Protein Information

Name beta glucosidase
Synonyms CBG; CBG; GLUC; CBGL 1; CBGL1; Cytosolic beta glucosidase; Cytosolic beta glucosidase like protein 1; GBA 3…

Compound Information

Name hydrogen cyanide
CAS hydrocyanic acid

Reference List

PubMed Abstract RScore(About this table)
9534258 Brimer L, Nout MJ, Tuncel G: Beta-glycosidase (amygdalase and linamarase) from Endomyces fibuliger (LU677): formation and crude enzyme properties. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 1998 Feb;49(2):182-8.

4(0,0,0,4) Details
16541336 Ballhorn DJ, Heil M, Lieberei R: Phenotypic plasticity of cyanogenesis in lima bean Phaseolus lunatus-activity and activation of beta-glucosidase. J Chem Ecol. 2006 Feb;32(2):261-75. Epub 2006 Mar 16.

3(0,0,0,3) Details
12842143 Gleadow RM, Vecchies AC, Woodrow IE: Cyanogenic Eucalyptus nobilis is polymorphic for both prunasin and specific beta-glucosidases. Phytochemistry. 2003 Jul;63(6):699-704.


Cyanogenesis (i.e. the evolution of HCN from damaged plant tissue) requires the presence of two biochemical pathways, one controlling synthesis of the cyanogenic glycoside and the other controlling the production of a specific degradative beta-glucosidase.
3(0,0,0,3) Details
8535788 Barrett T, Suresh CG, Tolley SP, Dodson EJ, Hughes MA: The crystal structure of a cyanogenic beta-glucosidase from white clover, a family 1 glycosyl hydrolase. Structure. 1995 Sep 15;3(9):951-60.

This results in the eventual production of hydrogen cyanide which acts as a deterrent to grazing animals. beta-glucosidases have been assigned to particular glycosyl hydrolase families on the basis of sequence similarity; this classification has placed CBG in family 1 (there are a total of over 40 families) for which a three-dimensional structure has so far not been determined.
2(0,0,0,2) Details
8381877 Tolley SP, Barrett TE, Suresh CG, Hughes MA: Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of the cyanogenic beta-glucosidase from the white clover Trifolium repens L. J Mol Biol. 1993 Feb 5;229(3):791-3.

2(0,0,0,2) Details
10634708 Lei V, Amoa-Awua WK, Brimer L: Degradation of cyanogenic glycosides by Lactobacillus plantarum strains from spontaneous cassava fermentation and other microorganisms. Int J Food Microbiol. 1999 Dec 15;53(2-3):169-84.


Good correlation between the beta-glucosidase activity found in the API zym screening and the ability to degrade the cyanogenic glycosides was found for the first three species mentioned.
2(0,0,0,2) Details
4291788 Haisman DR, Knight DJ: The enzymic hydrolysis of amygdalin. Biochem J. 1967 May;103(2):528-34.


Chromatographic examination has shown that the enzymic hydrolysis of amygdalin by an almond beta-glucosidase preparation proceeds consecutively: amygdalin was hydrolysed to prunasin and glucose; prunasin to mandelonitrile and glucose; mandelonitrile to benzaldehyde and hydrocyanic acid.
2(0,0,0,2) Details
16307283 Nielsen KA, Hrmova M, Nielsen JN, Forslund K, Ebert S, Olsen CE, Fincher GB, Moller BL: Reconstitution of cyanogenesis in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and its implications for resistance against the barley powdery mildew fungus. Planta. 2006 Apr;223(5):1010-23. Epub 2005 Nov 24.

Barley leaves are not cyanogenic, i.e. they do not possess the ability to release hydrogen cyanide, because they lack a cyanide releasing beta-D-glucosidase.
Cyanogenesis was reconstituted in barley leaf epidermal cells through single cell expression of a cDNA encoding dhurrinase-2, a cyanogenic beta-D-glucosidase from sorghum.
1(0,0,0,1) Details
2166729 Majak W, McDiarmid RE, Hall JW, Cheng KJ: Factors that determine rates of cyanogenesis in bovine ruminal fluid in vitro. J Anim Sci. 1990 Jun;68(6):1648-55.

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in ruminal fluid was determined with a modified method of HCN analysis that independently measured the overall rate of cyanogenesis and the nonenzymatic dissociation of cyanohydrins, the intermediate products in the degradation of cyanogenic glycosides to HCN.
Hence, cattle are most susceptible to poisoning by cyanogenic plants when the pH of ruminal fluid is elevated (for rapid dissociation) and also when the activity of microbial beta-glucosidase is adequate for rapid hydrolysis of glycosidic bonds.
1(0,0,0,1) Details
15856786 Alonso-Amelot ME, Oliveros-Bastidas A: Kinetics of the natural evolution of hydrogen cyanide in plants in neotropical Pteridium arachnoideum and its ecological significance. J Chem Ecol. 2005 Feb;31(2):315-31.

0(0,0,0,0) Details