β-glucosidase catalyzing specific hydrolysis of an iridoid β-glucoside from Plumeria obtusa

An iridoid beta-glucoside, namely plumieride coumarate glucoside, was isolated from the Plumeria obtusa (white frangipani) flower. A beta-glucosidase, purified to homogeneity from P. obtusa, could hydrolyze plumieride coumarate glucoside to its corresponding 13-O-coumarylplumieride. Plumeria beta-glucosidase is a monomeric glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 60.6 kDa and an isoelectric point of 4.90. The purified beta-glucosidase had an optimum pH of 5.5 for p-nitrophenol (pNP)-beta-D-glucoside and for its natural substrate. The Km values for pNP-beta-D-glucoside and Plumeria beta-glucoside were 5.04 +/- 0.36 mM and 1.02 +/- 0.06 mM, respectively. The enzyme had higher hydrolytic activity towards pNP-beta-D-fucoside than pNP-beta-D-glucoside. No activity was found for other pNP-glycosides. Interestingly, the enzyme showed a high specificity for the glucosyl group attached to the C-7' position of the coumaryl moiety of plumieride coumarate glucoside. The enzyme showed poor hydrolysis of 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-glucoside and esculin, and did not hydrolyze alkyl-beta-glucosides, glucobioses, cyanogenic-beta-glucosides, steroid beta-glucosides, nor other iridoid beta-glucosides. In conclusion, the Plumeria beta-glucosidase shows high specificity for its natural substrate, plumieride coumarate glucoside.