Novel Maltogenic Amylase CoMA from Corallococcus sp. Strain EGB Catalyzes the Conversion of Maltooligosaccharides and Soluble Starch to Maltose

Heterologous Expression and Characterization of a Novel Mesophilic Maltogenic α-Amylase AmyFlA from Flavobacterium sp. NAU1659

A novel amylase AmyFlA from Flavobacterium sp. NAU1659, AmyFlA, was cloned and expressed in Esherichia coli. Based on phylogenetic and functional analysis, it was identified as a novel member of the subfamily GH13_46, sharing high sequence identity. The protein was predicted to consist of 620 amino acids, with a putative signal peptide of 25 amino acids. The enzyme was able to hydrolyze soluble starch with a specific activity of 352.97 U/mg at 50 °C in 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.0). The Km and Vmax values of AmyFlA were respectively 3.15 mg/ml and 566.36 µmol·ml-1·min-1 under optimal conditions. Its activity towards starch was enhanced by 63% in the presence of 1 mM Ca2+, indicating that AmyFlA was a Ca2+-dependent amylase. Compared to the reported maltogenic amylases, AmyFlA produced a lower variety of intermediate oligosaccharides at the start of the reaction so that the product mixture contained a higher proportion of maltose. These results indicate that AmyFlA may be potential application value in the production of high-maltose syrup.

Secretory CAZymes profile and GH19 enzymes analysis of Corallococcus silvisoli c25j21

Extracellular enzymes play important roles in myxobacteria degrading macromolecules and preying on other microorganisms. Glycoside hydrolases 19 (GH19) are widely present in myxobacteria, but their evolution and biological functions have not been fully elucidated. Here we investigated the comparative secretory proteome of Corallococcus silvisoli c25j21 in the presence of cellulose and chitin. A total of 313 proteins were detected, including 16 carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), 7 of which were induced by cellulose or chitin, such as GH6, GH13, GH19, AA4, and CBM56. We further analyzed the sequence and structural characteristics of its three GH19 enzymes to understand their potential functions. The results revealed that myxobacterial GH19 enzymes are evolutionarily divided into two clades with different appended modules, and their different amino acid compositions in the substrate binding pockets lead to the differences in molecular surface electrostatic potentials, which may, in turn, affect their substrate selectivity and biological functions. Our study is helpful for further understanding the biological functions and catalytic mechanisms of myxobacterial CAZymes.

Identification and Characterization of Novel Malto-Oligosaccharide-Forming Amylase AmyCf from Cystobacter sp. Strain CF23

Malto-oligosaccharides (MOSs) from starch conversion is advantageous for food and pharmaceutical applications. In this study, an efficient malto-oligosaccharide-forming α-amylase AmyCf was identified from myxobacter Cystobacter sp. strain CF23. AmyCf is composed of 417 amino acids with N-terminal 41 amino acids as the signal peptide, and conserved glycoside hydrolase family 13 (GH13) catalytic module and predicted C-terminal domain with β-sheet structure are also identified. Phylogenetic and functional analysis demonstrated that AmyCf is a novel member of GH13_6 subfamily. The special activity of AmyCf toward soluble starch and raw wheat starch is 9249 U/mg and 11 U/mg, respectively. AmyCf has broad substrate specificity toward different types of starches without requiring Ca2+. Under ideal circumstances of 60 °C and pH 7.0, AmyCf hydrolyzes gelatinized starch into maltose and maltotriose and maltotetraose as the main hydrolytic products with more than 80% purity, while maltose and maltotriose are mainly produced from the hydrolysis of raw wheat starch with more than 95% purity. The potential applicability of AmyCf in starch processing is highlighted by its capacity to convert gelatinized starch and raw starch granules into MOSs. This enzymatic conversion technique shows promise for the low-temperature enzymatic conversion of raw starch.

Recent trends in the biotechnology of functional non-digestible oligosaccharides with prebiotic potential

Prebiotics as a part of dietary nutrition can play a crucial role in structuring the composition and metabolic function of intestinal microbiota and can thus help in managing a clinical scenario by preventing diseases and/or improving health. Among the different prebiotics, non-digestible carbohydrates are molecules that selectively enrich a typical class of bacteria with probiotic potential. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the different aspects of prebiotics, such as its production, characterization and purification by various techniques, and its link to novel product development at an industrial scale for wide-scale use in diverse range of health management applications. Furthermore, the path to effective valorization of agricultural residues in prebiotic production has been elucidated. This review also discusses the recent developments in application of genomic tools in the area of prebiotics for providing new insights into the taxonomic characterization of gut microorganisms, and exploring their functional metabolic pathways for enzyme synthesis. However, the information regarding the cumulative effect of prebiotics with beneficial bacteria, their colonization and its direct influence through altered metabolic profile is still getting established. The future of this area lies in the designing of clinical condition specific functional foods taking into consideration the host genotypes, thus facilitating the creation of balanced and required metabolome and enabling to maintain the healthy status of the host.

Discovery of a New Microbial Origin Cold-Active Neopullulanase Capable for Effective Conversion of Pullulan to Panose

Panose is a type of functional sugar with diverse bioactivities. The enzymatic conversion bioprocess to produce high purity panose with high efficiency has become increasingly important. Here, a new neopullulanase (NPase), Amy117 from B. pseudofirmus 703, was identified and characterized. Amy117 presented the optimal activity at pH 7.0 and 30 °C, its activity is over 40% at 10 °C and over 80% at 20 °C, which is cold-active. The enzyme cleaved α-1, 4-glycosidic linkages of pullulan to generate panose as the only hydrolysis product, and degraded cyclodextrins (CDs) and starch to glucose and maltose, with an apparent preference for CDs. Furthermore, Amy117 can produce 72.7 mg/mL panose with a conversion yield of 91% (w/w) based on 80 mg/mL pullulan. The sequence and structure analysis showed that the low proportion of Arg, high proportion of Asn and Gln, and high α-helix levels in Amy117 may contribute to its cold-active properties. Root mean square deviation (RMSD) analysis also showed that Amy117 is more flexible than two mesophilic homologues. Hence, we discovered a new high-efficiency panose-producing NPase, which so far achieves the highest panose production and would be an ideal candidate in the food industry.

Programming an Orthogonal Self-Assembling Protein Cascade Based on Reactive Peptide-Protein Pairs for In Vitro Enzymatic Trehalose Production

Trehalose is an important rare sugar that protects biomolecules against environmental stress. We herein introduce a dual enzyme cascade strategy that regulates the proportion of cargos and scaffolds, to maximize the benefits of enzyme immobilization. Based upon the self-assembling properties of the shell protein (EutM) from the ethanolamine utilization (Eut) bacterial microcompartment, we implemented the catalytic synthesis of trehalose from soluble starch with the coimmobilization of α-amylase and trehalose synthase. This strategy improved enzymatic cascade activity and operational stability. The cascade system enabled the efficient production of trehalose with a yield of ∼3.44 g/(L U), 1.5 times that of the free system. Moreover, its activity was maintained over 12 h, while the free system was almost completely inactivated after 4 h, demonstrating significantly enhanced thermostability. In conclusion, an attractive self-assembly coimmobilization platform was developed, which provides an effective biological process for the enzymatic synthesis of trehalose in vitro.

Improving Aqueous Solubility of Natural Antioxidant Mangiferin through Glycosylation by Maltogenic Amylase from Parageobacillus galactosidasius DSM 18751

Mangiferin is a natural antioxidant C-glucosidic xanthone originally isolated from the Mangifera indica (mango) plant. Mangiferin exhibits a wide range of pharmaceutical activities. However, mangiferin's poor solubility limits its applications. To resolve this limitation of mangiferin, enzymatic glycosylation of mangiferin to produce more soluble mangiferin glucosides was evaluated. Herein, the recombinant maltogenic amylase (MA; E.C. 3.2.1.133) from a thermophile Parageobacillus galactosidasius DSM 18751^T (PgMA) was cloned into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) via the expression plasmid pET-Duet-1. The recombinant PgMA was purified via Ni²⁺ affinity chromatography. To evaluate its transglycosylation activity, 17 molecules, including mangiferin (as sugar acceptors), belonging to triterpenoids, saponins, flavonoids, and polyphenol glycosides, were assayed with β-CD (as the sugar donor). The results showed that puerarin and mangiferin are suitable sugar acceptors in the transglycosylation reaction. The glycosylation products from mangiferin by PgMA were isolated using preparative high-performance liquid chromatography. Their chemical structures were glucosyl-α-(1→6)-mangiferin and maltosyl-α-(1→6)-mangiferin, determined by mass and nucleic magnetic resonance spectral analysis. The newly identified maltosyl-α-(1→6)-mangiferin showed 5500-fold higher aqueous solubility than that of mangiferin, and both mangiferin glucosides exhibited similar 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activities compared to mangiferin. PgMA is the first MA with glycosylation activity toward mangiferin, meaning mangiferin glucosides have potential future applications.

Phenylalanine 314 is essential for the activity of maltogenic amylase from Corallococcus sp. EGB

Maltogenic amylase CoMA from Corallococcus sp. strain EGB catalyzes the hydrolysis and transglycosylation of maltooligosaccharides and soluble starch into maltose, the sole hydrolysate. This process yields pure maltose with potentially wide applications. Here, we identified and evaluated the role of phenylalanine 314 (F314), a key amino acid located near the active center, in the catalytic activities of the CoMA. Site-directed mutagenesis analysis showed that the activity of a F314L mutant on potato starch substrate decreased to 26% of that of wild-type protein. Compared with the wild-type, F314L exhibited similar substrate specificity, hydrolysis pattern, pH, and temperature requirements. Circular dichroism spectrum data showed that the F314L mutation did not affect the structure of the folded protein. In addition, kinetic analysis demonstrated that F314L exhibited an increased K_m value with lower substrate affinity. Homology modeling showed that the benzene ring structure of F314L was involved in π-π conjugation, which might potentially affect the affinity of CoMA toward starch. Taken together, these data demonstrated that F314 is essential for the hydrolytic activity of the CoMA from Corallococcus sp. strain EGB.

The structures of the GH13_36 amylases from Eubacterium rectale and Ruminococcus bromii reveal subsite architectures that favor maltose production

Bacteria in the human gut including Ruminococcus bromii and Eubacterium rectale encode starch-active enzymes that dictate how these bacteria interact with starch to initiate a metabolic cascade that leads to increased butyrate. Here, we determined the structures of two predicted secreted glycoside hydrolase 13 subfamily 36 (GH13_36) enzymes: ErAmy13B complexed with maltotetraose from E. rectale and RbAmy5 from R. bromii. The structures show a limited binding pocket extending from –2 through +2 subsites with limited possibilities for substrate interaction beyond this, which contributes to the propensity for members of this family to produce maltose as their main product. The enzyme structures reveal subtle differences in the +1/+2 subsites that may restrict the recognition of larger starch polymers by ErAmy13B. Our bioinformatic analysis of the biochemically characterized members of the GH13_36 subfamily, which includes the cell-surface GH13 SusG from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, suggests that these maltogenic amylases (EC 3.2.1.133) are usually localized to the outside of the cell, display a range of substrate preferences, and most likely contribute to maltose liberation at the cell surface during growth on starch. A broader comparison between GH13_36 and other maltogenic amylase subfamilies explain how the activity profiles of these enzymes are influenced by their structures.

A new maltogenic amylase from Bacillus licheniformis R-53 significantly improves bread quality and extends shelf life

Maltogenic amylase suppressed starch retrogradation in baked products. Here, a maltogenic amylase-producing strain of bacteria was screened and identified as Bacillus licheniformis R-53. Its coding gene was cloned and over-expressed in Bacillus subtilis WB600. Recombinant maltogenic amylase BLMA exhibited activity of 3235 U/mg under optimal conditions (60 °C and pH 6.5), with a good thermostability and pH stability. Mixolab experiment showed that a concentration of 60 ppm BLMA significantly improved the operating characteristics of dough. Baking test indicated the recombinant BLMA reduced bread hardness by 2.12 times compared with the control. Compared with maltogenic amylase from Novozymes (Novamyl 3D BG) and Angel Yeast Co. Ltd. (MAM100), BLMA has better effect on improving the bread volume, and almost the same effect on reducing hardness, improving elasticity and maintaining sensory as Novamyl 3D BG. Adding BLMA improved bread quality, increased bread volume and decreased hardness during storage, thus extending its shelf life.

Synergistic Degradation of Pyrethroids by the Quorum Sensing-Regulated Carboxylesterase of Bacillus subtilis BSF01

The well-studied quorum sensing (QS) mechanism has established a complex knowledge system of how microorganisms behave collectively in natural ecosystems, which contributes to bridging the gap between the ecological functions of microbial communities and the molecular mechanisms of cell-to-cell communication. In particular, the ability of agrochemical degradation has been one most attractive potential of functional bacteria, but the interaction and mutual effects of intracellular degradation and intraspecific behavior remained unclear. In this study, we establish a connection between QS regulation and biodegradation by harnessing the previously isolated Bacillus subtilis BSF01 as a template which degrades various pyrethroids. First, we characterize the genetic and transcriptional basis of comA-involved QS system in B. subtilis BSF01 since the ComQXPA circuit coordinates group behaviors in B. subtilis isolates. Second, the genetic and transcriptional details of pyrethroid-degrading carboxylesterase CesB are defined, and its catalytic capacity is evaluated under different conditions. More importantly, we adopt DNA pull-down and yeast one-hybrid techniques to reveal that the enzymatic degradation of pyrethroids is initiated through QS signal regulator ComA binding to carboxylesterase gene cesB, highlighting the synergistic effect of QS regulation and pyrethroid degradation in B. subtilis BSF01. Taken together, the elucidated mechanism provides novel details on the intercellular response of functional bacteria against xenobiotic exposure, which opens up possibilities to facilitate the in-situ contaminant bioremediation via combining the QS-mediated strategies.

An evolution-based designing and characterization of mutants of cyclomaltodextrinase: Molecular modeling and spectroscopic studies

Cyclomaltodextrinase (CDase) is a member of the alpha-amylase family GH13, the subfamily GH13_20. In addition to CDase and neopullulanase, this subfamily also contains maltogenic amylase. They have common structural features, but different substrate specificity. In current work, a combination of bioinformatics and experimental tools were used for designing and constructions of single and double mutants of a new variant of CDase from Anoxybacillus flavithermus. Considering the evolutionary variable positions 123 and 127 at the dimer interface of subunits in the alpha-amylase family, these positions in CDase were modified and three mutants, including A123V, C127Q and A123V/C127Q were constructed. The tertiary structure of WT and mutants were made with the MODELLER program, and the phylogenetic tree of homologous protein sequences was built with selected programs in Phylip package. Enzyme kinetic studies revealed that the catalytic efficiency of mutants, especially double one, is lower than the WT enzyme. Heat-induced denaturation experiments were monitored by measuring the UV/Vis signal at 280 nm, and it was found that WT protein is structurally more stable at 25 °C. However, it is more susceptible to changes in temperature compared to the double mutant. It was concluded that the positions 123 and 127 at the dimeric interface of CDase, not only could affect the conformational stability; but also; the catalytic properties of the enzyme by setting up the active site configuration in the dimeric state.

Impact of maltogenic α-amylase on the structure of potato starch and its retrogradation properties

Structural modification of starch using efficient α-amylases to improve its properties is an established method in the starch industry. In our previous research, the novel maltogenic α-amylase CoMA that catalyzes multi-molecular reactions has been identified. In this study, the impact of CoMA on the structure and retrogradation properties of potato starch was evaluated. CoMA cleaves internal starch chains to change the proportion of amylose and amylopectin in starch. Following treatment, visible pores and microporous on the surface of starch granules were observed from SEM analysis. CoMA modification led to increased insoluble blue complex formation and hydrolysis to shorten the outer chains, which was found to reduce the development rate of starch according to network interactions from the dynamic rheological analysis. Furthermore, maltose accumulation with water competition was also deduced to be involved in the inhibition of retrogradation. Its activities in the cleavage of internal starch granules, shortening of outer chains of starch, and maltose formation make CoMA a powerful agent for the inhibition of starch retrogradation with a very low effective dose of 0.5 mg/kg, which may find potential applications in the starch processing industry.

Unravelling the diversity of glycoside hydrolase family 13 α-amylases from Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1

Background

α-Amylases specifically catalyse the hydrolysis of the internal α-1, 4-glucosidic linkages of starch. Glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 13 is the main α-amylase family in the carbohydrate-active database. Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 possesses eleven proteins included in GH13 family. Among these, proteins annotated as maltose-forming α-amylase (Lp_0179) and maltogenic α-amylase (Lp_2757) were included.

Results

In this study, Lp_0179 and Lp_2757 L. plantarum α-amylases were structurally and biochemically characterized. Lp_2757 displayed structural features typical of GH13_20 subfamily which were absent in Lp_0179. Genes encoding Lp_0179 (Amy2) and Lp_2757 were cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). Purified proteins showed high hydrolytic activity on pNP-α-D-maltopyranoside, being the catalytic efficiency of Lp_0179 remarkably higher. In relation to the hydrolysis of starch-related carbohydrates, Lp_0179 only hydrolysed maltopentaose and dextrin, demonstrating that is an exotype glucan hydrolase. However, Lp_2757 was also able to hydrolyze cyclodextrins and other non-cyclic oligo- and polysaccharides, revealing a great preference towards α-1,4-linkages typical of maltogenic amylases.

Conclusions

The substrate range as well as the biochemical properties exhibited by Lp_2757 maltogenic α-amylase suggest that this enzyme could be a very promising enzyme for the hydrolysis of α-1,4 glycosidic linkages present in a broad number of starch-carbohydrates, as well as for the investigation of an hypothetical transglucosylation activity under appropriate reaction conditions.