Cloning, Expression, and Characterization of a Cold-Adapted Lipase Gene from an Antarctic Deep-Sea Psychrotrophic Bacterium, Psychrobacter sp. 7195

A psychrotrophic strain 7195 showing extracellular lipolytic activity towards tributyrin was isolated from deep-sea sediment of Prydz Bay and identified as a Psychrobacter species. By screening a genomic DNA library of Psychrobacter sp. 7195, an open reading frame of 954 bp coding for a lipase gene, lipA1, was identified, cloned, and sequenced. The deduced LipA1 consisted of 317 amino acids with a molecular mass of 35,210 kDa. It had one consensus motif, G-N-S-M-G (GXSXG), containing the putative active-site serine, which was conserved in other cold-adapted lipolytic enzymes. The recombinant LipA1 was purified by column chromatography with DEAE Sepharose CL-4B, and Sephadex G-75, and preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, in sequence. The purified enzyme showed highest activity at $30^{\circ}C$, and was unstable at temperatures higher than $30^{\circ}C$, indicating that it was a typical cold-adapted enzyme. The optimal pH for activity was 9.0, and the enzyme was stable between pH 7.0-10.0 after 24h incubation at $4^{\circ}C$. The addition of $Ca^{2+}\;and\;Mg^{2+}$ enhanced the enzyme activity of LipA1, whereas the $Cd^{2+},\;Zn^{2+},\;CO^{2+},\;Fe^{3+},\;Hg^{2+},\;Fe^{2+},\;Rb^{2+}$, and EDTA strongly inhibited the activity. The LipA1 was activated by various detergents, such as Triton X-100, Tween 80, Tween 40, Span 60, Span 40, CHAPS, and SDS, and showed better resistance towards them. Substrate specificity analysis showed that there was a preference for trimyristin and p-nitrophenyl myristate $(C_{14}\;acyl\; groups)$.