• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.1067-1072
• /
• 2005

A metagenomic library was constructed using a fosmid vector, and total genomic DNA was extracted directly from soil at Cisolok (hot spring area, Indonesia). This library was composed of 10,214 clones and screened for lipolytic enzyme on tributyrin agar plates. An esterase gene (estMa) was subcloned and sequenced from a positive lipolytic active clone. Esterase EstMa was encoded by a 954-bp open reading frame and showed low ($11-33\%$) amino acid similarity to known esterases. The amino acid sequence analysis demonstrated that the enzyme is a new member of lipolytic enzyme family VI. The estMa gene encodes a preprotein of 317 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 34,799 Da. The purified enzyme exhibited optimal activity at $50^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.5. The $K_m,\;and\;V_{max}$ values of EstMa for the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl valerate were $45.3\;{\mu}M$ and 4.45 U/mg, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.951-956
• /
• 2001

A 28-kDa extracellular lipase (pI 8.7) was purified to homogeneity from the culture supernatant of Trichosporon sp. Y- 11 by mmonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Sephadex A-50, Bio-Gel P-30, CM- Sephadex C-50, and Bio-Gel P- 10 chromatographies. The purified enzyme exhibited a specific activity of $2,741{\;}{\mu}mol/min/mg$ based on the hydrolysis of triolein, and the optimal hydrolysis activity was dentified at pH 8.0 and $40^{\circ}C$. The enzyme activity was inhibited by $Ag^+$ and enhanced by $Fe^{2+}$, $Fe^{3+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, and $Li^{+}$. The enzyme activity exhibited for the hydrolysis of both tributyrin and trilinolein. The ester synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids with various alcohols catalyzed by the purified lipase in a nonaqueous medium or microaqueous system was also investigated. The esterification activity of the lipase increased with an increase of the carbon chain length in the alcohol. The synthesis rate of linoleic acid and oleyl alcohol was the highest with an optimal temperature and pH of $40^{\circ}C$ and 8.0, respectively. The water content and agitation also affected the esterification activity of the lipase.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.10 no.5
• /
• pp.656-662
• /
• 2000

A high level of Staphylococcus haemolyticus L62 lipase was expressed in an Escherichia coli transformant. The expressed lipase activity in the cell-free extract was 70,800 U/l, which corresponded to 30% of the total cellular protein. Pre-mixing of the l62 lipase with some nonionic detergents enhanced its hydrolytic activity towards olive oil: Tween detergents activated the L62 lipase by 3 fold. Gel filtration chromatography of the Tween-80-L62 lipase mixture demonstrated a polymerized complex (∼180 kDa) formed exclusively between Tween-80 and the L62 lipase. The lipase enzyme in the complex showed a higher specific activity towards most triacylglycerols than the intact L62 lipase. The activity enhancement towards each substrate was quite different depending on the acyl chain length; the activity towards tributyrin, trilinolein, and trilinolenin was much more enhanced than the towards the medium and the long-chain saturated triglycerides.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.401-406
• /
• 1995

The P. fragi lipase overexpressed in E. coli as a fusion protein of 57 kilodalton (kDa) has been purified through glutathione-agarose affinity chromatography by elution with free glutathione. The general properties of the purified GST-fusion protein were characterized by observing absorbance of released p-nitrophenoxide at 400 nm which was hydrolyzed from the substrate p-nitrophenyl palmitate. The optimum condition was observed at 25 $^{\circ}C$, pH 7.8 with 0.4 ${\mu}g$ of protein and 1.0 mM substrate in 0.6% (v/v) TritonX-100 solution. Also the lipase was activated by Ca+2, Mg+2, Ba+2 and Na+ but it was inhibited by Co+2 and Ni+2. pGEX-2T containing P. fragi lipase gene as expression vector was named pGL191 and used as a template for the site-directed mutagenesis by sequential PCR steps. A Ser-His-Asp catalytic triad similar to that present in serine proteases may be present in Pseudomonas lipase. Therefore, the PCR fragments replacing Asp217 to Arg and His260 to Arg were synthesized, and substituted for original fragment in pGL19. The ligated products were transformed into E. coli NM522, and pGEX-2T harboring mutant lipase genes were screened through digestion with XbaI and StuI sites created by mutagenic primers, respectively. No activity of mutant lipases was observed on the plate containing tributyrin. The purified mutant lipases were not activated on the substrate and affected at pH variation. These results demonstrate that Asp217 and His260 are involved in the catalytic site of Pseudomonas lipase.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.317-326
• /
• 2021

Vanillyl alcohol (VA), which is abundant in Vanilla bean, has strong antioxidant activity. However, the use of VA in the food and cosmetics industries is limited, due to its low solubility in emulsion or organic solvents. Meanwhile, medium chain fatty acids and medium chain monoglycerides have antibacterial activity. We synthesized butyric acid vanillyl ester (BAVE) or caprylic acid vanillyl ester (CAVE) from VA with tributyrin or tricaprylin through transesterification reaction using immobilized lipases. BAVE and CAVE scavenged 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radicals in organic solvents. In addition, BAVE and CAVE decreased the production rate of conjugated diene and triene in the menhaden oil-in-water emulsion system. While BAVE showed no antibacterial activity, CAVE showed antibacterial activity against food spoilage bacteria, including Bacillus coagulans. In this study, the antibacterial activity of vanillyl ester with medium chain fatty acid was first revealed. Zeta potential measurements confirmed that BAVE and CAVE were inserted into B. coagulans membrane. In addition, the propidium iodide uptake assay and fluorescent microscopy showed that CAVE increased B. coagulans membrane permeability. Therefore, CAVE is expected to play an important role in the food and cosmetics industries as a bi-functional material with both antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.145-148
• /
• 2006

A new functional lipolytic enzyme (AT4) has recently been found from Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 Cereon using a genome-wide approach. The enzyme has some sequence similarity to E. coli acetyl hydrolase, Emericella nidulans lipase, Moraxella sp. lipase, Acinetobacter lwoffii esterase, and Streptomyces hygroscopicus acetyl hydrolase. However, the sequence similarities are very low (less than $25\%$), suggesting that it is a new lipase/esterase enzyme. ill the present study, intact cell of the A. tumefaciens strain was shown to have lipolytic activity on a tributyrin-LB plate. The AT4 gene was then expressed at a high level in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells and the enzyme was purified simply by Ni-NTA column chromatography. The purified enzyme showed hydrolytic activity toward p-nitrophenyl caproate, but not toward olive oil, suggesting that the AT4 enzyme was a typical esterase rather than lipase. AT4 esterase had a maximum hydrolytic activity at $45^{\circ}C$ and pH 8.0, when p-nitrophenyl caproate was used as a substrate. It was relatively stable up to $40^{\circ}C$ and at pH 5.0-9.0. Calcium ion and EDT A did not affect the activity and thermal stability of the enzyme. As for substrate specificity, AT4 enzyme could rapidly hydrolyze acetyl and butyl groups from p-nitrophenyl esters and 1-naphthyl esters. In addition, it also released acetyl residues from acetylated glucose and xylose substrates. Therefore, this new esterase enzyme might be used as a biocatalyst in acetylation and deacetylation reactions performed in the fine chemical industry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.10
• /
• pp.1655-1660
• /
• 2007

A metagenome is a unique resource to search for novel microbial enzymes from the unculturable microorganisms in soil. A forest soil metagenomic library using a fosmid and soil microbial DNA from Gwangneung forest, Korea, was constructed in Escherichia coli and screened to select lipolytic genes. A total of seven unique lipolytic clones were selected by screening of the 31,000-member forest soil metagenome library based on tributyrin hydrolysis. The ORFs for lipolytic activity were subcloned in a high copy number plasmid by screening the secondary shortgun libraries from the seven clones. Since the lipolytic enzymes were well secreted in E. coli into the culture broth, the lipolytic activity of the subclones was confirmed by the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl butyrate using culture supernatant. Deduced amino acid sequence analysis of the identified ORFs for lipolytic activity revealed that 4 genes encode hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) in lipase family IV. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that 4 proteins were clustered with HSL in the database and other metagenomic HSLs. The other 2 genes and 1 gene encode non-heme peroxidase-like enzymes of lipase family V and a GDSL family esterase/lipase in family II, respectively. The gene for the GDSL enzyme is the first description of the enzyme from metagenomic screening.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.661-667
• /
• 2013

Lipase-producing bacterial strains were isolated from Antarctic soil samples using the tricaprylin agar plate method. Seven strains with relatively strong lipase activities were selected. All of them turned out to be Bacillus pumilus strains by the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Their corresponding lipase genes were cloned, sequenced, and compared. Finally, three different Bacillus pumilus lipases (BPL1, BPL2, and BPL3) were chosen. Their amino acid sequence identities were in the range of 92-98% with the previous Bacillus pumilus lipases. Their optimum temperatures and pHs were measured to be $40^{\circ}C$ and pH 9. Lipase BPL1 and lipase BPL2 were stable up to $30^{\circ}C$, whereas lipase BPL3 was stable up to $20^{\circ}C$. Lipase BPL2 was stable within a pH range of 6-10, whereas lipase BPL1 and lipase BPL3 were stable within a pH range of 5-11, showing strong alkaline tolerance. All these lipases exhibited high hydrolytic activity toward p-nitrophenyl caprylate ($C_8$). In addition, lipase BPL1 showed high hydrolytic activity toward tributyrin, whereas lipase BPL2 and lipase BPL3 hydrolyzed tricaprylin and castor oil preferentially. These results demonstrated that the three Antarctic Bacillus lipases were alkaliphilic and had a substrate preference toward short- and medium-chain triglycerides. These Antarctic Bacillus lipases might be used in detergent and food industries.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.716-723
• /
• 2006

A biosurfactant-producing bacterial strain was selected from oil-contaminated soil because of its ability to degrade crude oil and tributyrin $(C_{4:0})$. The strain was identified as Bacillus subtilis A8-8 based on its morphological, biochemical, and physiological characteristics. When B. subtilis A8-8 was grown with crude oil as the sole carbon source, the biosurfactant from the strain emulsified crude oil, vegetable oil, and hydrocarbons. Soybean oil was the optimum substrate for the emulsifying activity and emulsion stability of the biosurfactant, both of which were superior to those of several commercially available surfactants. The biosurfactant was purified by a procedure including HCl precipitation, methanol treatment, and silica-gel chromatography. The partially purified biosurfactant was analyzed by TLC (thin-layer chromatography), SDS-PAGE, and HPLC and it reduced the surface tension of water from 72 mN/m to 26 mN/m at a concentration of 30 mg/l. Therefore, the purified lipopeptide biosurfactant has strong properties as an emulsifying agent and acts as an emulsion-stabilizing agent.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.147-154
• /
• 2009

The carboxylesterase-encoding gene(bioHs) of a newly isolated strain, Serratia sp. SES-01, was cloned from the genomic DNA library by detecting formation of transparent halo around the colony on LB-tributyrin agar plates. The amino acid sequence of BioHs was highly similar to the members of the BioH enzyme family involved in the biotin biosynthetic pathway; it showed the highest similarity(91%) with that of Serratia proteamaculans. To compare BioHs with other BioH enzymes, the relatively well-known bioHe gene of E. coli was cloned with PCR. After we achieved high-level expression of soluble BioHs and BioHe through the exploration of different culture conditions, the purified BioHs and BioHe enzymes were characterized in terms of specificity, activity, and stability. BioHe was generally more robust to a change in temperature and pH and an addition of organic solvents than BioHs. The two enzymes exhibited a strong preference for carboxylesterase rather than for thioesterase and were optimal at relatively low temperatures($20-40^{\circ}C$) and alkaline pHs(7.5-9.0). The results in this study strongly suggested that both the BioHs and BioHe enzymes would be potential candidates for use as a carboxylesterase in many industrial applications.