Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic studies of an exo-β-D-glucosaminidase from Trichoderma reesei

Chitosan is degraded to glucosamine (GlcN) by chitosanase and exo-β-D-glucosaminidase (GlcNase). GlcNase from Trichoderma reesei (Gls93) is a 93 kDa extracellular protein composed of 892 amino acids. The enzyme liberates GlcN from the nonreducing end of the chitosan chain in an exo-type manner and belongs to glycoside hydrolase family 2. For crystallographic investigations, Gls93 was overexpressed in Pichia pastoris cells. The recombinant Gls93 had two molecular forms of ∼105 kDa (Gls93-F1) and ∼100 kDa (Gls93-F2), with the difference between them being caused by N-glycosylation. Both forms were crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystals of Gls93-F1 belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2₁2₁2₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 98.27, b = 98.42, c = 108.28 Å, and diffracted to 1.8 Å resolution. Crystals of Gls93-F2 belonged to the ortho­rhombic space group P2₁2₁2₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 67.84, b = 81.62, c = 183.14 Å, and diffracted to 2.4 Å resolution. Both crystal forms were suitable for X-ray structure analysis at high resolution.