A New Expression System Based on Psychrotolerant Debaryomyces macquariensis Yeast and Its Application to the Production of Cold-Active ß-d-Galactosidase from Paracoccus sp. 32d.

Yeasts provide attractive host/vector systems for heterologous gene expression. The currently used yeast-based expression platforms include mesophilic and thermotolerant species. A eukaryotic expression system working at low temperatures could be particularly useful for the production of thermolabile proteins and proteins that tend to form insoluble aggregates. For this purpose, an expression system based on an Antarctic psychrotolerant yeast Debaryomyces macquariensis strain D50 that is capable of growing at temperatures ranging from 0 to 30 °C has been developed. The optimal physical culture conditions for D. macquariensis D50 in a fermenter are as follows: temperature 20 °C, pH 5.5, aeration rate of 1.5 vvm, and a stirring speed of 300 rpm. Four integrative plasmid vectors equipped with an expression cassette containing the constitutive GAP promoter and CYC1 transcriptional terminator from D. macquariensis D50 were constructed and used to clone and express a gene-encoding cold-active ß-d-galactosidase of Paracoccus sp. 32d. The yield was 1150 U/L of recombinant yeast culture. Recombinant D. macquariensis D50 strains were mitotically stable under both selective and non-selective conditions. The D. macquariensis D50 host/vector system has been successfully utilized for the synthesis of heterologous thermolabile protein, and it can be an alternative to other microbial expression systems.

The psychrotrophic yeast Sporobolomyces roseus LOCK 1119 as a source of a highly active aspartic protease for the in vitro production of antioxidant peptides.

A psychrotrophic yeast strain producing a cold-adapted protease at low temperature was classified as Sporobolomyces roseus. In standard YPG medium, S. roseus LOCK 1119 synthesized an extracellular protease with an activity of approximately 560 U/L. Optimization of medium composition and process temperature considerably enhanced enzyme biosynthesis; an approximate 70% increase in activity (2060 U/L). The native enzyme was purified to homogeneity by cation exchange chromatography followed by a size exclusion step, resulting in a 103-fold increase in specific activity (660 U/mg) with 25% recovery. The enzyme displayed 10%-30% of its maximum activity at 0-25 °C, with the optimum temperature being 50°C. Protease G8 was strongly inactivated by pepstatin A, an aspartic protease inhibitor. The enzyme was used to hydrolyze four natural substrates, and their antioxidant activities were evaluated against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. The highest antioxidant activity (69%) was recorded for beef casein.

Extremophilic proteases as novel and efficient tools in short peptide synthesis.

The objective of this review is to outline the crucial role that peptides play in various sectors, including medicine. Different ways of producing these compounds are discussed with an emphasis on the benefits offered by industrial enzyme biotechnology. This paper describes mechanisms of peptide bond formation using a range of proteases with different active site structures. Importantly, these enzymes may be further improved chemically and/or genetically to make them better suited for their various applications and process conditions. The focus is on extremophilic proteases, whose potential does not seem to have been fully appreciated to date. The structure of these proteins is somewhat different from that of the common commercially available enzymes, making them effective at high salinity and high or low temperatures, which are often favorable to peptide synthesis. Examples of such enzymes include halophilic, thermophilic, and psychrophilic proteases; this paper also mentions some promising catalytic proteins which require further study in this respect.

Purification, characterisation and expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae of LipG7 an enantioselective, cold-adapted lipase from the Antarctic filamentous fungus Geomyces sp. P7 with unusual thermostability characteristics.

A lipase, LipG7, has been purified from the Antarctic filamentous fungus Geomyces sp. P7 which was found to be cold-adapted and able to retain/regain its activity after heat denaturation. The LipG7 exhibits 100% residual activity following 1h incubation at 100°C whilst simultaneously showing kinetic adaptations to cold temperatures. LipG7 was also found to have industrial potential as an enantioselective biocatalyst as it is able to effectively catalyse the enantioselective transesterification of a secondary alcohol. The LipG7 coding sequence has been identified and cloned using 454 pyrosequencing of the transcriptome and inverse PCR. The LipG7 protein has been heterologously expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae BJ5465 and shown to exhibit the same characteristics as the native protein.