Improvement of Selenomonas ruminantium β-xylosidase thermostability by replacement of free buried cysteine 286

β- Xylosidase from Selenomonas ruminantium (SXA) is one of the most important enzyme for the hydrolysis of cell wall hemicellulose. SXA has potential utility in industrial processes especially production of bioethanol from bagasse. However، this xylosidase lose activ ity drastically above 50 °C. Each monomer of this homotetramer has four free buried cysteine. It seems that cysteine 286 has no role in protein function. In this study، to investigate effects of free buried cysteine on protein thermal stability، Cys 286 was replaced with the same size amino acid، valine. The mutant and native protein have expressed in Pichia pastoris. Kinetic and thermostability parameters of mutant were compared with the wild type enzyme. While pH optimum، temperature profile and catalytic efficiency of recombinant mutant were be found similar to native enzyme، mutant showed about 65% increase in thermostability respect to the wild type at 55 ˚C. Our results showed that free thiol group of cysteine caused the destabilization. Moreover، hydrophobic side chain of valine could involve in a hydrophobic interaction to stabilize SXA. Elimination of a free cysteine enhanced thermal stability without changing the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme that could be very important for biotechnological applications.