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    STUDIA BIOLOGIA - Issue no. 1 / 2019  
         
  Article:   CASTING LIGHT ON POLYSACCHAROLYTIC POTENTIAL OF HALOARCHAEA.

Authors:  MARGARITA SHEVCHENKO, VALERY LYSUN, STANISLAV SUKHIKH, ENZO MESSINA, MICHAIL YAKIMOV.
 
       
         
  Abstract:   The solar salterns located close to the island of Mozia (Sicily) represent a potential source of halophilic glycoside hydrolases capable of degrading insoluble natural polysaccharides such as chitin, cellulose and xylan. This research aimed at searching for new hydrolytic enzymes. In 2017, we collected endoevaporitic sediments from various evaporation ponds with a salinity 170-270 PSU. Halophilic archaea and bacteria from the samples were enriched and cultivated on mineral medium (240 PSU) with the addition of chitin, as the sole carbon source. To get insights into metabolic capacities of the enrichment with the greatest hydrolytic activity, we performed shotgun metagenome analysis. The analysis for the searching of genes encoding chitinase-related domains was done using CAZy database, HMMER and dbCAN. As a result, the archaeal genome of Halomicrobium sp. LC1Hm was assembled. Halomicrobium sp. LC1Hm contains high number of genes apparently involved in polysaccharide metabolism, including genes coding for 26 glycosyl hydrolases (GHs), seven of which belong to class III of GH18 family (EC 3.2.1.14). All of inferred GHs possess the N-terminal Tat-secretion signals and the ChtBD3 chitin-binding domains. This type of endochitinases breaks down the chitin microfibrils at internal sites forming low molecular weight chitodextrins. These are the substrates for a putative extracellular GH20 family protein Hmb_0796, annotated as β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (EC 3.2.1.52). We foresee strong biotechnological importance of the project’s outcomes due to developing novel methods for processing insoluble natural polymers.

Keywords: alophiles, halophilic glycoside hydrolases, metagenomic sequencing.
 
         
     
         
         
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