Applied and environmental microbiology
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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. · Jun 2020
The Homogalacturonan Deconstruction System of Paenibacillus amylolyticus 27C64 Requires No Extracellular Pectin Methylesterase and Has Significant Industrial Potential.
Paenibacillus amylolyticus 27C64, a Gram-positive bacterium with diverse plant cell wall polysaccharide deconstruction capabilities, was isolated previously from an insect hindgut. Previous work suggested that this organism's pectin deconstruction system differs from known systems in that its sole pectin methylesterase is cytoplasmic, not extracellular. In this work, we have characterized the specific roles of key extracellular pectinases involved in homogalacturonan deconstruction, including four pectate lyases and one pectin lyase. ⋯ This work is significant because it focuses on a Gram-positive bacterium that is evolutionarily distinct from other well-studied pectin-degrading organisms and differs from known systems in key ways. Most importantly, a simplified extracellular deconstruction process in this organism is able to break down pectins without first removing the methyl groups that inhibit other systems. Moreover, some of the enzymes described here have the potential to improve industrial processes that rely on pectin deconstruction.