Assembly of Ruminococcus flavefaciens cellulosome revealed by structures of two cohesin-dockerin complexes

Sci Rep. 2017 Apr 7;7(1):759. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-00919-w.

Abstract

Cellulosomes are sophisticated multi-enzymatic nanomachines produced by anaerobes to effectively deconstruct plant structural carbohydrates. Cellulosome assembly involves the binding of enzyme-borne dockerins (Doc) to repeated cohesin (Coh) modules located in a non-catalytic scaffoldin. Docs appended to cellulosomal enzymes generally present two similar Coh-binding interfaces supporting a dual-binding mode, which may confer increased positional adjustment of the different complex components. Ruminococcus flavefaciens' cellulosome is assembled from a repertoire of 223 Doc-containing proteins classified into 6 groups. Recent studies revealed that Docs of groups 3 and 6 are recruited to the cellulosome via a single-binding mode mechanism with an adaptor scaffoldin. To investigate the extent to which the single-binding mode contributes to the assembly of R. flavefaciens cellulosome, the structures of two group 1 Docs bound to Cohs of primary (ScaA) and adaptor (ScaB) scaffoldins were solved. The data revealed that group 1 Docs display a conserved mechanism of Coh recognition involving a single-binding mode. Therefore, in contrast to all cellulosomes described to date, the assembly of R. flavefaciens cellulosome involves single but not dual-binding mode Docs. Thus, this work reveals a novel mechanism of cellulosome assembly and challenges the ubiquitous implication of the dual-binding mode in the acquisition of cellulosome flexibility.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / chemistry*
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / metabolism*
  • Cellulosomes / chemistry*
  • Cellulosomes / metabolism*
  • Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / chemistry*
  • Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / metabolism*
  • Cohesins
  • Hydrogen Bonding
  • Models, Molecular
  • Multiprotein Complexes / chemistry
  • Multiprotein Complexes / metabolism
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Conformation
  • Ruminococcus / metabolism*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Thermodynamics

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone
  • Multiprotein Complexes