6TGF

Pantoea stewartii WceF is a glycan biofilm modifying enzyme with a bacteriophage tailspike-like parallel beta-helix fold

Summary for 6TGF

• Entry DOI: 10.2210/pdb6tgf/pdb
• Descriptor: Exopolysaccharide biosynthesis protein, TETRAETHYLENE GLYCOL, 1,2-ETHANEDIOL, ... (4 entities in total)
• Functional Keywords: wcef, beta-helix, tailspike-like, hydrolase
• Biological source: Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii DC283
• Total number of polymer chains: 3
• Total formula weight: 244527.96

Authors

Irmscher, T.,Roske, Y.,Gayk, I.,Heinemann, U.,Barbirz, S. (deposition date: 2019-11-15, release date: 2020-11-25, Last modification date: 2024-05-15)

Primary citation

Irmscher, T.,Roske, Y.,Gayk, I.,Dunsing, V.,Chiantia, S.,Heinemann, U.,Barbirz, S.
Pantoea stewartii WceF is a glycan biofilm-modifying enzyme with a bacteriophage tailspike-like fold.
J.Biol.Chem., 296:100286-100286, 2021

PubMed Abstract: Pathogenic microorganisms often reside in glycan-based biofilms. Concentration and chain length distribution of these mostly anionic exopolysaccharides (EPS) determine the overall biophysical properties of a biofilm and result in a highly viscous environment. Bacterial communities regulate this biofilm state via intracellular small-molecule signaling to initiate EPS synthesis. Reorganization or degradation of this glycan matrix, however, requires the action of extracellular glycosidases. So far, these were mainly described for bacteriophages that must degrade biofilms for gaining access to host bacteria. The plant pathogen Pantoea stewartii (P. stewartii) encodes the protein WceF within its EPS synthesis cluster. WceF has homologs in various biofilm forming plant pathogens of the Erwinia family. In this work, we show that WceF is a glycosidase active on stewartan, the main P. stewartii EPS biofilm component. WceF has remarkable structural similarity with bacteriophage tailspike proteins (TSPs). Crystal structure analysis showed a native trimer of right-handed parallel β-helices. Despite its similar fold, WceF lacks the high stability found in bacteriophage TSPs. WceF is a stewartan hydrolase and produces oligosaccharides, corresponding to single stewartan repeat units. However, compared with a stewartan-specific glycan hydrolase of bacteriophage origin, WceF showed lectin-like autoagglutination with stewartan, resulting in notably slower EPS cleavage velocities. This emphasizes that the bacterial enzyme WceF has a role in P. stewartii biofilm glycan matrix reorganization clearly different from that of a bacteriophage exopolysaccharide depolymerase.

PubMed: 33450228
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100286

Experimental method

X-RAY DIFFRACTION (2.55 Å)