Increased mRNA Stability and Expression Level of Croceibacter atlanticus Lipase Gene Developed through Molecular Evolution Process.

In order to use an enzyme industrially, it is necessary to increase the activity of the enzyme and optimize the reaction characteristics through molecular evolution techniques. We used the error-prone PCR method to improve the reaction characteristics of LipCA lipase discovered in Antarctic Croceibacter atlanticus. Recombinant Escherichia coli colonies showing large halo zones were selected in tributyrin-containing medium. The lipase activity of one mutant strain (M3-1) was significantly increased, compared to the wild-type (WT) strain. M3-1 strain produced about three times more lipase enzyme than did WT strain. After confirming the nucleotide sequence of the M3-1 gene to be different from that of the WT gene by four bases (73, 381, 756, and 822), the secondary structures of WT and M3-1 mRNA were predicted and compared by RNAfold web program. Compared to the mean free energy (MFE) of WT mRNA, that of M3-1 mRNA was lowered by 4.4 kcal/mol, and the MFE value was significantly lowered by mutations of bases 73 and 756. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed to find out which of the four base mutations actually affected the enzyme expression level. Among them, one mutant enzyme production decreased as WT enzyme production when the base 73 was changed (T→C). These results show that one base change at position 73 can significantly affect protein expression level, and demonstrate that changing the mRNA sequence can increase the stability of mRNA, and can increase the production of foreign protein in E. coli.

Characterization of Novel Salt-Tolerant Esterase Isolated from the Marine Bacterium Alteromonas sp. 39-G1.

An esterase gene, estA1, was cloned from Alteromonas sp. 39-G1 isolated from the Beaufort Sea. The gene is composed of 1,140 nucleotides and codes for a 41,190 Da protein containing 379 amino acids. As a result of a BLAST search, the protein sequence of esterase EstA1 was found to be identical to Alteromonas sp. esterase (GenBank: PHS53692). As far as we know, no research on this enzyme has yet been conducted. Phylogenetic analysis showed that esterase EstA1 was a member of the bacterial lipolytic enzyme family IV (hormone sensitive lipases). Two deletion mutants (Δ20 and Δ54) of the esterase EstA1 were produced in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells with part of the N-terminal of the protein removed and His-tag attached to the C-terminal. These enzymes exhibited the highest activity toward p-nitrophenyl (pNP) acetate (C2) and had little or no activity towards pNP-esters with acyl chains longer than C6. Their optimum temperature and pH of the catalytic activity were 45°C and pH 8.0, respectively. As the NaCl concentration increased, their enzyme activities continued to increase and the highest enzyme activities were measured in 5 M NaCl. These enzymes were found to be stable for up to 8 h in the concentration of 3-5 M NaCl. Moreover, they have been found to be stable for various metal ions, detergents and organic solvents. These salt-tolerant and chemical-resistant properties suggest that the enzyme esterase EstA1 is both academically and industrially useful.