Highly Efficient Degradation of Xylan into Xylose by a Single Enzyme

Here, we report highly efficient degradation of xylan into xylose by a single multifunctional xylanolytic enzyme from the filamentous fungus Thermothelomyces thermophila (termed Ttxy43). Ttxy43 shows three different enzyme activities toward carbohydrates, β-xylosidase (80.8 U/mg), endoxylanase (105.42 U/mg), and α-l-arabinofuranosidase enzyme activities (15.81 U/mg). Analysis of the catalytic mode of action of Ttxy43 for birchwood-xylan (BWX) reveals that endoxylanase initially degrades xylan to unbranched xylooligosaccharides (XOSs) (xylobiose, xylotriose, xylotetraose) as intermediates, which are then quickly hydrolyzed into single xylose by β-xylosidase. Site-directed mutagenesis studies indicate that Ttxy43 residues Asp134 and Glu228 are essential catalytic sites, while Glu176, Asp38, and Asp85 play an accessory role. More importantly, Ttxy43 displays higher degradation efficiency in comparison with a commercial β-xylosidase and endoxylanase “cocktail”. These findings elucidate an efficient integrated degradation mechanism of xylan under industrial reaction conditions, which provides a novel strategy to design techniques for biomass energy production.