) which is fitted tightly to the electrode with a rubber O-ring. The assembly was then sealed with parafilm, leaving out the electrode surface. The electrochemical measurements were performed using an Autolab PGSTAT204 potentiostat (Metrohm). Modified gold electrode, platinum wire, and Ag/AgCl were used as the working-, counter-, and reference (+ 205 mV vs. NHE at 25 ˚C) electrodes, respectively. All measurements were performed at room temperature in 100 mM potassium-phosphate buffer, pH 6.0 containing 100 mM potassium chloride. The electrolytes of different pH values for midpoint potential measurements were prepared by titration of 1M NaOH into a universal buffer solution of the following composition: 10 mM acetate, 10 mM phosphate, and 100 mM KCl. The electrolyte was always purged with nitrogen for 15 min prior to the experiment, and a stream of nitrogen was maintained during the measurement.