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Family 3 beta-glucosidases from Aspergillus niger with substitutions for Trp-49 result in the accumulation of very small amounts of transglucosidic adducts, compared to the large amounts that accumulate with wild type enzyme. On the other hand, the amounts of the hydrolytic products that form is decreased by only small amounts. Kinetic studies showed that the main reason for the decreased accumulation of transglucosidic intermediates is a large decrease in binding capacity for Glc at site +1 and an increase in binding ability at site-1. The hydrolytic catalytic constants (kcat(h)) of the substituted enzymes were 3 to 4-fold smaller than those of wild type enzymes, while the Km(h) values were less than 2-fold smaller. The catalytic constants of the transglucosidic reactions (kcat(t) values) were essentially unchanged, but the Km(t) values of the substituted enzymes were about 25-fold larger than those of wild type enzymes. These changes mean that the efficiencies of hydrolytic reactions (kcat(h)/Km(h)) of beta-glucosidases created through substitutions for Trp-49 are less than 2-fold smaller than those of wild type beta-glucosidase, but the efficiencies of the transglucosidic reactions (kcat(t)/Km(t)) of the substituted enzymes are 25 to 30-fold smaller. This results in a significantly decreased formation of transglucosidic intermediates. In addition, the high hydrolytic efficiencies of the substituted enzymes, cause even the very small amounts of transglucosidic intermediates that form to be rapidly hydrolyzed. The overall effect is a very small accumulation of intermediates.

Trp-262 of the Aspergillus niger family 3 beta-glucosidase is shown in this report to be a key residue for determining the ratio of this enzyme's hydrolytic and transglucosidic activities. TLC showed that when cellobiose was both the substrate and the acceptor, beta-glucosidases with substitutions (Phe, Ala, Leu, and Cys) for Trp-262 formed very high amounts of transglucosidic adducts. When pNPGlc was the substrate and the acceptor of the substituted beta-glucosidases, only transglucosidic adducts and pNP were produced. Little or no Glc could be detected, indicating that the reactions occurring were mainly transglucosidic. GLC studies with cellobiose quantitatively showed that one Glc was transferred for each free Glc produced. Since this is the maximum level of transglucosidation possible, this again showed that the reaction is predominantly transglucosidic. Analyses of the K(m) and K(i) values of cello-oligosaccharides of increasing length, of the K(i) values of Glc and of the transglucosidic activity at low acceptor concentration, showed that substitution for Trp-262 causes poor binding at the binding site for the non-reducing Glc of the substrate while the affinity for other Glc units is only minimally affected. The acceptor sites become saturated with substrate (acceptor) at the concentrations needed for glucosidic bond cleavage and thus only transglucosidic reactions occur. In addition, the data indicate that substitution for Trp-262 causes the rate of the hydrolysis step (k(3)) to be small.

The hydrolytic and transglucosidic reactions of the Aspergillus niger Family 3 beta-glucosidase were characterized. Michaelis-Menten plots of the rates of aglycone formation were normal (hyperbolic) at low [substrate]. However, at high [substrate] the rates decreased at pH below approximately 5.5 but increased at pH above approximately 5.5. Each decrease or increase took the form of a second hyperbola adjoining the first. Thin layer chromatography, gas-liquid chromatography, and NMR analyses indicated that the substrates became transglucosidic acceptors when present at high concentrations. When pNPGlc and cellobiose reacted as acceptors, the C6 hydroxyl of the non-reducing substrate component reacted to form beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-p-nitrophenol and beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-4)-D-glucopyranose, respectively. The acceptor action accounted for the second adjoining hyperbolas. Rate equations were derived for the production of the aglycone and the transglucosidic intermediate, and these equations described the data very well. Hydrolytic Vmax {Vmax(h)}, hydrolytic Km {Km(h)}, transglucosidic Vmax {Vmax(t)}, and transglucosidic Km {Km(t)} values were obtained by non-linear regression analysis using these equations. Vmax(h) pH profiles were bell shaped with optima between pH 4 and 4.5 but the Vmax(t) values did not change substantially between pH 3 and 7. These differences in the pH profiles explain the decreasing and increasing adjoining hyperbolas since Vmax(t) is lower than Vmax(h) at pH less than approximately 5.5 but higher than Vmax(h) at pH greater than approximately 5.5. The reason for these pH effects is that the value of the hydrolytic rate constant (k3) decreases while the value of the transglucosidic rate constant (k4) does not change between pH 3 and 7. The study also showed that gentiobiose forms by an intermolecular reaction of the C6 hydroxyl of Glc rather than an intramolecular reaction and that an equatorial orientation of the C2 hydroxyl, the presence of a C6 primary hydroxyl and beta-linkages with oligosaccharide acceptors are important for acceptor reactivity.