Biodiversity of Bacterial lipase genes

A number of bacterial species produce extracellular lipases. Among them, many lipase genes have been cloned and sequenced. A comparison of primary sequences revealed only very limited sequence homology among them. Based on the sequence homologies and molecular sizes (Mr), bacterial lipases were classified into four discrete groups. From soil samples taken around Taejon, five different lipase-producing bacteria were isolated; Proteus vulgaris K80, Bacillus stearothermophilus Ll, B. pumilus B26, Staphylococcus haemolyticus L62, S. aureus B56. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed that Staphylococcus lipase genes (L62 and B56) composed of pre-pro-mature parts, Bacillus lipase genes (Ll and B26) pre-mature parts, and Proteus lipase gene (K80) mature part only. In addition, the molecular sizes of their mature parts were quite different from 19,000 to 45,000. Finally, they had very little homology (less than 20％) in their amino acid sequences. Judging from the above results, lipase K80 belonged to bacterial lipase Group I, lipase L1 and lipase B26 Group III, and lipase L62 and lipase B56 Group IV. This diversity in their primary structures was also reflected in their enzymatic properties; temperature effects, pH effects, substrate specificity, detergent effects, and so on.