Expression of a ß-glucosidase from Trichoderma reesei in Escherichia coli using a synthetic optimized gene and stability improvements by immobilization using magnetite nano-support.

The enzymatic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars is determined by the enzymatic activity of cellulases; consequently, improving enzymatic activity has attracted great interest in the scientific community. Cocktails of commercial cellulase often have low ß-glucosidase content, leading to the accumulation of cellobiose. This accumulation inhibits the activity of the cellulolytic complex and can be used to determine the enzymatic efficiency of commercial cellulase cocktails. Here, a novel codon optimized ß-glucosidase gene (B-glusy) from Trichoderma reesei QM6a was cloned and expressed in three strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli). The synthetic sequence containing an open reading frame (ORF) of 1491 bp was used to encode a polypeptide of 497 amino acid residues. The ß-glucosidase recombinant protein that was expressed (57 kDa of molecular weight) was purified by Ni agarose affinity chromatography and visualized by SDS-PAGE. The recombinant protein was better expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3), and its enzymatic activity was higher at neutral pH and 30 °C (22.4 U/mg). Subsequently, the ß-glucosidase was immobilized using magnetite nano-support, after which it maintained >65% of its enzymatic activity from pH 6 to 10, and was more stable than the free enzyme above 40 °C. The maximum immobilization yield had enzyme activity of 97.2%. In conclusion, ß-glucosidase is efficiently expressed in the microbial strain E. coli BL21 (DE3) grown in a simplified culture medium.

High-level extracellular production and immobilisation of methyl parathion hydrolase from Plesiomonas sp. M6 expressed in Pichia pastoris.

Methyl parathion hydrolase (MPH) hydrolyses methyl parathion efficiently and specifically. Herein, we produced MPH from Plesiomonas sp. M6 using a Pichia pastoris multi-copy expression system. The original signal peptide sequence of the target gene was removed, and a modified coding sequence was synthesised. Multi-copy expression plasmids containing MPH were constructed using pHBM905BDM, and used to generate recombinant strains containing 1, 2, 3 or 4 copies of the MPH gene. The results showed that a higher target gene copy number increased the production of recombinant MPH (MPH-R), as anticipated. The expression level of the recombinant strain containing four copies of the MPH gene was increased to 1.9 U/ml using 500 ml shake flasks, and the specific activity was 15.8 U/mg. High-density fermentation further increased the target protein yield to 18.4 U/ml. Several metal ions were tested as additives, and Ni2+, Co2+ and Mg2+ at a concentration of 1 mM enhanced MPH-R activity by 196%, 201% and 154%, respectively. Enzyme immobilisation was then applied to overcome the difficulties in recovery, recycling and long-term stability associated with the free enzyme. Immobilised MPH-R exhibited significantly enhanced thermal and long-term stability, as well as broad pH adaptability. In the presence of inhibitors and chelating agents such as sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), immobilised MPH-R displayed 2-fold higher activity than free MPH-R, demonstrating its potential for industrial application.

Improved expression and immobilization of Geobacillus thermoleovorans CCR11 thermostable recombinant lipase.

Production of recombinant thermo-alkali-stable lipase LipMatCCR11, expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), was investigated via response surface methodology by using a face-centered design with three levels of each factor. Additionally, improvement of the catalytic performance of expressed lipase was assessed by immobilization on microporous polypropylene. Results showed that inducer (isopropyl ß-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside [IPTG]) concentration and temperature were found to be the significant factors (P < 0.05). The maximum lipase expression was obtained at IPTG 0.6 mM, 16 °C, and 18 H, with a specific lipase activity of 7.29 × 106  U/mg, which was 36.4 times higher (over 1,300-fold increase) than lipase activity measured under nonoptimized conditions. On the other hand, immobilized lipase showed a high biocatalytic activity, particularly in the synthesis of aroma esters.

Enzymatic synthesis of nucleoside analogues using immobilized 2'-deoxyribosyltransferase from Lactobacillus reuteri.

Covalent attachment of recombinant Lactobacillus reuteri 2'-deoxyribosyltransferase to Sepabeads EC-EP303 leads to the immobilized biocatalyst SLrNDT4, which displayed an enzymatic activity of 65.4 IU/g of wet biocatalyst in 2'-deoxyadenosine synthesis from 2'-deoxyuridine and adenine at 40°C and pH 6.5. Response surface methodology was employed for the optimization of SLrNDT4 activity. Optimal conditions for SLrNDT4 highest activity were observed at 40°C and pH 6.5. Immobilized biocatalyst retained 50% of its maximal activity after 17.9 h at 60°C, whereas 96% activity was observed after storage at 40°C for 110 h. This novel immobilized biocatalyst has been successfully employed in the enzymatic synthesis of different natural and therapeutic nucleosides effective against cancer and viral diseases. Among these last products, enzymatic synthesis of therapeutic nucleosides such as 5-ethyl-2'-deoxyuridine and 5-trifluorothymidine has been carried out for the first time. Importantly for its potential application, SLrNDT4 could be recycled for 26 consecutive batch reactions in the synthesis of 2,6-diaminopurine-2'-deoxyriboside with negligible loss of catalytic activity.

Arginine-to-lysine substitutions influence recombinant horseradish peroxidase stability and immobilisation effectiveness.

BACKGROUND: Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) plays important roles in many biotechnological fields, including diagnostics, biosensors and biocatalysis. Often, it is used in immobilised form. With conventional immobilisation techniques, the enzyme adheres in random orientation: the active site may face the solid phase rather than bulk medium, impeding substrate access and leading to sub-optimal catalytic performance. The ability to immobilise HRP in a directional manner, such that the active site would always face outwards from the insoluble matrix, would maximise the immobilised enzyme's catalytic potential and could increase HRP's range of actual and potential applications. RESULTS: We have replaced arginine residues on the face of glycan-free recombinant HRP opposite to the active site by lysines. Our strategy differs from previous reports of specific HRP immobilisation via an engineered affinity tag or single reactive residue. These conservative Arg-to-Lys substitutions provide a means of multipoint covalent immobilisation such that the active site will always face away from the immobilisation matrix. One triple and one pentuple mutant were generated by substitution of solvent-exposed arginines on the "back" of the polypeptide (R118, R159 and R283) and of residues known to influence stability (K232 and K241). Orientated HRP immobilisation was demonstrated using a modified polyethersulfone (PES) membrane; the protein was forced to orientate its active site away from the membrane and towards the bulk solution phase. Mutant properties and bioinformatic analysis suggested the reversion of K283R to improve stability, thus generating two additional mutants (K118/R159K and R118K/K232N/K241F/R283K). While most mutants were less stable in free solution than wild type rHRP, the quadruple revertant regained some stability over its mutant counterparts. A greater degree of immobilisation on CNBr-activated Sepharosetrade mark was noted with increased lysine content; however, only marginal gains in solvent stability resulted from immobilisation on this latter matrix. CONCLUSION: Directional, orientated, immobilisation of rHRP mutants onto an activated, modified polyethersulfone membrane has been achieved with excellent retention of catalytic activity; however, re-engineering of acceptable stability characteristics into the "immobilisation mutants" will determine their applicability in diagnosis and biosensor development.

Bioenergy beads: a tool for regeneration of ATP/NTP in biocatalytic synthesis.

Active inclusion bodies of recombinant polyphosphate kinase were obtained by simple washing of Escherichia coli cells with nonionic detergent and then they were immobilized in agar/TiO2 beads. Bioenergy beads obtained are charged by polyphosphate to act as rechargeable supply of adenosine/nucleoside triphosphates (ATP/NTP), a practical tool for synthesis of artificial receptors.

Improvements in lipase production and recovery from Acinetobacter radioresistens in presence of polypropylene powders filled with carbon sources.

Polypropylene powders as the adsorbent for organic solution containing n-hexadecane and olive oil were employed as the carbon source for producing an alkaline lipase from Acinetobacter radioresistens. The best volumetric ratio of n-hexadecane to olive oil around 5 for lipase production was determined from shake-flask and fermentation cultivations. The existence of a maximum time course lipase activity of the aqueous phase was attributed to the compensation effects of olive oil on cell growth and lipase production, repression of lipase synthesis by oleic acid, and lipase adsorption on the supports. A linear relationship between the average cell growth rate in the exponential phase and the ratio of surface areas of the supports was found. The benefits of using the present fermentation process include less foaming and emulsion of the broth, less organic phase used, higher lipase production, and easy recovery of the lipase in the centrifugation step.

Single step generation of protein arrays from DNA by cell-free expression and in situ immobilisation (PISA method).

We describe a format for production of protein arrays termed 'protein in situ array' (PISA). A PISA is rapidly generated in one step directly from PCR-generated DNA fragments by cell-free protein expression and in situ immobilisation at a surface. The template for expression is DNA encoding individual proteins or domains, which is produced by PCR using primers designed from information in DNA databases. Coupled transcription and translation is carried out on a surface to which the tagged protein adheres as soon as it is synthesised. Because proteins generated by cell-free synthesis are usually soluble and functional, this method can overcome problems of insolubility or degradation associated with bacterial expression of recombinant proteins. Moreover, the use of PCR-generated DNA enables rapid production of proteins or domains based on genome information alone and will be particularly useful where cloned material is not available. Here we show that human single-chain antibody fragments (three domain, V(H)/K form) and an enzyme (luciferase) can be functionally arrayed by the PISA method.

Glutathione conjugates. Immobilized enzyme synthesis and characterization by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry.

Glutathione transferase activity was shown to be present in an immobilized preparation of microsomal protein. Chlorodinitrobenzene, ethacrynic acid, captopril, styrene oxide, and iminocyclophosphamide were found to be substrates, each providing a different kind of electrophilic functional group for conjugation. The glutathione conjugates were characterized by thin layer chromatography (visualized by reaction with ninhydrin) and by high pressure liquid chromatography. A variety of conditions was evaluated for analysis of these glutathiones by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry.