A previously uncharacterized gene in Neosartorya fischeri was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. It was found to encode a beta-glucosidase (NfBGL1) distinguishable from other BGLs by its high turnover of p-nitrophenyl beta-D-glucopyranoside (pNPG). Molecular determinants for the substrate recognition of NfBGL1 were studied through an initial screening of residues by sequence alignment, a second screening by homology modeling and subsequent site-directed mutagenesis to alter individual screened residues. A conserved amino acid, E445, in the substrate binding pocket of wild-type NfBGL1 was identified as an important residue affecting substrate affinity. Replacement of E445 with amino acids other than aspartate significantly decreased the catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K-m) of NfBGL1 towards pNPG, mainly through decreased binding affinity. This was likely due to the disruption of hydrogen bonding between the substrate and the carboxylate oxygen of the residue at position 445. Density functional theory (DFT) based studies suggested that an acidic amino acid at position 445 raises the substrate affinity of NfBGL1 through hydrogen bonding. The residue E445 is completely conserved indicating that this position can be considered as a crucial determinant for the substrate binding among GHs tested. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.