• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.49 no.6
• /
• pp.840-845
• /
• 2011

Degradation products of agarose are biologically active and thus used as an ingredient in pharmaceuticals or functional cosmetics. Furthermore, it has been strongly considered as a substrate for bio-ethanol fermentation. Recently, we isolated new agarase-producing microorganism, Pseudoalteromonas sp. from south sea of Korea. In this study, we aimed to separate and purify the agarase from culture broth of this strain. Separation of agarase was performed by ion- exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose resin. Equilibrium pH and volume ratio of resin to the amount of protein were optimized for the efficient adsorption of protein. 410 ${\mu}g$ of protein was completely adsorbed to 3 mL of resin at pH 7.5. The total amount of eluted protein increased as NaCl concentration increased to 400 mM at isocratic elution. Agarase was separated by linear gradient elution of NaCl (0~1,000 mM). Three major protein peaks were observed and the presence or absence of agarase in these eluted proteins was measured by Lugol's staining technique. Only six eluted protein fractions showed strong agarase activity.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.357-362
• /
• 2023

This report looks at an agar-degrading marine bacterium and characterization of its agarase. Agar-degrading marine bacterium JS-1 was isolated with Marine agar 2216 media from seawater from the seashore of Sojuk-do, Changwon in Gyeongnam Province, Korea. The agar-degrading bacterium was named as Agarivorans sp. JS-1 by phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The extracellular agarase was prepared from the culture media of Agarivorans sp. JS-1 and used for characterization. Relative activities at 20℃, 30℃, 35℃, 40℃, 45℃, 50℃, 55℃, and 60℃ were 70%, 74%, 78%, 83%, 87%, 100%, 74%, and 66%, respectively. Relative activities at pH 5, 6, 7, and 8 were 91%, 100%, 90%, and 89%, respectively. Its extracellular agarase showed maximum activity (207 units/l) at pH 6.0 and 50℃ in 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer. The residual activity after heat treatment at 20℃, 30℃, and 50℃ for 30 minutes was 90%, 70%, and 50% or more, respectively. After a 2-hour heat treatment at 20℃, 30℃, 35℃, 40℃, and 45℃, the residual activity was 80%, 68%, 65%, 63%, and 57%, respectively. At 50℃ and above, after heat treatment for 30 minutes, the residual activity was below 60%. Thin layer chromatography analysis suggested that Agarivorans sp. JS-1 produces extracellular β-agarases as they hydrolyze agarose to produce neoagarooligosaccharides such as neoagarohexaose (20.6%), neoagarotetraose (58.5%), and neoagarobiose (20.9%). Agarivorans sp. JS-1 and its thermotolerant β-agarase would be useful in the production of neoagarooligosaccharides, showing functional activity such as inhibition of bacterial growth and delay of starch degradation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Life Science Conference
• /
• 2006.09a
• /
• pp.86.1-86.1
• /
• 2006

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.329-336
• /
• 2021

Cellulophga sp. J9-3, is a gram-negative, aerobic marine bacterium belonging to the family Flavobacteriaceae. In addition to cellulose degradability, the J9-3 strain is also capable of hydrolyzing agar in the solid and liquid medium, and the production of agarase in the presence of agarose can be remarkably induced by the bacterium. From the cell culture broth of Cellulophga sp. J9-3, ammonium sulfate precipitation and three kinds of column chromatography were successively performed to purify a specific agarase protein, the AgaJ93. Purified AgaJ93 showed the strongest hydrolyzing activity towards agarose (approximately 22%), and even displayed activity towards starch. AgaJ93 hydrolyzed agarose into neoagarotetraose and neoagarohexaose via various oligosaccharide intermediates, indicating that AgaJ93 is an endo-type β-agarase. AgaJ93 showed maximum activity at a pH of 7.0 and temperature of 35 ℃. Its activity increased by more than six times in the presence of Co²⁺ ions. The N-terminal sequence of AgaJ93 showed 82% homology with the heat-resistant endo-type β-agarase Aga2 of Cellulophaga sp. W5C. However, the biochemical properties of the two enzymes were different. Therefore, AgaJ93 is expected to be a novel agarose, different from the previously reported β-agarases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.767-772
• /
• 2003

Three plasmids derived from the ${\beta}-agarase$ gene (PjaA) of Pseudomonas sp. W7 were expressed in Escherichia coli AD494(DE3) pLysS with lactose as an inducer. These products corresponded to the complete (PjaA) and the two C-terminal truncated (PjaAI and PjaAII) forms of ${\beta}-agarase$. The PjaAI and the PjaAII were originated from exonuclease L treatment from PjaA by deleting 127 and 182 amino acid residues-encoded nucleic acids at 3' region, respectively. The molecular weights of the purified proteins were 71 kDa, 58 kDa, and 50 kDa on SDS-PAGE, respectively. The $K_m$ value of PjaAI was lower than that of the PjaA, and the catalytic efficiency ($k_{cat}/K_m$) of PjaAI was increased to 5 times. The enzyme of PjaAI retained more than 90% activity at $50^{\circ}C$. In contrast to the PjaAI, the remaining activity of the PjaA was only 20% at the same temperature.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.389-393
• /
• 2006

Characteristics of ${\beta}$-agarase production of Agarivorans sp, JA-1 isolated from north-eastern sea of Jeju marine environment was studied. Optimal cell growth was definite that the medium containing agar is 0.2%. The decreasing pattern of viscosity and agar concentration was same and they reached almost zero after 15 hours. Fed-batch culture was studied to improve agarase productivity by Agarivorans sp. JA-1 in marine broth containing 2.0 g/L agar with intermittent addition of 0.8 g agar two times. The hydrolysis products were identified oligosaccharide of degrees of polymerization 6.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.776-783
• /
• 2018

The agarase gene gaa16a was identified from a draft genome sequence of Gilvimarinus agarilyticus JEA5, an agar-utilizing marine bacterium. Recently, three agarase-producing bacteria, G. chinensis, G. polysaccharolyticus, and G. agarilyticus, in the genus Gilvimarinus were reported. However, there have been no reports of the molecular characteristics and biochemical properties of these agarases. In this study, we analyzed the molecular characteristics and biochemical properties of agarases in Gilvimarinus. Gaa16A comprised a 1,323-bp open reading frame encoding 441 amino acids. The predicted molecular mass and isoelectric point were 49 kDa and 4.9, respectively. The amino acid sequence of Gaa16A showed features typical of glycosyl hydrolase family 16 (GH16) ${\beta}$-agarases, including a GH16 domain, carbohydrate-binding region (RICIN domain), and signal peptide. Recombinant Gaa16A (excluding the signal peptide and carbohydrate-binding region, rGaa16A) was expressed as a fused protein with maltose-binding protein at its N-terminus in Escherichia coli. rGaa16A had maximum activity at $55^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0 and 103 U/mg of specific activity in the presence of 2.5 mM $CaCl_2$. The enzyme hydrolyzed agarose to yield neoagarotetraose as the main product. This enzyme may be useful for industrial production of functional neoagaro-oligosaccharides.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.22 no.9
• /
• pp.1237-1244
• /
• 2012

Agarase genes of non-marine agarolytic bacterium Cellvibrio sp. were cloned into Escherichia coli and one of the genes obtained using HindIII was sequenced. From nucleotide and putative amino acid sequences (713 aa, molecular mass; 78,771 Da) of the gene, designated as agarase AgaA, the gene was found to have closest homology to the Saccharophagus degradans (formerly, Microbulbifer degradans) 2-40 aga86 gene, belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 86 (GH86). The putative protein appears to be a non-secreted protein because of the absence of a signal sequence. The recombinant protein was purified with anion exchange and gel filtration columns after ammonium sulfate precipitation and the molecular mass (79 kDa) determined by SDS-PAGE and subsequent enzymography agreed with the estimated value, suggesting that the enzyme is monomeric. The optimal pH and temperature for enzymatic hydrolysis of agarose were 6.5 and $42.5^{\circ}C$, and the enzyme was stable under $40^{\circ}C$. LC-MS and NMR analyses revealed production of a neoagarobiose and a neoagarotetraose with a small amount of a neoagarohexaose during hydrolysis of agarose, indicating that the enzyme is a ${\beta}$-agarase.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.58-62
• /
• 2008

A novel agar-degrading bacterium SL-12 was isolated from seashore of Kijang at Busan, Korea, and cultured in marine broth 2216 media. Isolated bacterium SL-12 was identified as Glaciecola genus by 16S rDNA sequencing with 98% identity. The optimum pH of the enzyme activity was 7.0 and the optimum temperature for the reaction was $30^{\circ}C$. The enzyme hydrolyzed neoagarohexaose to yield neoagarobiose as the main product, indicating that the enzyme is ${\beta}$-agarase. Thus, isolated bacterium and the enzyme would be useful for the industrial production of neoagarobiose.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.356-365
• /
• 2021

Recently, we sequenced the entire genome of a freshwater agar-degrading bacterium Cellvibrio sp. KY-GH-1 (KCTC13629BP) to explore genetic information encoding agarases that hydrolyze agarose into monomers 3,6-anhydro-L-galactose (L-AHG) and D-galactose. The KY-GH-1 strain appeared to possess nine β-agarase genes and two α-neoagarobiose hydrolase (α-NABH) genes in a 77-kb agarase gene cluster. Based on these genetic information, the KY-GH-1 strain-caused agarose degradation into L-AHG and D-galactose was predicted to be initiated by both endolytic GH16 and GH86 β-agarases to generate NAOS (NA4/NA6/NA8), and further processed by exolytic GH50 β-agarases to generate NA2, and then terminated by GH117 α-NABHs which degrade NA2 into L-AHG and D-galactose. More recently, by employing E. coli expression system with pET-30a vector we obtained three recombinant His-tagged GH50 family β-agarases (GH50A, GH50B, and GH50C) derived from Cellvibrio sp. KY-GH-1 to compare their enzymatic properties. GH50A β-agarase turned out to have the highest exolytic β-agarase activity among the three GH50 isozymes, catalyzing efficient NA2 production from the substrate (agarose, NAOS or AOS). Additionally, we determined that GH117A α-NABH, but not GH117B α-NABH, could potently degrade NA2 into L-AHG and D-galactose. Sequentially, we examined the enzymatic characteristics of GH50A β-agarase and GH117A α-NABH, and assessed their efficiency for NA2 production from agarose and for production of L-AHG and D-galactose from NA2, respectively. In this review, we describe the benefits of recombinant GH50A β-agarase and GH117A α-NABH originated from Cellvibrio sp. KY-GH-1, which may be useful for the enzymatic hydrolysis of agarose for mass production of L-AHG and D-galactose.