A Novel Glycoside Hydrolase Family 113 Endo-β-1,4-Mannanase from Alicyclobacillus sp. Strain A4 and Insight into the Substrate Recognition and Catalytic Mechanism of This Family.

Few members of glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 113 have been characterized, and information on substrate recognition by and the catalytic mechanism of this family is extremely limited. In the present study, a novel endo-β-1,4-mannanase of GH 113, Man113A, was identified in thermoacidophilic Alicyclobacillus sp. strain A4 and found to exhibit both hydrolytic and transglycosylation activities. The enzyme had a broad substrate spectrum, showed higher activities on glucomannan than on galactomannan, and released mannobiose and mannotriose as the main hydrolysis products after an extended incubation. Compared to the only functionally characterized and structure-resolved counter part Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius ManA (AaManA) of GH 113, Man113A showed much higher catalytic efficiency on mannooligosaccharides, in the order mannohexaose ≈ mannopentaose > mannotetraose > mannotriose, and required at least four sugar units for efficient catalysis. Homology modeling, molecular docking analysis, and site-directed mutagenesis revealed the vital roles of eight residues (Trp13, Asn90, Trp96, Arg97, Tyr196, Trp274, Tyr292, and Cys143) related to substrate recognition by and catalytic mechanism of GH 113. Comparison of the binding pockets and key residues of β-mannanases of different families indicated that members of GH 113 and GH 5 have more residues serving as stacking platforms to support -4 to -1 subsites than those of GH 26 and that the residues preceding the acid/base catalyst are quite different. Taken as a whole, this study elucidates substrate recognition by and the catalytic mechanism of GH 113 β-mannanases and distinguishes them from counterparts of other families.