Optimization of Fermentation Conditions for Carrageenase Production by Cellulophaga Species: A Comparative Study

Simple Summary

Cellulophaga species are rarely studied marine bacteria with the potential for carrageenase production. We examined the carrageenase secretion ability of six bacterial species from the Cellulophaga genus. Among them, C. algicola produced the maximum amount of ι-carrageenase. Most of the bacteria produced their highest quantity of enzymes at 25 °C after 48 h of incubation time. The maximum enzyme production was achieved with the fermentation medium composition of 30 g/L sea salt, 1.4 g/L furcellaran and 3 g/L yeast extract. In addition, the properties of the ultrafiltered ι-carrageenase extracted from C. algicola were studied.

Abstract

Carrageenases appear in various species of marine bacteria and are widely used for the degradation of carrageenans, the commercially significant sulphated polysaccharides. The carrageenase production ability of six different Cellulophaga species was identified, with ι-carrageenase being the most abundant carrageenolytic enzyme. C. algicola was the most potent strain, followed by C. fucicola and C. geojensis, whereas C. pacifica was the least effective carrageenase producer among the studied strains. The enzyme production was maximized using the one-factor-at-a-time optimization method. The optimal incubation temperature was identified as 25 °C and the incubation time was set as 48 h for all tested species. The optimal medium composition for Cellulophaga strains was determined as 30 g/L sea salt, 1.4 g/L furcellaran, and 3 g/L yeast extract. An ultrafiltered enzyme extracted from C. algicola had the highest activity at around 40 °C. The optimal pH for enzymatic degradation was determined as 7.8, and the enzyme was fairly stable at temperatures up to 40 °C.

Immunomodulating Properties of Carrageenan from Tichocarpus crinitus

Several in vivo immunotropic effects of κ/β-carrageenan isolated from the red algae Tichocarpus crinitus were studied, by orally administering it at 100 mg/kg/day to mice for 7 days. Serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-12, IL-1β, and IL-4 were measured. Carrageenan's ability to influence development of LPS-induced inflammation was also assessed. Oral administration of κ/β-carrageenan increased serum levels of all the studied cytokines at least twice in comparison to the intact mice, while intraperitoneal LPS injection at 1 mg/kg increased concentration of only the pro-inflammatory cytokines: IFN-γ, IL-12, and IL-1β. Furthermore, κ/β-carrageenan demonstrated a higher efficacy at inducing IFN-γ production than LPS. Previous 7-day-long oral carrageenan administration impaired development of LPS-induced inflammation: level of IL-1β dropped below that found in intact mice, while IFN-γ and IL-12 concentrations were at least 40% lower than in mice with LPS-induced inflammation. Murine peritoneal macrophages were also affected by the oral administration of the κ/β-carrageenan: their motility was increased, and morphology altered. In sum, we have demonstrated that κ/β-carrageenan, when administered orally, is not only not immunologically inert, but at the dose of 100 mg/kg possesses pharmacologically exploitable effects.

The degradation activities for three seaweed polysaccharides of Shewanella sp. WPAGA9 isolated from deep-sea sediments

Seaweed oligosaccharides possess great bioactivities. However, different microbial strains are required to degrade multiple polysaccharides due to their limited biodegradability, thereby increasing the cost and complexity of production. Shewanella sp. WPAGA9 was isolated from deep-sea sediments in this study. According to the genomic and biochemical analyses, the extracellular fermentation broth of WPAGA9 had versatile degradation abilities for three typical seaweed polysaccharides including agar, carrageenan, and alginate. The maximum enzyme activities of the extracellular fermentation broth of WPAGA9 were 71.63, 76.4, and 735.13 U/ml for the degradation of agar, alginate, and carrageenan, respectively. Moreover, multiple seaweed oligosaccharides can be produced by the extracellular fermentation broth of WPAGA9 under similar optimum conditions. Therefore, WPAGA9 can simultaneously degrade three types of seaweed polysaccharides under similar conditions, thereby greatly reducing the production cost of seaweed oligosaccharides. This finding indicates that Shewanella sp. WPAGA9 is an ideal biochemical tool for producing multiple active seaweed oligosaccharides at low costs and is also an important participant in the carbon cycle process of the deep-sea environment.

Fermentation optimization, purification and biochemical characterization of ι-carrageenase from marine bacterium Cellulophaga baltica

The ι-carrageenan degrading marine bacterium, Cellulophaga baltica, was isolated from the surface of a filamentous red alga Vertebrata fucoides. Maximum ι-carrageenase production was optimized by single-factor experiments. Optimal fermentation conditions were 1.6 g/L furcellaran, 4 g/L yeast extract as carbon sources, 5 g/L sea salt, and 48 h of incubation time at 20 °C. Extracellular ι-carrageenase from the culture supernatant was purified by ultrafiltration, ammonium sulfate precipitation, and finally by anion-exchange chromatography, showed a 26-fold increase in specific activity as compared to that in the crude enzyme. According to the results from SDS-PAGE and HPLC-SEC, the molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 31 kDa. The purified enzyme showed the maximum specific activity of 571 U/mg at 40 °C and pH 7.5-8.0. It maintained 73% of the total activity below 40 °C and 90% of its total activity at pH 7.2. Notably, the enzyme is a cold-adapted ι-carrageenase, which showed 33.4% of the maximum activity at 10 °C. The enzyme was stimulated by Na⁺, K⁺, and NH₄⁺, whereas Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Fe³⁺, sea salt, and EDTA acted as enzyme inhibitors.

Marine-polysaccharide degrading enzymes: Status and prospects

Marine-polysaccharide degrading enzymes have recently been studied extensively. They are particularly interesting as they catalyze the cleavage of glycosidic bonds in polysaccharide macromolecules and produce oligosaccharides with low degrees of polymerization. Numerous findings have demonstrated that marine polysaccharides and their biotransformed products possess beneficial properties including antitumor, antiviral, anticoagulant, and anti-inflammatory activities, and they have great value in healthcare, cosmetics, the food industry, and agriculture. Exploitation of enzymes that can degrade marine polysaccharides is in the ascendant, and is important for high-value use of marine biomass resources. In this review, we describe research and prospects regarding the classification, biochemical properties, and catalytic mechanisms of the main types of marine-polysaccharide degrading enzymes, focusing on chitinase, chitosanase, alginate lyase, agarase, and carrageenase, and their product oligosaccharides. The state-of-the-art discussion of marine-polysaccharide degrading enzymes and their properties offers information that might enable more efficient production of marine oligosaccharides. We also highlight current problems in the field of marine-polysaccharide degrading enzymes and trends in their development. Understanding the properties, catalytic mechanisms, and modification of known enzymes will aid the identification of novel enzymes to degrade marine polysaccharides and facilitation of their use in various biotechnological processes.

Transcriptional response of Nautella italica R11 towards its macroalgal host uncovers new mechanisms of host-pathogen interaction

Macroalgae (seaweeds) are essential for the functioning of temperate marine ecosystems, but there is increasing evidence to suggest that their survival is under threat from anthropogenic stressors and disease. Nautella italica R11 is recognized as an aetiological agent of bleaching disease in the red alga, Delisea pulchra. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge surrounding the molecular mechanisms involved in this model host-pathogen interaction. Here we report that mutations in the gene encoding for a LuxR-type quorum sensing transcriptional regulator, RaiR, render N. italica R11 avirulent, suggesting this gene is important for regulating the expression of virulence phenotypes. Using an RNA sequencing approach, we observed a strong transcriptional response of N. italica R11 towards the presence of D. pulchra. In particular, genes involved in oxidative stress resistance, carbohydrate and central metabolism were upregulated in the presence of the host, suggesting a role for these functions in the opportunistic pathogenicity of N. italica R11. Furthermore, we show that RaiR regulates a subset of genes in N. italica R11, including those involved in metabolism and the expression of phage-related proteins. The outcome of this research reveals new functions important for virulence of N. italica R11 and contributes to our greater understanding of the complex factors mitigating microbial diseases in macroalgae.

Cloning and characterization of a new cold-adapted and thermo-tolerant ι-carrageenase from marine bacterium Flavobacterium sp. YS-80-122

ι-Carrageenases play a role in marine ι-carrageenan degradation, and their enzymatic hydrolysates are thought to be excellent antioxidants. In this study, we identified a new ι-carrageenase, encoded by cgiF, in psychrophilic bacterium Flavobacterium sp. YS-80-122. The deduced ι-carrageenase, CgiF, belongs to glycoside hydrolase family 82 and shows less than 40% amino acid identity with characterized ι-carrageenases. The activity of recombinant CgiF peaked at 30°C (1,207.8U/mg). Notably, CgiF is a cold-adapted ι-carrageenase, which showed 36.5% and 57% of the maximum activity at 10°C and 15°C, respectively. In addition, it is a thermo-tolerant enzyme that recovered 58.2% of its initial activity after heat shock. Furthermore, although the activity of CgiF was enhanced by NaCl, the enzyme is active in absence of NaCl. This study also shows that CgiF is an endo-type ι-carrageenase that hydrolyzes β-1,4-linkages of ι-carrageenan, yielding neo-ι-carratetraose as the main product. Its cold-adaptation, thermo-tolerance, NaCl independence and high neo-ι-carratetraose yield make CgiF an excellent candidate for industrial applications in production of ι-carrageen oligosaccharides from seaweed polysaccharides.

Bacterial carrageenases: an overview of production and biotechnological applications

Carrageenan, one of the phycocolloids is a sulfated galactan made up of linear chains of galactose and 3,6-anhydrogalactose with alternating α-(1 → 3) and β-(1 → 4) linkages and further classified based on the number and the position of sulfated ester(s); κ-, ι- and λ-carrageenan. Enzymes which degrade carrageenans are called k-, ι-, and λ-carrageenases. They all are endohydrolases that cleave the internal β-(1-4) linkages of carrageenans yielding products of the oligo-carrageenans. These enzymes are produced only by bacteria specifically gram negative bacteria. Majority of the marine bacteria produce these enzymes extracellularly and their activity is in wide range of temperature. They have found potential applications in biomedical field, bioethanol production, textile industry, as a detergent additive and for isolation of protoplast of algae etc. A comprehensive information shall be helpful for the effective understanding and application of these enzymes. In this review exhaustive information of bacterial carrageenases reported till date has been done. All the aspects like sources, production conditions, characterization, cloning and- biotechnological applications are summarized.

Efficient enzymatic degradation process for hydrolysis activity of the Carrageenan from red algae in marine biomass

Carrageenan is a generic name for a family of polysaccharides obtained from certain species of red algae. New methods to produce useful cost-efficiently materials from red algae are needed to convert enzymatic processes into fermentable sugars. In this study, we constructed chimeric genes cCgkA and cCglA containing the catalytic domain of κ-carrageenase CgkA and λ-carrageenase CglA from Pseudoalteromonas carrageenovora fused with a dockerin domain. Recombinant strains expressing the chimeric carrageenase resulted in a halo formation on the carrageenan plate by alcian blue staining. The recombinant cCgkA and cCglA were assembled with scaffoldin miniCbpA via cohesin and dockerin interaction. Carbohydrate binding module (CBM) in scaffoldin was used as a tag for cellulose affinity purification using cellulose as a support. The hydrolysis process was monitored by the amount of reducing sugar released from carrageenan. Interestingly, these results indicated that miniCbpA, cCgkA and cCglA assembled into a complex and that the dockerin-fused enzymes on the scaffoldin had synergistic activity in the degradation of carrageenan. The observed enhancement of activity by carrageenolytic complex was 3.1-fold-higher compared with the corresponding enzymes alone. Thus, the assemblies of advancement of active enzyme complexes will facilitate the commercial production of useful products from red algae biomass which represents inexpensive and sustainable feed-stocks.

Microorganisms living on macroalgae: diversity, interactions, and biotechnological applications

Marine microorganisms play key roles in every marine ecological process, hence the growing interest in studying their populations and functions. Microbial communities on algae remain underexplored, however, despite their huge biodiversity and the fact that they differ markedly from those living freely in seawater. The study of this microbiota and of its relationships with algal hosts should provide crucial information for ecological investigations on algae and aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, because these microorganisms interact with algae in multiple, complex ways, they constitute an interesting source of novel bioactive compounds with biotechnological potential, such as dehalogenases, antimicrobials, and alga-specific polysaccharidases (e.g., agarases, carrageenases, and alginate lyases). Here, to demonstrate the huge potential of alga-associated organisms and their metabolites in developing future biotechnological applications, we first describe the immense diversity and density of these microbial biofilms. We further describe their complex interactions with algae, leading to the production of specific bioactive compounds and hydrolytic enzymes of biotechnological interest. We end with a glance at their potential use in medical and industrial applications.