L-arabinose isomerase from Lactobacillus parabuchneri and its whole cell biocatalytic application in D-tagatose biosynthesis from D-galactose

Improving Catalytic Efficiency of L-Arabinose Isomerase from Lactobacillus plantarum CY6 towards D-Galactose by Molecular Modification

L-Arabinose isomerase (L-AI) has been commonly used as an efficient biocatalyst to produce D-tagatose via the isomerization of D-galactose. However, it remains a significant challenge to efficiently synthesize D-tagatose using the native (wild type) L-AI at an industrial scale. Hence, it is extremely urgent to redesign L-AI to improve its catalytic efficiency towards D-galactose, and herein a structure-based molecular modification of Lactobacillus plantarum CY6 L-AI (LpAI) was performed. Among the engineered LpAI, both F118M and F279I mutants showed an increased D-galactose isomerization activity. Particularly, the specific activity of double mutant F118M/F279I towards D-galactose was increased by 210.1% compared to that of the wild type LpAI (WT). Besides the catalytic activity, the substrate preference of F118M/F279I was also largely changed from L-arabinose to D-galactose. In the enzymatic production of D-tagatose, the yield and conversion ratio of F118M/F279I were increased by 81.2% and 79.6%, respectively, compared to that of WT. Furthermore, the D-tagatose production of whole cells expressing F118M/F279I displayed about 2-fold higher than that of WT cell. These results revealed that the designed site-directed mutagenesis is useful for improving the catalytic efficiency of LpAI towards D-galactose.

Characterization of a novel recombinant D-mannose isomerase from Bifidobacterium bifidum and its catalytic mechanism

Due to the increasing demand for health-conscious and environmentally friendly products, D-mannose has gained significant attention as a natural, low-calorie sweetener. The use of D-mannose isomerases (D-MIases) for D-mannose production has emerged as a prominent area of research, offering superior advantages compared with conventional methods such as plant extraction and chemical synthesis. In this study, a gene encoding D-MIase was cloned from Bifidobacterium and expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3). The heterologously expressed enzyme, Bifi-mannose, formed a trimer with a molecular weight of 146.3 kDa and a melting temperature (Tm) of 63.39 ± 1.3 °C. Bifi-mannose exhibited optimal catalytic activity at pH 7.5 and 55 °C, and retained more than 80% of its activity after a 3-hour incubation at 55 °C, demonstrating excellent thermal stability. The Km, Vmax, and kcat/Km values of Bifi-mannose for D-fructose isomerization were determined as 538.7 ± 62.5 mM, 11.7 ± 0.9 μmol·mg1·s1, and 1.02 ± 0.3 mM1·s1, respectively. Notably, under optimized conditions, catalytic yields of 29.4, 87.1, and 148.5 mg·mL1 were achieved when using 100, 300, and 500 mg·mL1 of D-fructose as substrates, resulting in a high conversion rate (29%). Furthermore, kinetic parameters and molecular docking studies revealed that His387 residue primarily participates in the opening of the pyranose ring, while His253 acts as a basic catalyst in the isomerization process.

Highly efficient production and simultaneous purification of d-tagatose through one-pot extraction-assisted isomerization of d-galactose

A one-pot extraction-assisted d-galactose-to-d-tagatose isomerization strategy was proposed based on the selective extraction of d-tagatose by phenylborate anions. 4-Vinylphenylboronic acid was selected with high extraction efficiency and selectivity towards d-tagatose. The extracted sugars could be desorbed through a two-staged stripping process with the purity of d-tagatose significantly increased. In-situ extraction-assisted d-galactose-to-d-tagatose isomerization was implemented for the first time ever reported, and the effect of boron-to-sugar ratio (boron: sugar) was investigated. The conversion yield of d-tagatose at 60 °C increased from ∼ 39 % (boron: sugar = 0.5) to ∼ 56 % (boron: sugar = 1) but then decreased to ∼ 44 % (boron: sugar = 1.5). With temperature increased to 70 °C, the conversion yield of d-tagatose was further improved to ∼ 61 % (boron: sugar = 1.5), with the minimized formation of byproducts. Moreover, high purity (∼83 %) and concentrated d-tagatose solution (∼40 g/L) was obtained after sequential desorption. The proposed extraction-assisted isomerization strategy achieved improving the yield and purity of d-tagatose, proving its feasibility in industrial applications.

Isomerization of Galactose to Tagatose: Recent Advances in Non-enzymatic Isomerization

The valorization of galactose derived from acid whey to low-calorie tagatose has gained increasing attention. Enzymatic isomerization is of great interest but faces several challenges, such as poor thermal stability of enzymes and a long processing time. In this work, non-enzymatic (supercritical fluids, triethylamine, arginine, boronate affinity, hydrotalcite, Sn-β zeolite, and calcium hydroxide) pathways for galactose to tagatose isomerization were critically discussed. Unfortunately, most of these chemicals showed poor tagatose yields (<30%), except for calcium hydroxide (>70%). The latter is able to form a tagatose-calcium hydroxide-water complex, which stimulates the equilibrium toward tagatose and prevents sugar degradation. Nevertheless, the excessive use of calcium hydroxide may pose challenges in terms of economic and environmental feasibility. Moreover, the proposed mechanisms for the base (enediol intermediate) and Lewis acid (hydride shift between C-2 and C-1) catalysis of galactose were elucidated. Overall, it is crucial to explore novel and effective catalysts as well as integrated systems for isomerizing of galactose to tagatose.

The Characterization of a Novel D-allulose 3-Epimerase from Blautia produca and Its Application in D-allulose Production

D-allulose is a natural rare sugar with important physiological properties that is used in food, health care items, and even the pharmaceutical industry. In the current study, a novel D-allulose 3-epimerase gene (Bp-DAE) from the probiotic strain Blautia produca was discovered for the production and characterization of an enzyme known as Bp-DAE that can epimerize D-fructose into D-allulose. Bp-DAE was strictly dependent on metals (Mn²⁺ and Co²⁺), and the addition of 1 mM of Mn²⁺ could enhance the half-life of Bp-DAE at 55 °C from 60 to 180 min. It exhibited optimal activity in a pH of 8 and 55 °C, and the K_m values of Bp-DAE for the different substrates D-fructose and D-allulose were 235.7 and 150.7 mM, respectively. Bp-DAE was used for the transformation from 500 g/L D-fructose to 150 g/L D-allulose and exhibited a 30% of conversion yield during biotransformation. Furthermore, it was possible to employ the food-grade microbial species Bacillus subtilis for the production of D-allulose using a technique of whole-cell catalysis to circumvent the laborious process of enzyme purification and to obtain a more stable biocatalyst. This method also yields a 30% conversion yield.

Biocatalytic conversion of a lactose-rich dairy waste into D-tagatose, D-arabitol and galactitol using sequential whole cell and fermentation technologies

Dairy industry waste has been explored as a cheap and attractive raw material to produce various commercially important rare sugars. In this study, a lactose-rich dairy byproduct, namely cheese whey powder (CWP), was microbially converted into three low caloric sweeteners using whole-cell and fermentation technologies. Firstly, the simultaneous lactose hydrolysis and isomerization of lactose-derived D-galactose into D-tagatose was performed by an engineered Escherichia coli strain co-expressing β-galactosidase and L-arabinose isomerase, which eventually produced 68.35 g/L D-tagatose during sequential feeding of CWP. Subsequently, the mixed syrup containing lactose-derived D-glucose and residual D-galactose was subjected to fermentation by Metschnikowia pulcherrima E1, which produced 60.12 g/L D-arabitol and 28.26 g/L galactitol. The net titer of the three rare sugars was 156.73 g/L from 300 g/L lactose (equivalent to 428.57 g/L CWP), which was equivalent to 1.12 mol product/mol lactose and 52.24% conversion efficiency in terms of lactose.