RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To characterize a recombinant isomerase that can catalyze the isomerization of sucrose into isomaltulose and investigate its application for the enzymatic production of isomaltulose. RESULTS: A sucrose isomerase gene from Erwinia sp. Ejp617 was synthesized and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The enzymatic characterization revealed that the optimal pH and temperature of the purified sucrose isomerase were 6.0 and 40 °C, respectively. The enzyme activity was slightly activated by Mn2+and Mg2+, but partially inhibited by Ca2+, Ba2+, Cu2+, Zn2+ and EDTA. The kinetic parameters of Km and Vmax for sucrose were 69.28 mM and 118.87 U/mg, respectively. The time course showed that 240.9 g/L of isomaltulose was produced from 300 g/L of sucrose, and the yield reached 80.3% after bioreaction for 180 min. CONCLUSIONS: This recombinant enzyme showed excellent capability for biotransforming sucrose to isomaltulose at the substrate concentration of 300 g/L. Further investigations should be carried out focusing on selection of suitable heterologous expression system with the aim to improve its expression level.