Highly porous core–shell chitosan beads with superb immobilization efficiency forLactobacillus reuteri121 inulosucrase and production of inulin-type fructooligosaccharides

A review of fructosyl-transferases from catalytic characteristics and structural features to reaction mechanisms and product specificity

Carbohydrate-active enzymes are accountable for the synthesis and degradation of glycosidic bonds among diverse carbohydrates. Fructosyl-transferases represent a subclass of these enzymes, employing sucrose as a substrate to generate fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and fructan polymers. This category primarily includes levansucrase (LS, EC 2.4.1.10), inulosucrase (IS, EC 2.4.1.9), and β-fructofuranosidase (Ffase, EC 3.2.1.26). These three enzymes possess a similar five-bladed β-propeller fold and employ an anomer-retaining reaction mechanism mediated by nucleophiles, transition state stabilizers, and general acids/bases. However, they exhibit distinct product profiles, characterized by variations in linkage specificity and molecular mass distribution. Consequently, this article comprehensively explores recent advancements in the catalytic characteristics, structural features, reaction mechanisms, and product specificity of levansucrase, inulosucrase, and β-fructofuranosidase (abbreviated as LS, IS, and Ffase, respectively). Furthermore, it discusses the potential for modifying catalytic properties and product specificity through structure-based design, which enables the rational production of custom fructan and FOS.

High-yield production and purification of prebiotic inulin-type fructooligosaccharides

Due to the health-promoting effects and functional properties of inulin-type fructooligosaccharides (I-FOS), the global market for I-FOS is constantly growing. Hence, there is a continuing demand for new, efficient biotechnological approaches for I-FOS production. In this work, crude inulosucrase InuGB-V3 from Lactobacillus gasseri DSM 20604 was used to synthesize I-FOS from sucrose. Supplementation with 1 mM CaCl2, a pH of 3.5–5.5, and an incubation temperature of 40 °C were found to be optimal production parameters at which crude inulosucrase showed high conversion rates, low sucrose hydrolysis, and excellent stability over 4 days. The optimal process conditions were employed in cell-free bioconversion reactions. By elevating the substrate concentration from 570 to 800 g L−1, the I-FOS concentration and the synthesis of products with a low degree of polymerization (DP) could be increased, while sucrose hydrolysis was decreased. Bioconversion of 800 g L−1 sucrose for 20 h resulted in an I-FOS-rich syrup with an I-FOS concentration of 401 ± 7 g L−1 and an I-FOS purity of 53 ± 1% [w/w]. I-FOS with a DP of 3–11 were synthesized, with 1,1-kestotetraose (DP4) being the predominant transfructosylation product. The high-calorie sugars glucose, sucrose, and fructose were removed from the generated I-FOS-rich syrup using activated charcoal. Thus, 81 ± 5% of the initially applied I-FOS were recovered with a purity of 89 ± 1%.

Immobilization of dihydroflavonol 4-reductase on magnetic Fe3O4/PVIM/Ni2+ nanomaterials for the synthesis of anthocyanidins

Anthocyanidins are one subclass of flavonoids in plants and possess important biological functions. A Fe3O4/PVIM/Ni2+-immobilized DFR enzyme was prepared using nano-biotechnology, which can catalyze the synthesis of anthocyanidins in vitro.

Production and characterization of chitooligosaccharides by the fungal chitinase Chit42 immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles and chitosan beads: selectivity, specificity and improved operational utility

Chitin-active enzymes are of great biotechnological interest due to the wide industrial application of chitinolytic materials. Non-stability and high cost are among limitations that hinder industrial application of soluble enzymes. Here we report the production and characterization of chitooligosaccharides (COS) using the fungal exo-chitinase Chit42 immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles and food-grade chitosan beads with an immobilization yield of about 60% using glutaraldehyde and genipin linkers. The immobilized enzyme gained operational stability with increasing temperature and acidic pH values, especially when using chitosan beads-genipin that retained more than 80% activity at pH 3. Biocatalysts generated COS from colloidal chitin and different chitosan types. The immobilized enzyme showed higher hydrolytic activity than free enzyme on chitosan, and produced COS mixtures with higher variability of size and acetylation degree. In addition, biocatalysts were reusable, easy to handle and to separate from the reaction mixture.

Development of a continuous-flow system with immobilized biocatalysts towards sustainable bioprocessing

Implementing immobilized biocatalysts in continuous-flow systems can enable a sustainable process through enhanced enzyme stability, better transport and process continuity as well as simplified recycle and downstream processing.

Conserved Calcium-Binding Residues at the Ca-I Site Involved in Fructooligosaccharide Synthesis by Lactobacillus reuteri 121 Inulosucrase

Inulosucrase is an enzyme that synthesizes inulin-type β-2,1-linked fructooligosaccharides (IFOS) from sucrose. Previous studies have shown that calcium is important for the activity and stability of Lactobacillus reuteri 121 inulosucrase (LrInu). Here, mutational analyses of four conserved calcium-binding site I (Ca-I) residues of LrInu, Asp418, Gln449, Asn488, and Asp520 were performed. Alanine substitution for these residues not only reduced the stability and activity of LrInu, but also modulated the pattern of the IFOS produced. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation indicated that these mutations had limited impact on the overall conformation of the enzyme. One of Ca-I residues most critical for controlling LrInu-mediated polymerization of IFOS, Asp418, was also subjected to mutagenesis, generating D418E, D418H, D418L, D418N, D418S, and D418W. The activity of these mutants demonstrated that the IFOS chain length could be controlled by a single mutation at the Ca-I site.

Preparation of Cross-Linked Enzyme Aggregates (CLEAs) of an Inulosucrase Mutant for the Enzymatic Synthesis of Inulin-Type Fructooligosaccharides

Fructooligosaccharides are well-known carbohydrate molecules that exhibit good probiotic activity and are widely used as sweeteners. Inulin-type fructooligosaccharides (IFOs) can be synthesized from sucrose using inulosucrase. In this study, cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) of Lactobacillus reuteri 121 inulosucrase (R483A-LrInu) were prepared and used as a biocatalyst for IFOs production. Under optimum conditions, R483A-LrInu CLEAs retained 42% of original inulosucrase activity. Biochemical characterization demonstrated that the optimum pH of inulosucrase changed from 5 to 4 after immobilization, while the optimum temperature was unchanged. Furthermore, the pH stability and thermostability of the R483A-LrInu CLEAs was significantly improved. IFOs product characterization indicated that the product specificity of the enzyme was impacted by CLEA generation, producing a narrower range of IFOs than the soluble enzyme. In addition, the R483A-LrInu CLEAs showed operational stability in the batch synthesis of IFOs.

Rational re-design of Lactobacillus reuteri 121 inulosucrase for product chain length control

Fructooligosaccharides (FOSs) are well-known prebiotics that are widely used in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Inulosucrase (E.C. 2.4.1.9) can potentially be used to synthesise FOSs from sucrose. In this study, inulosucrase from Lactobacillus reuteri 121 was engineered by site-directed mutagenesis to change the FOS chain length. Three variants (R483F, R483Y and R483W) were designed, and their binding free energies with 1,1,1-kestopentaose (GF4) were calculated with the Rosetta software. R483F and R483Y were predicted to bind with GF4 better than the wild type, suggesting that these engineered enzymes should be able to effectively extend GF4 by one residue and produce a greater quantity of GF5 than the wild type. MALDI-TOF MS analysis showed that R483F, R483Y and R483W variants could synthesise shorter chain FOSs with a degree of polymerization (DP) up to 11, 10, and 10, respectively, while wild type produced longer FOSs and in polymeric form. Although the decrease in catalytic activity and the increase of hydrolysis/transglycosylation activity ratio was observed, the variants could effectively synthesise FOSs with the yield up to 73% of substrate. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that these variants produced a larger quantity of GF5 than wild type, which was in good agreement with the predicted binding free energy results. Our findings demonstrate the success of using aromatic amino acid residues, at position D418, to block the oligosaccharide binding track of inulosucrase in controlling product chain length.