Bench scale production of nicotinic acid using a versatile amide-hydrolysing Geobacillus subterraneus RL-2a isolated from thermal spring of Manikaran, India

Geobacillus thermoleovorans MTCC 13131: An Amide-Hydrolyzing Thermophilic Bacterium Isolated from a Hot Spring of Manikaran

Geobacillus thermoleovorans MTCC 13131, an amide hydrolyzing bacteria was isolated from a hot spring in Himachal Pradesh and identified through 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The amidase derived from this bacterium exhibited hydrolyzing catalytic ability against aliphatic and aromatic amides. The isolate was characterized for morphological and biochemical properties. Further, the production of amidase enzyme from this isolate was evaluated using approach of one-variable-at-a-time and response surface method. The Response Surface Methodology based study indicated the importance of nitrogen sources and growth period for amidase production. Optimal production was achieved at a temperature 55 °C, and production pH 7.5 in the production medium comprising diammonium hydrogen phosphate (0.4%), peptone (0.45%) and yeast extract (0.3%). The wide substrate affinity of the strain suggests its potential role in biotransformation of amides to corresponding acids of industrial significance along with its strong capacity to degrade the toxic amide in polluted environmental samples.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12088-022-01042-9.

Amidase as a versatile tool in amide-bond cleavage: From molecular features to biotechnological applications

Amidases (EC 3. 5. 1. X) are versatile biocatalysts for synthesis of chiral carboxylic acids, α-amino acids and amides due to their hydrolytic and acyl transfer activity towards the C-N linkages. They have been extensively exploited and studied during the past years for their high specific activity and excellent enantioselectivity involved in various biotechnological applications in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Additionally, they have attracted considerable attentions in biodegradation and bioremediation owing to environmental pressures. Motivated by industrial demands, crystallographic investigations and catalytic mechanisms of amidases based on structural biology have witnessed a dramatic promotion in the last two decades. The protein structures showed that different types of amidases have their typical stuctural elements, such as the conserved AS domains in signature amidases and the typical architecture of metal-associated active sites in acetamidase/formamidase family amidases. This review provides an overview of recent research advances in various amidases, with a focus on their structural basis of phylogenetics, substrate specificities and catalytic mechanisms as well as their biotechnological applications. As more crystal structures of amidases are determined, the structure/function relationships of these enzymes will also be further elucidated, which will facilitate molecular engineering and design of amidases to meet industrial requirements.

A Rapid Method for the Selection of Amidohydrolases from Metagenomic Libraries by Applying Synthetic Nucleosides and a Uridine Auxotrophic Host

In this study, the development of a rapid, high-throughput method for the selection of amide-hydrolysing enzymes from the metagenome is described. This method is based on uridine auxotrophic Escherichia coli strain DH10B ∆pyrFEC and the use of N4-benzoyl-2’-deoxycytidine as a sole source of uridine in the minimal microbial M9 medium. The approach described here permits the selection of unique biocatalysts, e.g., a novel amidohydrolase from the activating signal cointegrator homology (ASCH) family and a polyethylene terephthalate hydrolase (PETase)-related enzyme.

Magnetic cross-linked enzyme aggregates of acrylamidase from Cupriavidus oxalaticus ICTDB921 for biodegradation of acrylamide from industrial waste water

Acrylamidase from Cupriavidus oxalaticus ICTDB921 was immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for degradation of acrylamide (a group 2A carcinogen and an environmental contaminant) from industrial waste water. Acrylamidase-MNPs were prepared (maximum recovery ∼94%) at optimized process parameters viz. 1.5:1 (v/v) of acetone: crude acrylamidase/5 mM of glutaraldehyde/90 min/1.5:1 of enzyme: MNP ratio. MNPs and acrylamidase-MNPs were characterized by particle size analysis, FTIR, XRD, SEM and vibrating sample magnetometer. Acrylamidase-MNPs showed a shift in optimum pH (8-8.5) and temperature (60-65 °C) with higher pH/thermal stability vis-à-vis free enzyme. A significant increase in kinetic constants, thermal inactivation constants and thermodynamic parameters were noted for acrylamidase-MNPs. A complete degradation of acrylamide ∼2100 mg/L was achieved in industrial waste water under optimized conditions for batch process and the kinetics was best represented by Haldane model. Acrylamidase-MNPs retained >80% of its initial activity after 4 cycles for both pure acrylamide and industrial waste water.