Jodi Hadden
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia

Sunday, February 16, 2014
3:00 pm (CT)
3269 Beckman Institute

Abstract

Part I Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of cellulose microfibrils are pertinent to the paper, textile, and biofuels industries for their unique capacity to characterize dynamic behavior and atomic-level interactions with solvent molecules and cellulase enzymes. While high-resolution crystallographic data have established a solid basis for computational analysis of cellulose, previous work has demonstrated a tendency for modeled microfibrils to diverge from the linear experimental structure and adopt a twisted conformation. Here, we investigate the dependence of this twisting behavior on computational approximations and establish the theoretical basis for its occurrence. We examine the role of solvent, the effect of nonbonded force field parameters [partial charges and van der Waals (vdW) contributions], and the use of explicitly modeled oxygen lone pairs in both the solute and solvent. Findings suggest that microfibril twisting is favored by vdW interactions, and counteracted by both intrachain hydrogen bonds and solvent effects at the microfibril surface. Part II Previous studies of calculated diffraction patterns for cellulose crystallites suggest that distortions that arise once models have been subjected to molecular dynamics (MD) simulation are the result of both microfibril twisting and changes in unit cell dimensions induced by the empirical force field; to date, it has not been possible to separate the individual contributions of these effects. To provide a better understanding of how twisting manifests in diffraction data, the present study demonstrates a method for generating twisted and linear cellulose structures that can be compared without the bias of dimensional changes, allowing assessment of the impact of twisting alone. Analysis of unit cell dimensions, microfibril volume, hydrogen bond patterns, glycosidic torsion angles, and hydroxymethyl group orientations confirmed that the twisted and linear structures collected with this method were internally consistent, and theoretical powder diffraction patterns for the two were shown to be effectively indistinguishable. These results indicate that differences between calculated patterns for the crystal coordinates and twisted structures from MD simulation can result entirely from changes in unit cell dimensions, and not from microfibril twisting. Although powder diffraction patterns for models in the 81-chain size regime were shown to be unaffected by twisting, suggesting that a modest degree of twist is not inconsistent with available crystallographic data, it may be that other diffraction techniques are capable of detecting this structural difference. Until such time as definitive experimental evidence comes to light, the results of this study suggest that both twisted and linear microfibrils may represent an appropriate model for cellulose Iβ.