High-level expression and characterization of solvent-tolerant lipase

High-level expression of lipase from Galactomyces geotrichum mafic-0601 by codon optimization in Pichia pastoris and its application in hydrolysis of various oils

A Galactomyces geotrichum strain with lipolytic activity was isolated and identified by the analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of 18 s rDNA. Full-length lipase gene of this stain is composed of 1692 base pairs (bp) without intron, which encodes a 563-amino-acid protein. A catalytic triad (Ser²¹⁷-Glu³⁵⁴-His⁴⁶³) was found by constructing the three-dimensional structure of the lipase. In shake flasks, the lipase (LIP) catalytic activity in the supernatant of the recombinant Pichia pastoris increased 48.7% by codon optimization. LIP purified by anion exchange column showed a single protein band on 12% SDS-PAGE. The molecular weight (MW) of LIP was approximately 62 kDa. The specific activity of purified LIP reached 1257.9 U/mg. The optimum temperature and pH of LIP catalysis were 45 °C and pH 8.2, respectively. LIP was stable over the pH range of 4.2-11.2. LIP maintained its activity constantly at 40 °C and 50 °C for 120 min. Zn²⁺ inhibited LIP activity; Ba²⁺, Mn²⁺, Ca²⁺ and EDTA increased the enzyme activity. Referring the amount of hydrolyzed olive oil by LIP as 100%, various oils including lard, peanut oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil and linseed oil were efficiently hydrolyzed by 17.24 ± 1.34%, 40.34 ± 2.56%, 105.86 ± 2.78%, 115.51 ± 2.32%, 116.21 ± 2.15%, 120.69 ± 1.98%, respectively. The characteristics allow LIP as a potential biocatalyst in various fields of industry.

Enzymatic Production of Biodiesel: Strategies to Overcome Methanol Inactivation

Lipase-catalyzed transesterification of triglycerides and alcohols to obtain biodiesel is an environmentally friendly and sustainable route for fuels production since, besides proceeding in mild reaction conditions, it allows for the use of low-cost feedstocks that contain water and free fatty acids, for example non-edible oils and waste oils. This review article reports recent advances in the field and focus in particular on a major issue in the enzymatic process, the inactivation of most lipases caused by methanol, the preferred acyl acceptor used for alcoholysis. The recent results about immobilization of enzymes on nano-materials and the use of whole-cell biocatalysts, as well as the use of cell-surface display technologies and metabolic engineering strategies for microbial production of biodiesel are described. It is discussed also insight into the effects of methanol on lipases obtained by modeling approaches and report on studies aimed at mining novel alcohol stable enzymes or at improving robustness in existing ones by protein engineering.