Abstract
Xylan, the major hemicellulose component of many plants, occurs naturally in a partially acetylated form and lignin, the most resistant component in plant cell wall degradation, is also attached to ${\beta}-1,4-linked-D-xylose$ backbone through the ester linkage. Esterases are required to release the esterified substituent and acetyl esterases are important in the complete degradation of acetylated polysaccharides, like pectins and xylans. The gene(Axe) encoding acetyl xylan estarase(AXE) was isolated from genomic ${\lambda}$ library from Aspergillus ficuum. Nucleotide sequencing of the Axe gene indicated that the gene was separated with two intervening sequences and the amino acid sequence comparison revealed that it was closely related to that from A. awamori with the 92 % indentity. Heterologous expression of AXE was conducted by using YEp352 and Saccharomyces cerevisae 2805 as a vector and host expression system, respectively. The Axe gene was placed between GAL1 promoter and GAL7 terminator and then this recombinant vector was used to transform S. cerevisiae 2805 strain. Culture filtrate of the transformed yeast was assayed for the presence of AXE activity by spectrophotometry and, comparing with the host strain, four to five times of enzyme activity was detected in culture filtrate of transformed yeast.
1. A. ficuum의 genomic library 검색을 통해 Axe 유전자를 포함하고 있는 5.0 kb의 XbaI DNA 절편을 cloning 했다. Cloning 된 절편의 부분 염기서열 결정 결과 약 1.4 kb의 AXE coding 부위를 확인했으며, cDNA cloning과 그 염기서열의 결정을 통해 AXE coding 부위 내에는 두 개의 intron 이 존재함이 확인되었다. 2. AXE coding 부위의 아미노산 잔기 서열 검색 결과 A. awamori의 AXE와 약 92%의 상동성과 95%의 유사성이 있음이 확인 되었다. 3. 약 900 kb의 AXE의 cDNA를 yeast의 YEp352 vector의 GAL1 promoter의 전사 방향으로 cloning한 후 발현시킨 결과 형질전환체에서 acetyl esterase 활성을 확인했으며, 활성도는 숙주균주에 비해 약 4-5배의 높은 OD unit로 나타내는 것을 확인할 수 있었다.
