Molecular cloning of cDNAs encoding two glycoside hydrolase family 7 cellobiohydrolases from the basidiomycete Flammulina velutipes

The basidiomycete Flammulina velutipes is one of the most popular edible mushrooms in Japan, and has the ability to grow on cellulosic biomass as a carbon source. In this study, we have isolated two enzymes belonging to glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 7 (FvCel7A and FvCel7B) from the cellulose-grown culture of the fungus, and cloned cDNAs encoding these enzymes by utilizing a transcriptomic database of this fungus. Although both enzymes contain a catalytic domain belonging to GH family 7, only FvCel7A has the family 1 carbohydrate-binding module at the C-terminal. Sequence comparison indicated that FvCel7A and FvCel7B have a similar pattern of disulfide bonds and similar active site architecture to other fungal GH family 7 enzymes, but show small differences at loop regions covering the active site, which may affect the reactivity of cellulosic substrates.