Characterization of the Wild-Type and Truncated Forms of a Neutral GH10 Xylanase from Coprinus cinereus: Roles of C-Terminal Basic Amino Acid-Rich Extension in Its SDS Resistance, Thermostability, and Activity

A neutral xylanase (CcXyn) was identified from Coprinus cinereus. It has a single GH10 catalytic domain with a basic amino acid-rich extension (PVRRK) at the C-terminus. In this study, the wild-type (CcXyn) and C-terminus-truncated xylanase ($CcXyn-{\Delta}5C$) were heterologously expressed in Pichia pastoris and their characteristics were comparatively analyzed with aims to examine the effect of this extension on the enzyme function. The circular dichorism analysis indicated that both enzymes in general had a similar structure, but $CcXyn-{\Delta}5C$ contained less ${\alpha}-helices$ (42.9%) and more random coil contents (35.5%) than CcXyn (47.0% and 32.8%, respectively). Both enzymes had the same pH (7.0) and temperature ($45^{\circ}C$) optima, and similar substrate specificity on different xylans. They all hydrolyzed beechwood xylan primarily to xylobiose and xylotriose. The amounts of xylobiose and xylotriose accounted for 91.5% and 92.2% (w/w) of total xylooligosaccharides (XOS) generated from beechwood by CcXyn and $CcXyn-{\Delta}5C$, respectively. However, truncation of the C-terminal 5-amino-acids extension significantly improved the thermostability, SDS resistance, and pH stability at pH 6.0-9.0. Furthermore, $CcXyn-{\Delta}5C$ exhibited a much lower $K_m$ value than CcXyn (0.27 mg/ml vs 0.83 mg/ml), and therefore, the catalytic efficiency of $CcXyn-{\Delta}5C$ was 2.4-times higher than that of CcXyn. These properties make $CcXyn-{\Delta}5C$ a good model for the structure-function study of $({\alpha}/{\beta})_8$-barrel-folded enzymes and a promising candidate for various applications, especially in the detergent industry and XOS production.