Alternative Heterologous Expression of L-Arabinose Isomerase from Enterococcus faecium DBFIQ E36 By Residual Whey Lactose Induction.

This study reports an alternative strategy for the expression of a recombinant L-AI from Enterococcus faecium DBFIQ E36 by auto-induction using glucose and glycerol as carbon sources and residual whey lactose as inducer agent. Commercial lactose and isopropyl ß-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) were also evaluated as inducers for comparison of enzyme expression levels. The enzymatic extracts were purified by affinity chromatography, characterized, and applied in the bioconversion of D-galactose into D-tagatose. L-AI presented a catalytic activity of 1.67 ± 0.14, 1.52 ± 0.01, and 0.7 ± 0.04 U/mL, when expressed using commercial lactose, lactose from whey, and IPTG, respectively. Higher activities could be obtained by changing the protocol of enzyme extraction and, for instance, the enzymatic extract produced with whey presented a catalytic activity of 3.8 U/mL. The specific activity of the enzyme extracts produced using lactose (commercial or residual whey) after enzyme purification was also higher when compared to the enzyme expressed with IPTG. Best results were achieved when enzyme expression was conducted using 4 g/L of residual whey lactose for 11 h. These results proved the efficacy of an alternative and economic protocol for the effective expression of a recombinant L-AI aiming its high-scale production.

Expression and characterization of l-arabinose isomerase from Geobacillus stearothermophilus for improved activity under acidic condition.

A low-calorie sugar-substituting sweetener, d-tagatose, can be produced by l-arabinose isomerase (l-AI) from the substrate d-galactose. However, this process suffers from a Maillard reaction when performed at alkaline pH and high temperature. For industrial applications, therefore, a reaction under slightly acidic conditions is desirable to minimize the Maillard reaction. Previously, we obtained a mutant of l-AI, H18T, from Geobacillus stearothermophilus with greater substrate specificity. Although H18T possessed excellent thermostability, its activity under acidic conditions was not optimal. Here, we successfully obtained a potential variant of the H18T protein, H18T-Y234C, which achieved improved activity at pH 6.0, based on random mutagenesis using error-prone PCR around the binding pocket area of H18T. This double H18T-Y234C mutant possessed 1.8-fold and 3-fold higher activity at pH 6.0 than the parent H18T and the wild type, thereby broadening the optimal pH range to 6.0-8.0. Mutation from Tyr to Cys at residue 234 had little effect on the secondary structure of L-AI. Furthermore, the formation of disulfide bonds was not detected. Thus, the improvement of activity at pH 6.0 is probably caused by the change in the binding pocket area involving residue 234. This study offers insight into the importance of residue 234 in improving the activity under acidic conditions.

Characterization of a recombinant D-mannose-producing D-lyxose isomerase from Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus.

Recently, functional sugars, such as d-mannose, have attracted considerable attention due to their excellent physiological benefits for human health and wide applications in food and pharmaceutical industries. Therefore, d-mannose production using a sugar isomerase such as d-lyxose isomerase (d-LIase) has emerged as a research hotspot owing to its advantages over plant extraction and chemical synthesis methods. In this study, a putative d-LIase gene from Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Then, a biochemical characterization of the recombinant d-LIase was carried out and its potential use in d-mannose production also assessed. Results showed that d-LIase exhibited its maximum activity under these optimal conditions: temperature of 65 °C, a pH of 6.5, and the Mn2+ metal ion. The d-LIase was active at pH 6.0-8.0; it was also quite thermostable up to 60 °C and approximately 85 % of its maximum activity was retained after incubating for 4 h. Further, our Nano-DSC analysis determined that its melting temperature (Tm) was 70.74 °C. Using 100, 300, and 500 g L-1 of d-fructose as substrate, 25.6, 74.4, and 115 g L-1 of d-mannose were produced respectively, corresponding to a conversion rate of 25.6 %, 24.8 %, and 23.0 % under optimal conditions. Taken together, our results provide evidence for a promising candidate d-LIase for producing d-mannose directly from d-fructose.

Biochemical characterization of recombinant L-fucose isomerase from Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus for L-fuculose production.

L-fuculose is a rare sugar that is useful for the agriculture and medicine industries. L-fucose isomerase (E.C.5.3.1.25), which is an aldose-ketose isomerase, plays a significant role in producing rare sugars. A recommended L-fucose isomerase gene was cloned from Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus and purified with a single band of 65 kDa using nickel-affinity chromatography, with a specific activity of 108.23 U mg-1. The native molecular mass existed with 214 kDa was a trimer. The purified enzyme showed a maximum activity in 1 mM Mn2+ at 55 °C and pH 6.5 with a melting temperature (Tm) of 80.3 °C in the presence of one molecule per monomer. L-fucose isomerase from C. polysaccharolyticus (Capo-LfIase) exhibited the highest activity of L-fucose with Km, kcat and Kcat/km values of 94.2 mM, 23854 min-1 and 253.3 min-1 mM-1, respectively. Capo-LfIase showed more than 50% thermostability after 20 h of incubation at 45, 55, 65, 75 and 85 °C. The 9 putative active site residues of the L-fucose substrate were described using a homology model, and the results showed that Tyr440, Met185, Trp499 and Asn527 are the candidates of metal-binding residues, while Ser393, Glu337, Glu302, His528 and Asp361 would be involved in substrate binding. The conversion rate of L-fuculose from L-fucose was almost 28.2%, with 80 g L-1 L-fucose, and no byproduct was found. To the best of our knowledge, Capo-LfIase produces high yield of L-fuculose from L-fucose by enzymatic methods.

Characterization of a novel d-arabinose isomerase from Thermanaeromonas toyohensis and its application for the production of d-ribulose and l-fuculose.

d-Ribulose and l-fuculose are potentially valuable rare sugars useful for anticancer and antiviral drugs in the agriculture and medicine industries. These rare sugars are usually produced by chemical methods, which are generally expensive, complicated and do not meet the increasing demands. Furthermore, the isomerization of d-arabinose and l-fucose byDd-arabinose and l-fucose by d-arabinose isomerase from bacterial sources for the production of d-ribulose and l-fuculose have not yet become industrial due to the shortage of biocatalysts, resulting in poor yield and high cost of production. In this study, a thermostable d-ribulose- and l-fuculose producing d-arabinose isomerase from the bacterium Thermanaeromonas toyohensis was characterized. The recombinant d-arabinose isomerase from T. toyohensis (Thto-DaIase) was purified with a single band at 66 kDa using His-trap affinity chromatography. The native enzyme existed as a homotetramer with a molecular weight of 310 kDa, and the specific activities for both d-arabinose and l-fucose were observed to be 98.08 and 85.52 U mg-1, respectively. The thermostable recombinant Thto-DaIase was activated when 1 mM Mn2+ was added to the reactions at an optimum pH of 9.0 at 75 °C and showed approximately 50% activity for both d-arabinose and l-fucose at 75 °C after 10 h. The Michaelis-Menten constant (Km), the turnover number (kcat) and catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) for d-arabinose/l-fucose were 111/81.24 mM, 18,466/10,688 min-1, and 166/132 mM-1  min-1, respectively. When the reaction reached to equilibrium, the conversion rates of d-ribulose from d-arabinose and l-fuculose from l-fucose were almost 27% (21 g L-1) and 24.88% (19.92 g L-1) from 80 g L-1 of d-arabinose and l-fucose, respectively.

Crystal Structure and Functional Characterization of a Xylose Isomerase (PbXI) from the Psychrophilic Soil Microorganism, Paenibacillus sp.

Xylose isomerase (XI; E.C. 5.3.1.5) catalyzes the isomerization of xylose to xylulose, which can be used to produce bioethanol through fermentation. Therefore, XI has recently gained attention as a key catalyst in the bioenergy industry. Here, we identified, purified, and characterized a XI (PbXI) from the psychrophilic soil microorganism, Paenibacillus sp. R4. Surprisingly, activity assay results showed that PbXI is not a cold-active enzyme, but displays optimal activity at 60°C. We solved the crystal structure of PbXI at 1.94-Å resolution to investigate the origin of its thermostability. The PbXI structure shows a (ß/α)8-barrel fold with tight tetrameric interactions and it has three divalent metal ions (CaI, CaII, and CaIII). Two metal ions (CaI and CaII) located in the active site are known to be involved in the enzymatic reaction. The third metal ion (CaIII), located near the ß4-α6 loop region, was newly identified and is thought to be important for the stability of PbXI. Compared with previously determined thermostable and mesophilic XI structures, the ß1-α2 loop structures near the substrate binding pocket of PbXI were remarkably different. Site-directed mutagenesis studies suggested that the flexible ß1-α2 loop region is essential for PbXI activity. Our findings provide valuable insights that can be applied in protein engineering to generate lowtemperature purpose-specific XI enzymes.

Expression and Characterization of Calcium- and Zinc-Tolerant Xylose Isomerase from Anoxybacillus kamchatkensis G10.

The enzyme xylose isomerase (E.C. 5.3.1.5, XI) is responsible for the conversion of an aldose to ketose, especially xylose to xylulose. Owing to the ability of XI to isomerize glucose to fructose, this enzyme is used in the food industry to prepare high-fructose corn syrup. Therefore, we studied the characteristics of XI from Anoxybacillus kamchatkensis G10, a thermophilic bacterium. First, the gene coding for XI (xylA) was inserted into the pET-21a(+) expression vector and the construct was transformed into the Escherichia coli competent cell BL21 (DE3). The expression of recombinant XI was induced in the absence of isopropyl-thio-ß-galactopyranoside and purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The optimum temperature of recombinant XI was 80°C and measurement of the heat stability indicated that 55% of residual activity was maintained after 2 h incubation at 60°C. The optimum pH was found to be 7.5 in sodium phosphate buffer. Magnesium, manganese, and cobalt ions were found to increase the enzyme activity; manganese was the most effective. Additionally, recombinant XI was resistant to the presence of Ca²âº and Zn²âº ions. The kinetic properties, Km and Vmax, were calculated as 81.44 mM and 2.237 µmol/min/mg, respectively. Through redundancy analysis, XI of A. kamchatkensis G10 was classified into a family containing type II XIs produced by the genera Geobacillus, Bacillus, and Thermotoga. These results suggested that the thermostable nature of XI of A. kamchatkensis G10 may be advantageous in industrial applications and food processing.

Engineering the l-Arabinose Isomerase from Enterococcus Faecium for d-Tagatose Synthesis.

l-Arabinose isomerase (EC 5.3.1.4) (l-AI) from Enterococcus faecium DBFIQ E36 was overproduced in Escherichia coli by designing a codon-optimized synthetic araA gene. Using this optimized gene, two N- and C-terminal His-tagged-l-AI proteins were produced. The cloning of the two chimeric genes into regulated expression vectors resulted in the production of high amounts of recombinant N-His-l-AI and C-His-l-AI in soluble and active forms. Both His-tagged enzymes were purified in a single step through metal-affinity chromatography and showed different kinetic and structural characteristics. Analytical ultracentrifugation revealed that C-His-l-AI was preferentially hexameric in solution, whereas N-His-l-AI was mainly monomeric. The specific activity of the N-His-l-AI at acidic pH was higher than that of C-His-l-AI and showed a maximum bioconversion yield of 26% at 50 °C for d-tagatose biosynthesis, with Km and Vmax parameters of 252 mM and 0.092 U mg-1, respectively. However, C-His-l-AI was more active and stable at alkaline pH than N-His-l-AI. N-His-l-AI follows a Michaelis-Menten kinetic, whereas C-His-l-AI fitted to a sigmoidal saturation curve.

Identification of a d-Arabinose-5-Phosphate Isomerase in the Gram-Positive Clostridium tetani.

d-Arabinose-5-phosphate (A5P) isomerases (APIs) catalyze the interconversion of d-ribulose-5-phosphate and d-arabinose-5-phosphate. Various Gram-negative bacteria, such as the uropathogenic Escherichia coli strain CFT073, contain multiple API paralogs (KdsD, GutQ, KpsF, and c3406) that have been assigned various cellular functions. The d-arabinose-5-phosphate formed by these enzymes seems to play important roles in the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and group 2 K-antigen capsules, as well as in the regulation of the cellular d-glucitol uptake and uropathogenic infectivity/virulence. The genome of a Gram-positive pathogenic bacterium, Clostridium tetani, contains a gene encoding a putative API, C. tetani API (CtAPI), even though C. tetani lacks both LPS and capsid biosynthetic genes. To better understand the physiological role of d-arabinose-5-phosphate in this Gram-positive organism, recombinant CtAPI was purified and characterized. CtAPI displays biochemical characteristics similar to those of APIs from Gram-negative organisms and complements the API deficiency of an E. coli API knockout strain. Thus, CtAPI represents the first d-arabinose-5-phosphate isomerase to be identified and characterized from a Gram-positive bacterium.IMPORTANCE The genome of Clostridium tetani, a pathogenic Gram-positive bacterium and the causative agent of tetanus, contains a gene (the CtAPI gene) that shares high sequence similarity with those of genes encoding d-arabinose-5-phosphate isomerases. APIs play an important role within Gram-negative bacteria in d-arabinose-5-phosphate production for lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, capsule formation, and regulation of cellular d-glucitol uptake. The significance of our research is in identifying and characterizing CtAPI, the first Gram-positive API. Our findings show that CtAPI is specific to the interconversion of arabinose-5-phosphate and ribulose-5-phosphate while having no activity with the other sugars and sugar phosphates tested. We have speculated a regulatory role for this API in C. tetani, an organism that does not produce lipopolysaccharide.

Engineering of Alicyclobacillus hesperidum L-arabinose isomerase for improved catalytic activity and reduced pH optimum using random and site-directed mutagenesis.

A mutation, D478N, was obtained by an error-prone polymerase chain reaction using the L-arabinose isomerase (L-AI) gene from Alicyclobacillus hesperidum URH17-3-68 as the template. The mutated isomerase showed higher activity for D-galactose isomerization. The mutation site obtained from random mutagenesis was then introduced as a single-site mutation using site-directed mutagenesis. Single-site variants, D478N, D478Q, D478A, D478K, and D478R, were constructed. The optimum temperatures were all higher than 60 °C. D478A, D478N, and D478Q retained more than 80 % of the maximum relative activity of the wild-type L-AI at 75 °C. With the exception of the D478A variant, all variants showed decreased optimum pH values in the acidic range (6.0-6.5). All of the variant L-AIs could be significantly activated by the addition of Co(2+) and Mn(2+). D478N and D478Q showed higher catalytic efficiencies (k cat/K m) toward D-galactose than that of wild-type L-AI. In addition, the D478N and D478Q variants exhibited a much higher conversion ratio of D-galactose to D-tagatose at 6.0 than the wild-type L-AI. According to the molecular model, residue D478 was located on the surface of the enzyme and distant from the active site. It was supposed that the charged state of residue 478 may influence the optimum pH for substrate binding or isomerization.

Isolation of the Phosphoribosyl Anthranilate Isomerase Gene (TRP1) from Starch-Utilizing Yeast Saccharomycopsis fibuligera.

The nucleotide sequence of the TRP1 gene encoding phosphoribosyl anthranilate isomerase in yeast Saccharomycopsis fibuligera was determined by degenerate polymerase chain reaction and genome walking. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of an uninterrupted open-reading frame of 759 bp, including the stop codon, encoding a 252 amino acid residue. The deduced amino acid sequence of Trp1 in S. fibuligera was 43.5% homologous to that of Komagataella pastoris. The cloned TRP1 gene (SfTRP1) complemented the trp1 mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, suggesting that it encodes a functional TRP1 in S. fibuligera. A new auxotrophic marker to engineer starch-degrading yeast S. fibuligera is now available. The GenBank Accession No. for SfTRP1 is KR078268.

Protein purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of L-arabinose isomerase from Lactobacillus fermentum CGMCC2921.

L-Arabinose isomerase (AI) catalyzes the isomerization of L-arabinose to L-ribulose, as well as that of D-galactose to D-tagatose. A thermophilic AI derived from Lactobacillus fermentum CGMCC2921 (LFAI) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). This enzyme was purified to over 95% purity by nickel affinity, Mono-Q ion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography. The LFAI protein was crystallized from either 0.1 M bis-tris pH 6.5, 23% PEG 3350, 0.3 M NaCl (form 1 crystals) or 0.1 M bis-tris pH 6.0, 25% PEG monomethyl ether 5000 (form 2 crystals). Diffraction data from form 1 LFAI crystals were collected to 2.80 Šresolution using synchrotron radiation. The form 1 crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a=85.11, b=184.57, c=186.26 Å, α=ß=γ=90°. The asymmetric unit contained six LFAI subunits, corresponding to a calculated Matthews coefficient of 2.29 Å3 Da(-1) and a solvent content of 46.22%.

Purification and characterization of an extremely stable glucose isomerase from Geobacillus thermodenitrificans TH2.

The D-glucose/D-xylose isomerase was purified from a thermophilic bacterium, Geobacillus thermodenitrificans TH2, by precipitating with heat shock and using Q-Sepharose ion exchange column chromatography, and then characterized. The purified enzyme had a single band having molecular weight of 49 kDa on SDS-PAGE. In the presence of D-glucose as a substrate, the optimum temperature and pH of the enzyme were found to be 80 degrees C and 7.5, respectively. The purified xylose isomerase of G. thermodenitrificans TH2 was extremely stable at pH 7.5 after 96 h incubation at 4 degrees C and 50 degrees C. When the thermal stability profile was analyzed, it was determined that the purified enzyme was extremely stable during incubation periods of 4 months and 4 days at 4 degrees C and 50 degrees C, respectively. The K(m) and V(max) values of the purified xylose isomerase from G. thermodenitrificans TH2 were calculated as 32 mM and 4.68 micromol/min per mg of protein, respectively. Additionally, it was detected that some metal ions affected the enzyme activity at different ratios. The enzyme was active and stable at high temperatures and nearly neutral pHs which are desirable for the usage in the food and ethanol industry.

Characterization of a mutant glucose isomerase from Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum.

A series of site-directed mutant glucose isomerase at tryptophan 139 from Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum strain B6A were purified to gel electrophoretic homogeneity, and the biochemical properties were determined. W139F mutation is the most efficient mutant derivative with a tenfold increase in its catalytic efficiency toward glucose compared with the native GI. With a maximal activity at 80 °C of 59.58 U/mg on glucose, this mutant derivative is the most active type ever reported. The enzyme activity was maximal at 90 °C and like other glucose isomerase, this mutant enzyme required Co(2+) or Mg(2+) for enzyme activity and thermal stability (stable for 20 h at 80 °C in the absence of substrate). Its optimum pH was around 7.0, and it had 86 % of its maximum activity at pH 6.0 incubated for 12 h at 60 °C. This enzyme was determined as thermostable and weak-acid stable. These findings indicated that the mutant GI W139F from T. saccharolyticum strain B6A is appropriate for use as a potential candidate for high-fructose corn syrup producing enzyme.

Analysis of the arabinose-5-phosphate isomerase of Bacteroides fragilis provides insight into regulation of single-domain arabinose phosphate isomerases.

Arabinose-5-phosphate isomerases (APIs) catalyze the interconversion of d-ribulose-5-phosphate and D-arabinose-5-phosphate, the first step in the biosynthesis of 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (Kdo), an essential component of the lipopolysaccharide in Gram-negative bacteria. Classical APIs, such as Escherichia coli KdsD, contain a sugar isomerase domain and a tandem cystathionine beta-synthase domain. Despite substantial effort, little is known about structure-function relationships in these APIs. We recently reported an API containing only a sugar isomerase domain. This protein, c3406 from E. coli CFT073, has no known physiological function. In this study, we investigated a putative single-domain API from the anaerobic Gram-negative bacterium Bacteroides fragilis. This putative API (UniProt ID Q5LIW1) is the only protein encoded by the B. fragilis genome with significant identity to any known API, suggesting that it is responsible for lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis in B. fragilis. We tested this hypothesis by preparing recombinant Q5LIW1 protein (here referred to by the UniProt ID Q5LIW1), characterizing its API activity in vitro, and demonstrating that the gene encoding Q5LIW1 (GenBank ID YP_209877.1) was able to complement an API-deficient E. coli strain. We demonstrated that Q5LIW1 is inhibited by cytidine 5'-monophospho-3-deoxy-D-manno-2-octulosonic acid, the final product of the Kdo biosynthesis pathway, with a Ki of 1.91 µM. These results support the assertion that Q5LIW1 is the API that supports lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis in B. fragilis and is subject to feedback regulation by CMP-Kdo. The sugar isomerase domain of E. coli KdsD, lacking the two cystathionine beta-synthase domains, demonstrated API activity and was further characterized. These results suggest that Q5LIW1 may be a suitable system to study API structure-function relationships.

Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of Bifidobacterium adolescentis xylose isomerase.

Xylose isomerase (EC 5.3.1.5) is a key enzyme in xylose metabolism which is industrially important for the transformation of glucose and xylose into fructose and xylulose, respectively. The Bifidobacterium adolescentis xylA gene (NC_008618.1) encoding xylose isomerase (XI) was cloned and the enzyme was overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Purified recombinant XI was crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method with polyethylene glycol 3350 as the precipitating agent. A complete native data set was collected to 1.7 Šresolution using a synchrotron-radiation source. The crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group P21212, with unit-cell parameters a = 88.78, b = 123.98, c = 78.63 Å.

Expression, characterization and inhibition of Toxoplasma gondii 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase.

The apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, is an important human pathogen. 1-Deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) in the non-mevalonate isoprene biosynthesis pathway is essential to the organism and therefore a target for developing anti-toxoplasmosis drugs. In order to find potent inhibitors, we expressed and purified recombinant T. gondii DXR (TgDXR). Biochemical properties of this enzyme were characterized and an enzyme activity/inhibition assay was developed. A collection of 11 compounds with a broad structural diversity were tested against TgDXR and several potent inhibitors were identified with Ki values as low as 48 nM. Analysis of the results as well as those of Escherichia coli and Plasmodium falciparum DXR enzymes revealed a different structure-activity relationship profile for the inhibition of TgDXR.

Characterization of a recombinant L-rhamnose isomerase from Dictyoglomus turgidum and its application for L-rhamnulose production.

A putative recombinant enzyme from Dictyoglomus turgidum was characterized and immobilized on Duolite A568 beads. The native enzyme was a 46 kDa tetramer. Its activity was highest for L-rhamnose, indicating that it is an L-rhamnose isomerase. The maximum activities of both the free and immobilized enzymes for L-rhamnose isomerization were at pH 8.0 and 75 °C in the presence of Mn(2+). Under these conditions, the half-lives of the free and immobilized enzymes were 28 and 112 h, respectively. In a packed-bed bioreactor, the immobilized enzyme produced an average of 130 g L-rhamnulose l(-1) from 300 g L-rhamnose l(-1) after 240 h at pH 8.0, 70 °C, and 0.6 h(-1), with a productivity of 78 g l(-1) h(-1) and a conversion yield of 43 %. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the enzymatic production of L-rhamnulose.

Heterologous expression and characterization of Bacillus coagulans L-arabinose isomerase.

Bacillus coagulans has been of great commercial interest over the past decade owing to its strong ability of producing optical pure L: -lactic acid from both hexose and pentose sugars including L: -arabinose with high yield, titer and productivity under thermophilic conditions. The L: -arabinose isomerase (L-AI) from Bacillus coagulans was heterologously over-expressed in Escherichia coli. The open reading frame of the L-AI has 1,422 nucleotides encoding a protein with 474 amino acid residues. The recombinant L-AI was purified to homogeneity by one-step His-tag affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated to be 56 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The enzyme was most active at 70°C and pH 7.0. The metal ion Mn(2+) was shown to be the best activator for enzymatic activity and thermostability. The enzyme showed higher activity at acidic pH than at alkaline pH. The kinetic studies showed that the K (m), V (max) and k (cat)/K (m) for the conversion of L: -arabinose were 106 mM, 84 U/mg and 34.5 mM(-1)min(-1), respectively. The equilibrium ratio of L: -arabinose to L: -ribulose was 78:22 under optimal conditions. L: -ribulose (97 g/L) was obtained from 500 g/l of L: -arabinose catalyzed by the enzyme (8.3 U/mL) under the optimal conditions within 1.5 h, giving at a substrate conversion of 19.4% and a production rate of 65 g L(-1) h(-1).

Bifidobacterium longum L-arabinose isomerase--overexpression in Lactococcus lactis, purification, and characterization.

Bifidobacterium longum NRRL B-41409 L-arabinose isomerase (L-AI) was cloned and overexpressed in Lactococcus lactis using a phosphate-depletion-inducible expression system. The purified B. longum L-AI was characterized using D-galactose and L-arabinose as the substrates. The enzyme was active and stable at acidic pH with an optimum at pH 6.0-6.5. The enzyme showed the highest activity at 55 °C during a 20-min incubation at pH 6.5. The K(m) value was 120 mM for L-arabinose and 590 mM for D-galactose. The V(max) was 42 U mg(-1) with L-arabinose and 7.7 U mg(-1) with D-galactose as the substrates. The enzyme had very low requirement for metal ions for catalytic activity, but it was stabilized by divalent metal ions (Mg(2+), Mn(2+)). The enzyme bound the metal ions so tightly that they could not be fully removed from the active site by EDTA treatment. Using purified B. longum L-AI as the catalyst at 35 °C, equilibrium yields of 36 % D-tagatose and 11 % L-ribulose with 1.67 M D-galactose and L-arabinose, respectively, as the substrates were reached.