Characterization of two β-xylosidases from Bifidobacterium adolescentis and their contribution to the hydrolysis of prebiotic xylooligosaccharides

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2011 Dec;92(6):1179-85. doi: 10.1007/s00253-011-3396-y. Epub 2011 Jun 21.

Abstract

Xylooligosaccharides have strong bifidogenic properties and are increasingly used as a prebiotic. Nonetheless, little is known about the degradation of these substrates by bifidobacteria. We characterized two recombinant β-xylosidases, XylB and XylC, with different substrate specificities from Bifidobacterium adolescentis. XylB is a novel β-xylosidase that belongs to the recently introduced glycoside hydrolase family 120. In contrast to most reported β-xylosidases, it shows only weak activity on xylobiose and prefers xylooligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization above two. The remaining xylobiose is efficiently hydrolyzed by the second B. adolescentis β-xylosidase, XylC, a glycoside hydrolase of family 43. Furthermore, XylB releases more xylose from arabinose-substituted xylooligosaccharides than XylC (30% and 20%, respectively). The different specificities of XylB, XylC, and the recently described reducing-end xylose-releasing exo-oligoxylanase RexA show how B. adolescentis can efficiently degrade prebiotic xylooligosaccharides.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Bifidobacterium / chemistry
  • Bifidobacterium / enzymology*
  • Bifidobacterium / genetics
  • Enzyme Stability
  • Hydrolysis
  • Kinetics
  • Oligosaccharides / chemistry*
  • Oligosaccharides / metabolism
  • Prebiotics / analysis*
  • Substrate Specificity
  • Xylose / chemistry*
  • Xylose / metabolism
  • Xylosidases / chemistry*
  • Xylosidases / genetics
  • Xylosidases / metabolism

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Oligosaccharides
  • Prebiotics
  • Xylose
  • Xylosidases