Elucidation of the mechanism underlying the sequential catalysis of inulin by fructotransferase.

Glycoside hydrolase family 91 (GH91) inulin fructotransferase (IFTases) enables biotransformation of fructans into sugar substitutes for dietary intervention in metabolic syndrome. However, the catalytic mechanism underlying the sequential biodegradation of inulin remains unelusive during the biotranformation of fructans. Herein we present the crystal structures of IFTase from Arthrobacter aurescens SK 8.001 in apo form and in complexes with kestose, nystose, or fructosyl nystose, respectively. Two kinds of conserved noncatalytic binding regions are first identified for IFTase-inulin interactions. The conserved interactions of substrates were revealed in the catalytic center that only contained a catalytic residue E205. A switching scaffold was comprised of D194 and Q217 in the catalytic channel, which served as the catalytic transition stabilizer through side chain displacement in the cycling of substrate sliding in/out the catalytic pocket. Such features in GH91 contribute to the catalytic model for consecutive cutting of substrate chain as well as product release in IFTase, and thus might be extended to other exo-active enzymes with an enclosed bottom of catalytic pocket. The study expands the current general catalytic principle in enzyme-substrate complexes and shed light on the rational design of IFTase for fructan biotransformation.

Molecular structure and characteristics of phytoglycogen, glycogen and amylopectin subjected to mild acid hydrolysis.

The structure and properties of phytoglycogen and glycogen subjected to acid hydrolysis was investigated using amylopectin as a reference. The degradation took place in two stages and the degree of hydrolysis was in the following order: amylopectin > phytoglycogen > glycogen. Upon acid hydrolysis, the molar mass distribution of phytoglycogen or glycogen gradually shifted to the smaller and broadening distribution region, whereas the distribution of amyopectin changed from bimodal to monomodal shape. The kinetic rate constant for depolymerization of phytoglycogen, amylopectin, and glycogen were 3.45 × 10-5/s, 6.13 × 10-5/s, and 0.96 × 10-5/s, respectively. The acid-treated sample had the smaller particle radius, lower percentage of α-1,6 linkage as well as higher rapidly digestible starch fractions. The depolymerization models were built to interpret the structural differences of glucose polymer during acid treatment, which would provide guideline to improve the structure understanding and precise application of branched glucan with desired properties.

Improving the catalytic behavior of inulin fructotransferase under high hydrostatic pressure.

BACKGROUND: The demand for difructose anhydride III (DFA III), a novel functional sweetener, is growing continuously. It is produced from inulin by inulin fructotransferase (IFTase). In this study, high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), as a clean technology, was first applied to further improve the catalytic efficiency of IFTase in the process. RESULTS: The maximum activity of IFTase was obtained under 200 MPa at 60 °C. Meanwhile, HHP lowered the energy barrier necessary for the enzymatic reaction and decreased the volume between the reactants and the transition state. Under this condition, the optimal pH for the enzymatic reaction shifted from 5.5 to 6.0. The activity was further enhanced by 65.2% in the presence of 1.5 mol L(-1) NaCl. CONCLUSION: The catalytic reaction of IFTase was performed under HHP for the first time. HHP, as a promising green technology for bioconversion, significantly accelerated the enzymatic reaction under the appropriate operational conditions.

Enhancing the thermal stability of inulin fructotransferase with high hydrostatic pressure.

The thermal stability of inulin fructotransferase (IFTase) subjected to high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) was studied. The value of inactivation rate of IFTase in the range of 70-80°C decreased under the pressure of 100 or 200 MPa, indicating that the thermostability of IFTase under high temperature was enhanced by HHP. Far-UV CD and fluorescence spectra showed that HHP impeded the unfolding of the conformation of IFTase under high temperature, reflecting the antagonistic effect between temperature and pressure on IFTase. The new intramolecular disulfide bonds in IFTase were formed under a combination of HHP and high temperature. These bonds might be related to the stabilization of IFTase at high temperature. All the above results suggested that HHP had the protective effect on IFTase against high temperature.

High-level extracellular expression of inulin fructotransferase in Pichia pastoris for DFA III production.

BACKGROUND: Inulin fructotransferase (IFTase) catalyzes inulin conversion to difructose anhydride (DFA III), which is a natural low-calorie sweetener. Although heterologous expression of IFTase was achieved in Escherichia coli, the extracellular enzyme activity was very low, which limited the commercialization of IFTase. RESULTS: Active IFTase of about 43 kDa molecular mass of subunit was extracellularly expressed by Pichia pastoris and was greatly regulated by the IFTase gene copy number integrated into the P. pastoris genome and by the methanol concentration in the induction phase. Under optimized culture conditions, multicopy P. pastoris exhibited a maximum extracellular IFTase activity of 105.4 U mL(-1) in a 5 L fermenter, which was 8.9-fold the activity in shake flasks and 5.3-fold that obtained from wild-type strain. CONCLUSION: IFTase was expressed in a eukaryotic P. pastoris system for the first time and achieved high-level extracellular expression using a high-cell-density fed-batch cultivation strategy. This demonstrated that P. pastoris was a good candidate for potential DFA III production as a novel IFTase expression system.

Sorbitol counteracts high hydrostatic pressure-induced denaturation of inulin fructotransferase.

Inulin fructotransferase (IFTase), a novel hydrolase for inulin, was exposed to high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) at 400 and 600 MPa for 15 min in the presence or absence of sorbitol. Sorbitol protected the enzyme against HHP-induced activity loss. The relative residual activity increased nearly 3.1- and 3.8-fold in the presence of 3 mol/L sorbitol under 400 MPa and 600 MPa for 15 min, respectively. Circular dichroism results indicated that the original chaotic unfolding conformation of the enzyme under HHP shifted toward more ordered and impact with 3 mol/L sorbitol. Fluorescence and UV spectra results suggested that sorbitol prevented partially the unfolding of the enzyme and stabilized the conformation under high pressure. These results might be attributed to the binding of sorbitol on the surface of IFTase to rearrange and strengthen intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds.

Dry powder preparation of inulin fructotransferase from Arthrobacter aurescens SK 8.001 fermented liquor.

Difructosan anhydrides III (DFA III) are usually obtained by inulin conversion with inulin fructotransferase (IFTase). IFTase liquor is difficult to store for a long time, which could greatly restrict its application and DFA III production. To meet DFA III scale-up preparation, this work was explored to research dry powder preparation of IFTase from Arthrobacter aurescens SK 8.001 fermented liquor by ultrafiltration concentration, ammonium sulfate precipitation and freeze drying. IFTase powder (10.2g) was obtained from IFTase precipitation (126.4 g) and its specific activity determined was 16.4 U/mg. Dry powder of IFTase could maintain over 120 days at different temperatures. These results showed that it is easy to scale up DFA III preparation for industrial capacity.

Difructosan anhydrides III preparation from sucrose by coupled enzyme reaction.

Difructosan anhydrides III (DFA III) preparation was usually obtained by inulin hydrolysis with inulin fructotransferase (IFTase). The fructofuranosidic linkages of inulin were the same as fructooligosaccharides (FOS), which was synthesized by sucrose with fructosyltransferase (FTase). FOS was mainly composed of 1-kestose (GF(2)), nystose (GF(3)) and fructofuranosylnystose (GF(4)), and nystose was observed to be the smallest substrate for IFTase to synthesize DFA III. So sucrose, much cheaper than inulin, was considered to produce DFA III by coupled FTase and IFTase reaction. DFA III yield was obtained about 100mg/g (DFA III weight/sucrose weight) through this method. The results demonstrated the high potential of the coupled enzyme reaction as a novel DFA III producing method.