Identification and expression of GH-8 family chitosanases from several Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies

Gene cloning and molecular characterization of a thermostable chitosanase from Bacillus cereus TY24

Background

An important conceptual advance in health and the environment has been recognized that enzymes play a key role in the green processing industries. Of particular interest, chitosanase is beneficial for recycling the chitosan resource and producing chitosan oligosaccharides. Also, chitosan gene expression and molecular characterization will promote understanding of the biological function of bacterial chitosanase as well as explore chitosanase for utilizing chitosan resources.

Results

A chitosanase-producing bacterium TY24 was isolated and identified as Bacillus cereus. Moreover, the chitosanase gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Sequence analysis reveals that the recombinant chitosanase (CHOE) belongs to the glycoside hydrolases 8 family. The purified CHOE has a molecular weight of about 48 kDa and the specific activity of 1150 U/mg. The optimal pH and temperature of CHOE were 5.5 and 65 °C, respectively. The enzyme was observed stable at the pH range of 4.5–7.5 and the temperature range of 30–65 °C. Especially, the half-life of CHOE at 65 °C was 161 min. Additionally, the activity of CHOE was remarkably enhanced in the presence of Mn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Mg²⁺ and K⁺, beside Ca²⁺ at 5 mM. Especially, the activity of CHOE was enhanced to more than 120% in the presence of 1% of various surfactants. CHOE exhibited the highest substrate specificity toward colloid chitosan.

Conclusion

A bacterial chitosanase was cloned from B. cereus and successfully expressed in E. coli (BL21) DE3. The recombinant enzyme displayed good stability under acid pH and high-temperature conditions.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12896-022-00762-6.

Constitutive chitosanase from Bacillus thuringiensis B-387 and its potential for preparation of antimicrobial chitooligomers

The article proves the ability of the entomopathogenic strain B. thuringiensis var. dendrolimus B-387 to high the constitutive production (3-12.5 U/mL) of extracellular chitosanase, that was found for the first time. The enzyme was purified in 94-fold by ultrafiltration, affinity sorption and cation-exchange chromatography and characterized biochemically. The molecular mass of the chitosanase determined using SDS-PAGE is 40 kDa. Temperature and pH-optima of the enzyme are 55 ^°C and pH 6.5, respectively; the chitosanase was stable under 50-60 ^°C and pH 4-10.5. Purified chitosanase most rapidly (V_max ~ 43 µM/mL × min, K_M ~ 0.22 mg/mL, k_cat ~ 4.79 × 10⁴ s^-1) hydrolyzed soluble chitosan of the deacetylation degree (DD) 85% by endo-mode, and did not degrade colloidal chitin, CM-cellulose and some other glucans. The main reaction products of the chitosan enzymolysis included chitobiose, chitotriose and chitotetraose. In addition to small chitooligosaccharides (CHOs), the studied chitosanase also generated low-molecular weight chitosan (LMWC) with average M_w in range 14-46 kDa and recovery 14-35%, depending on the enzyme/substrate ratio and incubation temperature. In some cases, the chitosan (DD 85 and 50%) oligomers prepared using crude chitosanase from B. thuringiensis B-387 indicated higher antifungal and antibacterial activities in vitro in comparison with the initial polysaccharides. The data obtained indicate the good prospect of chitosanase B-387 for the production of bioactive CHOs.

Characterization of a novel glycoside hydrolase family 46 chitosanase, Csn-BAC, from Bacillus sp. MD-5

Chitosanases play an important role in chitosan degradation, and the enzymatic degradation products of chitosan show various biological activities. Here, a novel glycoside hydrolase family 46 chitosanase (named Csn-BAC) from Bacillus sp. MD-5 was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The recombinant enzyme was purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography, and its molecular weight was estimated to be 35 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Csn-BAC showed maximal activity toward colloidal chitosan at pH 7 and 40 °C. The enzymatic activity of Csn-BAC was enhanced by Mn²⁺, Cu²⁺ and Co²⁺ at 1 mM, and by Mn²⁺ at 5 mM. Thin-layer chromatography and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry results demonstrated that Csn-BAC exhibited an endo-type cleavage pattern and hydrolyzed chitosan to yield, mainly, (GlcN)₂ and (GlcN)₃. The enzymatic properties of this chitosanase may make it a good candidate for use in oligosaccharide production-based industries.

A highly Conserved Aspartic Acid Residue of the Chitosanase from Bacillus Sp. TS Is Involved in the Substrate Binding

The chitosanase from Bacillus sp. TS (CsnTS) is an enzyme belonging to the glycoside hydrolase family 8. The sequence of CsnTS shares 98 % identity with the chitosanase from Bacillus sp. K17. Crystallography analysis and site-direct mutagenesis of the chitosanase from Bacillus sp. K17 identified the important residues involved in the catalytic interaction and substrate binding. However, despite progress in understanding the catalytic mechanism of the chitosanase from the family GH8, the functional roles of some residues that are highly conserved throughout this family have not been fully elucidated. This study focused on one of these residues, i.e., the aspartic acid residue at position 318. We found that apart from asparagine, mutation of Asp318 resulted in significant loss of enzyme activity. In-depth investigations showed that mutation of this residue not only impaired enzymatic activity but also affected substrate binding. Taken together, our results showed that Asp318 plays an important role in CsnTS activity.

Recent Progress in Chitosanase Production of Monomer-Free Chitooligosaccharides: Bioprocess Strategies and Future Applications

Biological activities of chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) are well documented, and numerous reports of COS production using specific and non-specific enzymes are available. However, strategies for improving the overall yield by making it monomer free need to be developed. Continuous enzymatic production from chitosan derived from marine wastes is desirable and is cost-effective. Isolation of potential microbes showing chitosanase activity from various ecological niches, gene cloning, enzyme immobilization, and fractionation/purification of COS are some areas, where lot of work is in progress. This review covers recent measures to improve monomer-free COS production using chitosanase/non-specific enzymes and purification/fractionation of these molecules using ultrafiltration and column chromatographic techniques. Various bioprocess strategies, gene cloning for enhanced chitosanase enzyme production, and other measures for COS yield improvements have also been covered in this review. COS derivative preparation as well as COS-coated nanoparticles for efficient drug delivery are being focused in recent studies.

Extracellular overexpression of chitosanase from Bacillus sp. TS in Escherichia coli

The chitosanase gene from a Bacillus sp. strain isolated from soil in East China was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene had 1224 nucleotides and encoded a mature protein of 407 amino acid residues. The optimum pH and temperature of the purified recombinant chitosanase were 5.0 and 60 °C, respectively, and the enzyme was stable below 40 °C. The K m, V max, and specific activity of the enzyme were 1.19 mg mL(-1), 674.71 μmol min(-1) at 50 °C, and 555.3 U mg(-1), respectively. Mn(2+) was an activator of the recombinant chitosanase, while Co(2+) was an inhibitor. Hg(2+) and Cu(2+) inhibited the enzyme at 1 mM. The highest level of enzyme activity (186 U mL(-1)) was achieved in culture medium using high cell-density cultivation in a 7-L fermenter. The main products of chitosan hydrolyzed by recombinant chitosanase were (GlcN)3-6. The chitosanases was successfully secreted to the culture media through the widely used SecB-dependent type II pathway in E. coli. The high yield of the extracellular overexpression, relevant thermostability, and effective hydrolysis of commercial grade chitosan showed that this recombinant enzyme had a great potential for industrial applications.

Enhancement of the activity and pH-performance of chitosanase from Bacillus cereus strains by DNA shuffling

DNA shuffling was carried out with two chitosanase genes belonging to glycoside hydrolase family eight from Bacillus cereus KNUC51 and B. cereus KNUC55. The shuffled products, YM18 and YM20, which showed higher activity than the parents at 40 degrees C, were selected for further studies. The 50 kDa chitosanases were purified using affinity chromatography with glutathione-Sepharose 4B. In general, the specific activity of YM18 is enhanced 250% and that of YM20 is 350% compared to the parents. YM20 exhibits a shift of the optimal pH level from 5.5 to 6.5. DNA sequence analysis revealed that YM18 and YM20 contained 2 amino acid substitutions (I13T and A87V for YM18; K66R and N352S for YM20). We presumed that these amino acid substitutions increase the specific activity and change the property of the two variants.