Production of Endoglucanase, Beta-glucosidase and Xylanase by Bacillus licheniformis Grown on Minimal Nutrient Medium Containing Agriculture Residues

Unraveling aerobic cultivable cellulolytic microorganisms within the gastrointestinal tract of sheep (Ovis aries) and their evaluation for cellulose biodegradation

Anaerobic cellulolytic microbes in gastrointestinal tract (GT) of ruminants have been well-documented, however, knowledge of aerobic microbes with cellulolytic activities in ruminant GT is comparably limited. Here, we unraveled aerobic cultivable cellulolytic microbes in GT of Ujimqin sheep (Ovis aries) and evaluated the cellulolytic potential of promising isolates. Twenty-two strains were found to possess cellulose degrading potential by Congo-red staining and phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rDNA/ITS sequence revealed that all strains belonged to nine genera, i.e., Bacillus, Streptomyces, Pseudomonas, Lactobacillus, Brachybacterium, Sanguibacter, Rhizobium, Fusarium, and Aspergillus. Strains with high cellulolytic activities were selected to further evaluate the various enzyme activities on lignocellulosic alfalfa hay (Medicago sativa). Among them, isolate Bacillus subtilis RE2510 showed the highest potential of cellulose degradation considering the high endoglucanase (0.1478 ± 0.0014 IU ml-1), exoglucanase (0.1735 ± 0.0012 IU ml-1) and β-glucosidase (0.3817 ± 0.0031 IU ml-1) after 10-day incubation with alfalfa hay. A significant destruction effect of the cellulose structure and the attachment of B. subtilis RE2510 to the hay were also revealed by using scanning electron microscope. This study expands our knowledge of aerobic cellulolytic isolates from GT of sheep and also highlights their potential application as microbial additive in the aerobic process of cellulose bioconversion.

Optimization of the cultivation conditions of Bacillus licheniformis BCLLNF-01 for cellulase production

The objective of this study was to optimize the production of CMCase by Bacillus licheniformis BCLLNF-01, a strain associated with the mucus of the zoanthid Palythoa caribaeorum (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). Production of total cellulase and CMCase was investigated in the supernatant, intracellular content and wall content. Cultivation was carried out in BLM medium supplemented with 1.5 % (w/v) CMC, 5.5 % (v/v) inoculum, 40 °C, pH 6.5, 500 rpm for 72 h, and the highest activity was recorded in the supernatant. A Rotational Central Composite Design (RCCD) 2³ was used to investigate the influence of the carbon source concentration (CMC-0.5 to 1.5 % w/v), inoculum concentration (1-10 % v/v) and temperature (35-45 °C) on CMCase production. The maximum enzyme activity was achieved for a CMC concentration of 1.5 % w/v at 40 °C, attaining 0.493 IU/mL after 96 h of cultivation.

Optimization of novel and greener approach for the coproduction of uricase and alkaline protease in Bacillus licheniformis by Box-Behnken model

This study explores a novel concept of coproduction of uricase and alkaline protease by Bacillus licheniformis using single substrate in single step. Seven local bacterial strains were screened for uricase production, amongst which B. licheniformis is found to produce highest uricase along with alkaline protease. Optimization of various factors influencing maximum enzyme coproduction by B. licheniformis is performed. Maximum enzyme productivity of 0.386 U/mL uricase and 0.507 U/mL alkaline protease is obtained at 8 hr of incubation period, 1% (v/v) inoculum, and at 0.2% (w/v) uric acid when the organism is cultivated at 25°C, 180 rpm, in a media containing xylose as a carbon source, urea as a nitrogen source, and initial pH of 9.5. The statistical experimental design method of Box-Behnken was further applied to obtain optimal concentration of significant parameters such as pH (9.5), uric acid concentration (0.1%), and urea concentration (0.05%). The maximum uricase and alkaline protease production by B. licheniformis using Box-Behnken design was 0.616 and 0.582 U/mL, respectively, with 1.6- and 1.13-fold increase as compared to one factor at a time optimized media. This study will be useful to develop an economic, commercially viable, and scalable process for simultaneous production of uricase and protease enzymes.

Light induced expression of β-glucosidase in Escherichia coli with autolysis of cell

Background

β-Glucosidase has attracted substantial attention in the scientific community because of its pivotal role in cellulose degradation, glycoside transformation and many other industrial processes. However, the tedious and costly expression and purification procedures have severely thwarted the industrial applications of β-glucosidase. Thus development of new strategies to express β-glucosidases with cost-effective and simple procedure to meet the increasing demands on enzymes for biocatalysis is of paramount importance.

Results

Light activated cassette YF1/FixJ and the SRRz lysis system were successfully constructed to produce Bgl1A(A24S/F297Y), a mutant β-glucosidase tolerant to both glucose and ethanol. By optimizing the parameters for light induction, Bgl1A(A24S/F297Y) activity reached 33.22 ± 2.0 U/mL and 249.92 ± 12.25 U/mL in 250-mL flask and 3-L fermentation tank, respectively, comparable to the controls of 34.02 ± 1.96 U/mL and 322.21 ± 10.16 U/mL under similar culture conditions with IPTG induction. To further simplify the production of our target protein, the SRRz lysis gene cassette from bacteriophage Lambda was introduced to trigger cell autolysis. As high as 84.53 ± 6.79% and 77.21 ± 4.79% of the total β-glucosidase were released into the lysate after cell autolysis in 250 mL flasks and 3-L scale fermentation with lactose as inducer of SRRz. In order to reduce the cost of protein purification, a cellulose-binding module (CBM) from Clostridium thermocellum was fused into the C-terminal of Bgl1A(A24S/F297Y) and cellulose was used as an economic material to adsorb the fusion enzyme from the lysate. The yield of the fusion protein could reach 92.20 ± 2.27% after one-hour adsorption at 25 °C.

Conclusions

We have developed an efficient and inexpensive way to produce β-glucosidase for potential industrial applications by using the combination of light induction, cell autolysis, and CBM purification strategy.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12896-017-0402-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Production of α-1,4-glucosidase from Bacillus licheniformis KIBGE-IB4 by utilizing sweet potato peel

In the current study, sweet potato peel (Ipomoea batatas) was observed as the most favorable substrate for the maximum synthesis of α-1,4-glucosidase among various agro-industrial residues. Bacillus licheniformis KIBGE-IB4 produced 6533.0 U ml^-1 of α-1,4-glucosidase when growth medium was supplemented with 1% dried and crushed sweet potato peel. It was evident from the results that bacterial isolate secreted 6539.0 U ml^-1 of α-1,4-glucosidase in the presence of 0.4% peptone and meat extract with 0.1% yeast extract. B. licheniformis KIBGE-IB4 released 6739.0 and 7190.0 U ml^-1 of enzyme at 40 °C and pH 7.0, respectively. An improved and cost-effective growth medium design resulted 8590.0 U ml^-1 of α-1,4-glucosidase with 1.3-fold increase as compared to initial amount from B. licheniformis KIBGE-IB4. This enzyme can be used to fulfill the accelerating demand of food and pharmaceutical industries. Further purification and immobilization of this enzyme can also enhance its utility for various commercial applications. Graphical abstract Pictorial representation of maltase production from sweet potato peel.

Canola meal as a novel substrate for β-glucosidase production by Trichoderma viride: application of the crude extract to biomass saccharification

β-Glucosidases are important enzymes with significant prospects in the industrial biotechnology, including their use in biomass hydrolysis for bioethanol production. In this study, the use of canola meal as carbon source for β-glucosidase production by a Trichoderma viride strain in submerged fermentation was evaluated by applying central composite design and response surface methodology to optimize the production process. This statistical approach was also used to improve the passion fruit peel hydrolysis by T. viride crude extract. The model developed 3.6-fold increased β-glucosidase activity. The culture conditions that resulted in the highest β-glucosidase levels were a substrate concentration of 2.9 %, pH of medium 4.2 and cultivation time of 206 h. The β-glucosidases produced under optimal conditions showed attractive properties for industrial applications, such as activity at high temperatures and stability at 55 °C and over a wide pH range. In addition, the enzymatic hydrolysis of passion fruit peel by T. viride crude extract was very promising, resulting in glucose yields of 66.4 %. This study, therefore, presents canola meal as an inexpensive and attractive substrate for the production of microbial β-glucosidases.