Author
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Whitehead, Terence |
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Submitted to: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 2/27/1995 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: The breakdown and digestion of the fiber portion of plants requires several different enzymatic activities. These enzymes are produced by bacteria that live in the intestinal tracts of humans and other mammals. I have been studying the production and regulation of enzymes that break down fiber in a particular bacterium that lives in the human intestinal tract, and I have previously isolated the genes that produce these enzymes. I am now reporting on the DNA sequences that encode the information for the production of the fiber-degrading enzymes, which allows us to compare the gene and protein sequences with other similar fiber-degrading enzyme from other bacteria. This is the first report of gene sequences from this particular fiber-degrading bacterium. Technical Abstract: The nucleotide sequences of the xylI and xsa genes of Bacteroides ovatus V975, encoding xylanase and xylosidase activities, were determined. Both genes are part of a xylan-inducible operon, the sequenced region of which also contains a partial open reading frame upstream of the xylanase gene. Deduced amino acid sequence similarity analyses indicate that the xylanase belongs to the Family F series of glycosyl hydrolases. |
