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Purification and Characterization of a Hemocyanin (Hemo1) with Potential Lignin-Modification Activities from the Wood-Feeding Termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki

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Abstract

Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki is a well-known wood-feeding termite, which can degrade not only cellulose and hemicellulose polysaccharides, but also some aromatic lignin polymers with its enzyme complex to the woody biomass. In this study, a very abundant protein was discovered and purified, using a three-step column chromatography procedure, from the tissue homogenate of the salivary glands and the gut of C. formosanus. Mass spectrometric analysis and the following peptide searching against the mRNA database toward this termite species indicated that the novel protein was a hemocyanin enzyme, termed as Hemo1, which further exhibited a strong oxidase activity in the substrate bioassays toward ABTS [2,2′-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)], as well as other aromatic analogues, such as catechol and veratryl alcohols. This oxidative protein was an acid-favored enzyme with a molecular weight at 82 kDa, and highly active at 80 °C. These findings indicated that the novel protein, hemocyanin, discovered from the gut system of C. formosanus, might be an important ligninolytic enzyme involved in the biomass pretreatment processing, which will potentially enhance the digestibility and utilization of biomass polysaccharides in termite digestive systems.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31201752), the Startup Foundation of Jiangsu University (11JDG109) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institution. JHDW acknowledges the supports of a grant (DEFG02-94ER20155) from the Office of Science (BES) and a grant (DE-FG02-08ER64692) from the Office of Science (BER), the US Department of Energy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biofuels Institute, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Rd., Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, China

    Haifang Qiu, Alei Geng, Daochen Zhu, Yilin Le, Jian Wu & Jianzhong Sun

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627-0166, USA

    Nienwen Chow & J. H. David Wu

Authors
  1. Haifang Qiu
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  2. Alei Geng
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  3. Daochen Zhu
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  4. Yilin Le
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  5. Jian Wu
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  7. J. H. David Wu
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Correspondence to Jianzhong Sun.

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Haifang Qiu and Alei Geng contributed equally to this work.

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Qiu, H., Geng, A., Zhu, D. et al. Purification and Characterization of a Hemocyanin (Hemo1) with Potential Lignin-Modification Activities from the Wood-Feeding Termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 175, 687–697 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-1326-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-1326-z

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