• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.454-460
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• 1995

Acetylxylan esterase II was produced by Escherichia coli HB101 harboring the recombinant plasmid pKMG7 which contained the estII gene of Bacillus stearothermophilus. Optimal medium for the production of the acetylxylan esterase by E. coli HB101/pKMG7 was determined to contain 0.5% galactose, 1% yeast extract and 1% NaCl. The enzyme produced was purified to homogeneity using a combination of 20-50% ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B chromatography and Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration. The temperature and pH optimum of the esterase were 45$\circ$C and pH 6, respectively. The essential amino acids for the esterase activity were found to be methionine, serine, and cysteine. Molecular weight of the esterase was determined to be 28 kDa by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and 120 kDa by gel filtration. This suggests that the functional enzyme is a homomeric tetramer. The esterase had an isoelectric point of pH 3.4. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme was Ala-Leu-Phe-Glu-Ser-Arg-Phe-Phe-Ser-Glu-Val-Leu-Gly-Leu.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.507-514
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• 1994

Acetyl xylan esterase was produced by E. coli HB101 harboring a recombinant plasmid pKMG6 which contained the estI gene of Bacillus stearothermophilus. The maximum production was observed when the E. coli strain was grown at 37$\circC for 12 hours in the medium containing 0.5% acetyl xylan, 1.0% tryptons, 1.0% sodium chloride, and 0.5% yeast extract. The esterase produced was purified to homogeneity using a combination of ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE Sepharose CL-6B ion exchange chromatography and Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration. The native enzyme had an apparent molecular mass of 60 kd and was composed of two identical subunits of 29 kd. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the polypeptide was Ala-X-Leu-Gln- Ile-Gln-Phe-X-X-Gln. The acetyl esterase displayed a pH optimum of 6.5 and a temperature opti- mum of 45$\circC. The heavy metal ions such as Ag$^{++}$, Hg$^{++}$ and Cu$^{++}$ inhibited nearly completely the activity of the esterase, and no specific metal ion was found to be required for the enzyme activity. The enzyme readily cleaved MAS, $\beta$-D-glucose pentaacetate, $\alpha$-naphthyl acetate, $\rho$-nitrophenyl acetate as well as acetyl xylan, but had no activity on $\rho$-nitrophenyl propionate, $\beta$-nitrophenyl butyrate or $\beta$-nitrophenyl valerate. The Km and Vmax values for MAS were 2.87 mM and 11.55 $\mu$mole/min, respectively. Synergistic behavior was demonstrated with a combination of xylanase and esterase from B. stearothermophilus in hydrolyzing acetyl xylan.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.446-453
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• 1995

$\alpha $-Arabinofuranosidase was produced by E. coli HB101 haboring the recombinant plasmid pKMG11 which contained the arfI gene of Bacillus stearothermophilus. The maximum production of the enzyme was observed when E. coli HB101 cells were grown at 37$\circ$C for 20 hours in the medium containing 0.5% arabinose, 1.0% tryptone, 0.5% yeast extract, and 1% NaCl. The $\ALPHA $-arabinofuranosidase produced was purified to homogeneity using a combination of 20-50% ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B ion exchange column chromatography and Sepharose 6B-100 gel filtration. The purified enzyme was most active at 55$\circ$C and pH 6.5. The K$_{m}$ and V$_{max}$ values of the enzyme on $\rho $-nitrophenyl-$\alpha $-arabinofuranoside was determined to be 2.99 mM and 0.43 $\mu $mole/min (319.74 $\mu $mole/min/mg), respectively. The pI value was 4.5. The molecular weight of the native protein was estimated to be 289 kDa. The SDS-polyacrylamide gel clectrophoresis analysis suggested that the functional protein was a trimer of the 108 kDa identical subunits. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the a-arabinofuranosidase was identified as X-Ser-Thr-Ala-Pro-Arg( \ulcorner )-Ala-Thr-Met-Val-Ile-Asp-X-Ala-Phe.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.599-606
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• 1994

Bacillus stearothermomophilus, a strong xylan degrader, was confirmed to express multiple esterase activities in addition to the major xylanolytic enzymes. One of the genes encoding the esterases was isolated from the genomic library of B. stearothermophilus constructed with EcoRl restriction endonuclease and pBR322 plasmid. Three recombinant plasmids showing the tributyrin degrading activity were selected from approximately 7, 000 E. coli HB101 transformants, and were found to have the same insert of a 3.2 kb DNA fragment. Restriction mapping and hybridization studies revealed that the gene(estII) on the hybrid plasmid (pKMG7) had originated from the B. stearothermophilus chromosome, and was distinct from the estl, another esterase gene of B. stearothermophilus isolated in the previous work. The E. coli cells harboring pKMG7 produced an acetylxylan esterase that exibited similar substrate specificity to the esterase encoded by the estI gene.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.542-548
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• 1993

Bacillus stearothermophilus was shown to express multiple xylanolytic enzymes including acetyl xylan esterase. Genomic DNA of the strain partially digested with HindIII was ligated into the HindIII site of pBR322, and expressed in E. coli HB101 cells in order to clone the gene for acetyl xylan esterase. One transformant among 4000 screened formed a clear zone around its colony on the LB agar supplemented with 1.0% tributyrin. The functional clone harbored the recombinant plasmid pKMG5 with an insert of 5.1kb.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.607-613
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• 1994

The Bacillus stearothermophilus arfI gene encoding a-arabinofuranosidase was isolated from the genomic library, cloned into pBR322, and subsequently transferred into the Escherichia coli HB101. The recombinant E. coli was selected from approximately 10,000 transformants screened by making use of its ability to produce a yellow pigment around the colony on the selective medium supplemented with p-nitrophenyl-$\alpha$-L-arabinofuranoside (pNPAf), a chromogenic substrate. The functional clone was found to harbor a recombinant plasmid, pKMG11 with an insertion of about 5 kb derived from the B. stearothermophilus chromosomal DNA. Identity of the arfI gene on the insert DNA was confirmed by a zymogram with 4-methylumbelliferyl-$\alpha$-L-arabinofuranoside as the enzyme substrate. The $\alpha$-arabinofuranosidase from the recombinant E. coli strain showed very high substrate specificity; the enzyme displayed high activity only with pNPAf among many other p- or $o$-nitrophenyl derivatives of several sugars, and acted only on arabinoxylan among various natural arabinose containing polysaccharides tested.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.297-302
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• 1998

$\beta$-Xylosidase B was produced by Escherichia coli HB101/pKMG12 carrying the xylB gene of Bacillus stearothermophilus No.236 on its recombinant plasmid. The $\beta$-xylosidase B produced was purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B, Sephacryl S-200 and Superdex 200 HR gel filtration. The purified enzyme showed the highest activity at pH 6.5 and 5$0^{\circ}C$. But, the enzyme was observed to be very sensitive to the pH and temperature of the reaction mixture. The enzyme was activated about 35% of its original activity in the presence of 1 mM of $Mn^{2+}$ but it was completely inhibited by $Ag^{+}$, $Cu^{2+}$and $Hg^{2+}$ions. In contrast with the $\beta$-xylosidase A, the B enzyme was found to have $\alpha$-arabinofuranosidase activity though the activity was fairly low compared with the $\alpha$-arabinofuranosidase produced from the arfI gene of the same Bacillus stearothermophilus. Therefore, $\beta$-xylosidase B is considered to be more suitable than $\beta$-xylosidase A at least for the biodegradation of arabinoxylan. The $K_{m}$ and V$_{max}$ values of the $\beta$-xylosidase B for o-nitrophenyl-$\alpha$-D-xylopyranoside were 6.43 mM and 1.45 $\mu$mole/min, respectively. Molecular mass of the enzyme was determind to be about 54 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 160 kDa by Superdex 200HR gel filtration, indicating that the functional $\beta$-xylosidase B was composed of three identical subunits.s.