Gene cloning,overexpression and characterization of a novel organic solvent tolerant and thermostable lipase from Galactomyces geotrichum Y05

Although the lipase of Geotrichum candidum has been extensively reported, little attention has been focused on molecular genetic and biochemical characterizations of Galactomyces geotrichum lipases. A lipase gene from G. geotrichum Y05 was cloned from both genomic DNA and cDNA sources. Nucleotide sequencing revealed that the ggl gene has an ORF of 1692 bp without any introns, encoding a protein of 563 amino acid residues, including a potential signal sequence of 19 amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence of this lipase showed 86% identity to lipase of Trichosporon fermentans WU-C12. The mature lipase gene was subcloned into pPIC9K vector, and overexpressed in methylotrophic Pichia pastoris GS115. Active lipase was accumulated to the level of 100.0 U/ml (0.4 mg/ml) in the shake-flask culture, 10.4-fold higher than the activity of the original strain (9.6 U/ml). This yield dramatically exceeds that previously reported with 23–50 U/ml, 0.06 mg/ml and 0.2 mg/ml. The purified lipase exhibited several properties of significant industrial importance, such as pH and temperature stability, wide organic solvent tolerance and broad hydrolysis on vegetable oils. Such a combination of properties makes it a promising candidate for its application in non-aqueous biocatalysis, such as biodiesel production, selective hydrolysis or esterification for enrichment of PUFAs and oil-contaminated biodegradation, which have been drawn considerable attention currently.     

白地霉Y162脂肪酶基因克隆及其在毕赤酵母中的高效表达

借助生物信息学,对已克隆的地霉属脂肪酶全长基因序列进行同源比对,根据保守序列设计引物,在基因组DNA和cDNA水平上,于国内首次克隆了Geotrichum candidum Y162脂肪酶基因.Gcandidum Y162脂肪酶基因全长1692bp,不含内含子,编码包括19个氨基酸信号肽在内的563个氨基酸.与NCBI GenBank中已报道的地霉属脂肪酶氨基酸序列有86%的一致性.将该基因克隆到pPIC9K表达载体上,转化毕赤酵母GS115,摇瓶发酵96h后毕赤酵母分泌表达55 U/mL重组脂肪酶,实现了脂肪酶的高效表达.酶学性质研究表明,该重组脂肪酶对C9位顺式双键的甘油酯具有明显的底物特异性;对甲醇、甘油等有机溶剂呈现耐受性;最适温度和最适pH分别为50℃和8.0,在pH6.0～10.0及60℃以下能保持60%以上的酶活力.底物特异性、有机溶剂、温度及pH耐受性赋予该重组酶良好工业应用潜力.     

Cloning, expression and characterization of a novel thermal stable and short-chain alcohol tolerant lipase from Burkholderia cepacia strain G63

A lipase gene lipA and its chaperone gene lipB were cloned from Burkholderia cepacia strain G63. The lipA was composed of 1092 bp, encoding 363 amino acid residues, and the lipB composed of 1035 bp, corresponding to 344 amino acid residues. The significant amino acid similarity with Pseudomonas cepacia lipase revealed that this enzyme could be classified into the lipolytic subfamily I.2. The lipA and lipB genes were cloned into pBBR1Tp vector and conjugated into B. cepacia strains G63 with the help of pRK2013. The recombinant strain was fermented in 10 l bioreactor and the lipase was purified by a combination of ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. The purified lipase kept stable at a temperature range of 40–70 °C. After incubated at 70 °C, the optimal temperature of this enzyme, for 10 h it remained 86.1% of its activity. The enzyme was also highly tolerant to a series of organic solution. Incubated in 50% methanol solution up to 48 h, the enzyme still kept 98.3% of its activity. The transesterification activity of soybean oil to fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) reached 87.8% after 72 h, indicating that it is a potential biocatalyzer for biodiesel production.     

Cloning of a novel lipase gene, <Emphasis Type="Italic">lipJ08,</Emphasis> from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Candida rugosa</Emphasis> and expression in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pichia pastoris</Emphasis> by codon optimization

A novel lipase gene, lipJ08, was cloned from Candida rugosa ATCC14830, along with the already reported five lipase genes (lip1–lip5). Nucleotide sequencing indicated that the lipJ08 gene contains a 1650 bp open reading frame (ORF) without introns. The deduced amino acid sequence corresponds to 534 amino acid residues, including a putative signal sequence of 15 amino acid residues. Seventeen of the non-universal serine codons (CTG) of lipJ08 were converted into universal serine codons (TCT) by PCR-based mutagenesis. The native and codon-optimized lipJ08 genes were expressed in Pichia pastoris. The hydrolytic activity of the recombinant LIPJ08 was 4.7 U/ml, whereas the activity of the recombinant wild-type lipase could not be detected.     

Gene cloning of an NADPH-dependent menadione reductase from Candida macedoniensis, and its application to chiral alcohol production

The gene encoding an NADPH-dependent menadione reductase of Candida macedoniensis AKU4588 was cloned and sequenced. A 1035 bp nucleotide fragment (mer) was confirmed to be the gene encoding the enzyme based on the agreement of N-terminal and internal amino acid sequences. The mer encodes 345 amino acid residues, and the deduced amino acid sequence shows high similarity with those of hypothetical proteins from Debaryomyces, Candida and Saccharomyces, and ketoreductase from Zygosaccharomyces. It includes NADPH-binding motif GXXGXXA in its N-terminal region. These findings suggest that the enzyme belongs to the dihydroflavonol-4-reductase superfamily. An expression vector, pETMER, which contains the full length of the mer, was constructed. Escherichia coli cells harboring pETMER exhibits a 127-fold increase in specific menadione-reducing activity under the control of T7 promoter as compared with that of C. macedoniensis.

The asymmetric reduction of 4-chloro-3-oxobutanoate ethyl ester to (S)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate ethyl ester (CHBE) with E. coli cells, in which both the mer and the glucose dehydrogenase gene were co-expressed, as a catalyst was investigated. The (S)-CHBE formed amounted to 1680 mM (281 mg/ml), the molar yield being 92.2%. The optical purity of the product was 91.6% enantiomeric excess for the (S)-isomer. The calculated turnover number of NADP⁺ added to CHBE formed was 12,900 mol/mol.     

Cloning and sequence analysis of the lipase and lipase chaperone-encoding genes from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus RAG-1, and redefinition of a Proteobacterial lipase family and an analogous lipase chaperone family

The genes encoding the lipase (LipA) and lipase chaperone (LipB) from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus RAG-1 were cloned and sequenced. The genes were isolated from a genomic DNA library by complementation of a lipase-deficient transposon mutant of the same strain. Transposon insertion in this mutant and three others was mapped to a single site in the chaperone gene. The deduced amino acid (aa) sequences for the lipase and its chaperone were found to encode mature proteins of 313 aa (32.5 kDa) and 347 aa (38.6 kDa), respectively. The lipase contained a putative leader sequence, as well as the conserved Ser, His, and Asp residues which are known to function as the catalytic triad in other lipases. A possible trans-membrane hydrophobic helix was identified in the N-terminal region of the chaperone. Phylogenetic comparisons showed that LipA, together with the lipases of A. calcoaceticus BD413, Vibrio cholerae El Tor, and Proteus vulgaris K80, were members of a previously described family of Pseudomonas and Burkholderia lipases. This new family, which we redefine as the Group I Proteobacterial lipases, was subdivided into four subfamilies on the basis of overall sequence homology and conservation of residues which are unique to the subfamilies. LipB, moreover, was found to be a member of an analogous family of lipase chaperones. We propose that the lipases produced by P. fluorescens and Serratia marcescens, which comprise a second sequence family, be referred to as the Group II Proteobacterial lipases. Evidence is provided to support the hypothesis that both the Group I and Group II families have evolved from a combination of common descent and lateral gene transfer.     

Expression of a Bacillus subtilis pectate lyase gene in Pichia pastoris

The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris is an attractive heterologous protein expression host, mainly for genes from higher eukaryotes. However, no successful examples for the expression of bacterial gene encoding pectate lyase in P. pastoris have been reported. The present study reports for the first time the cloning and functional expression of the bacterial Bacillus subtilis gene encoding alkaline pectate lyase in P. pastoris. A molecular weight of 43,644 Da was calculated from the deduced amino acid sequence. A pectate lyase activity as high as 100 U/ml was attained in the fermentation broth of P. pastoris GS 115, which was about 10 times higher than when the gene is expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant pectate lyase was purified to homogeneity and maximal activity of the enzyme was observed at 65 °C, and pH 9.4. The recombinant enzyme showed a wider pH and thermal stability spectrum than the purified pectate lyase from B. subtilis WSHB04-02. Pectate lyase activity slightly increased in the presence of Mg²⁺ (ion) but decreased in the presence of other metal ions. Analysis of polygalacturonic acid degradation products by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry revealed that the degradation products were unsaturated trigalacturonic acid and unsaturated bigalacturonic acid, which confirms that the enzyme catalyzes a trans-elimination reaction.     

Cloning and sequencing of the leucine dehydrogenase gene from Bacillus sphaericus IFO 3525 and importance of the C-terminal region for the enzyme activity

The structural gene (leudh) coding for leucine dehydrogenase from Bacillus sphaericus IFO 3525 was cloned into Escherichia coli cells and sequenced. The open reading frame coded for a protein of 39.8 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of the leucine dehydrogenase from B. sphaericus showed 76–79% identity with those of leucine dehydrogenases from other sources. About 16% of the amino acid residues of the deduced amino acid sequence were different from the sequence obtained by X-ray analysis of the B. sphaericus enzyme. The recombinant enzyme was purified to homogeneity with a 79% yield. The enzyme was a homooctamer (340 kDa) and showed the activity of 71.7 μmol·min⁻¹·mg⁻¹) of protein. The mutant enzymes, in which more than six amino acid residues were deleted from the C-terminal of the enzyme, showed no activity. The mutant enzyme with deletion of four amino acid residues from the C-terminal of the enzyme was a dimer and showed 4.5% of the activity of the native enzyme. The dimeric enzyme was more unstable than the native enzyme, and the K_m values for -leucine and NAD⁺ increased. These results suggest that the Asn-Ile-Leu-Asn residues of the C-terminal region of the enzyme play an important role in the subunit interaction of the enzyme.     

扩展青霉脂肪酶基因克隆、密码子优化及表达

【目的】克隆扩展青霉脂肪酶基因,实现具强催化活性的脂肪酶的异源高效表达。【方法】利用RT-PCR扩增扩展青霉CICC 40356脂肪酶(PEL)cDNA序列,利用重叠延伸PCR(Over-lap extension PCR)技术对PEL的10个稀有氨基酸密码子和表达载体pPIC9Kα信号肽的9个氨基酸密码子进行了优化,获得了改造过的脂肪酶基因PELM和表达载体pPIC9KM。并构建了带有脂肪酶自身信号肽的pPIC9K-PEL1、pPIC9KM-PELM1、pPIC3.5K-PEL1、pPIC3.5K-PELM1和不带有脂肪酶自身信号肽的pPIC9K-PEL2、pPIC9KM-PELM2六个重组质粒。利用对硝基苯酚棕榈酸酯(pNPP)为底物检测工程菌脂肪酶的酶活。在此基础上,对工程菌的酶学性质进行了研究。【结果】扩展青霉脂肪酶基因cDNA序列分析结果表明该序列与已报道PEL cDNA序列仅相差3个碱基,同源性高达99%。6个重组工程菌在甲醇诱导下,均表现出pNPP水解活性,28℃诱导100h时酶活达到最高,发酵上清的酶活分别为3.65 U/mL、30.49 U/mL、90.85 U/mL、212.05 U/mL、15.29 U/mL、76.32 U/mL。SDS-PAGE结果表明重组脂肪酶分子量均约28 kDa。酶学性质研究表明,重组脂肪酶PELM最适温度为35℃,最适pH为9.5,在pH7.0-10.0范围内该脂肪酶均较稳定,Ca2+和Mg2+对其有激活作用,Fe2+、Zn2+、Cu2+则有抑制作用,EDTA能使之快速失活。以不同碳链长度的对硝基苯酚酯为底物检测其底物特异性,结果显示其对中链酯(C8-C12)有较强的水解能力,最适底物为为C8的pNP酯。【结论】密码子优化后的扩展青霉脂肪酶基因在毕赤酵母中获得理想的表达,其酶活力比未优化的野生脂肪酶的提高了2.3-2.5倍,表明定点突变对其基因本身更改特有稀有密码子是实现PEL功能蛋白的异源高效表达的有效策略之一。     

Pancreatic cholesterol esterases. 2. Purification and characterization of human pancreatic fatty acid ethyl ester synthase

Human pancreatic fatty acid ethyl ester synthase has been isolated and purified 1200-fold to homogeneity, and its activities, binding properties, and N-terminal amino acid sequence indicate that it is a member of the lipase family. This 52-kDa monomeric protein is present at 0.6-1.2 mg/g of pancreas, and it catalyzes the synthesis and hydrolysis of ethyl oleate at rates of 2400 nmol mg-1 h-1 and 30 nmol mg-1 h-1, respectively. Kinetic analyses reveal a pronounced substrate specificity for unsaturated octadecanoic fatty acids, with ethyl ester synthetic rates of 2400 nmol mg-1 h-1 (linoleic), 2400 nmol mg-1 h-1 (oleic), 400 nmol mg-1 h-1 (arachidonic), 300 nmol mg-1 h-1 (palmitic), and 100 nmol mg-1 h-1 (stearic). Like cholesterol esterase, the enzyme binds to immobilized heparin, and this property was critical for its purification to homogeneity. Its N-terminal amino acid sequence is virtually identical with that reported for human triglyceride lipase, NH2-X-Glu-Val-Cys-5Tyr-Glu-Arg-Leu-Gly-10Cys-Phe-Ser-Asp- Asp-15Ser-Pro-Trp-Ser-Gly-20Ile, and it differs by only four residues from that reported for porcine pancreatic lipase. The synthase purified here also cleaves triglycerides, hydrolyzing triolein at a rate of 30 nmol mg-1 h-1, and this activity is stimulated by colipase and inhibited by sodium chloride. Conversely, commercially available porcine triglyceride lipase exhibits fatty acid ethyl ester synthase activity (1530 nmol mg-1 h-1) and hydrolyzes triolein at a rate of 23 nmol mg-1 h-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Production of a novel extracellular acidic lipase from Pseudomonas gessardii using slaughterhouse waste as a substrate

An isolate exhibiting high extracellular lipolytic activity was identified as Pseudomonas gessardii by 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. The slaughterhouse waste, goat tallow, was used as a lipid substrate for the production of acidic lipase by P. gessardii. The maximum lipase activity of 156 U/ml was observed at an acidic pH of 3.5 and at 0.31 g substrate concentration. The purification steps resulted in the isolation of acidic lipase with a specific activity of 1,473 U/mg and a molecular weight of 94 kDa. One interesting feature of this purified lipase is its stability at highly acidic pH ranging from 2.0 to 5.5 with a high molecular weight. The amino acid composition was determined using HPLC. This acidic lipase has potential applications in the medicinal field as a substitute for pancreatic lipases for enzyme therapy, oleochemical and in biotechnological industries.     

Biochemical and molecular characterisation of a thermoactive, alkaline and detergent-stable lipase from a newly isolated Staphylococcus aureus strain

A newly soil-isolated Staphylococcus aureus strain secretes a non-induced lipase in the culture medium. The extracellular lipase from S. aureus (SAL3) is purified to homogeneity. The purified enzyme is a tetrameric protein (180 kDa) corresponding to the association of four lipase molecules. The 15 N-terminal amino acid residues showed a high degree of homology with other staphylococcal lipase sequences. The part of the gene encoding the mature SAL3 is cloned and sequenced. The deduced polypeptide sequence, corresponding to the mature SAL3, was very similar to the mature Staphylococcus simulans lipase sequence with two additional amino acid residues (LK) at the N-terminus of SAL3. The lipase activity is maximal at pH 9.5 and 55 °C. The specific activity of about 4200 U/mg or 3500 U/mg was measured using tributyrin or olive oil emulsion as substrate, respectively, at pH 9.5 and 55 °C.In contrast to other staphylococcal lipases previously characterised, SAL3 is found to be stable between pH 5 and 12 after 24 h incubation. The enzyme retained 50% of its activity after 60 min incubation at 60 °C. This novel lipase is able to hydrolyse its substrate in presence of various oxidizing agents as well as some surfactants and some commercial detergents, then SAL3 can be considered as a good candidate for industrial and biotechnological applications.     

Cloning and characterization of a fish microsomal epoxide hydrolase of Danio rerio and application to kinetic resolution of racemic styrene oxide

A potent bacterial strain, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, has been isolated from the soil which produces extracellular lipase that can carry out the excellent stereospecific hydrolysis of trans-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)glycidic acid methyl ester [(±)-MPGM)] to give [(−)-MPGM], an intermediate required in the synthesis of cardiovascular drug, diltiazem. As a preliminary experiment for enzymatic resolution, we characterized the fractionated enzyme. The enzyme had a pH and temperature optima of 8.0 and 60 °C, respectively. The enzyme showed high degree of thermostability. Also, the enzyme was found to be stable in alkaline condition and in organic solvents. The activity of the enzyme increased by the addition of magnesium ions. The small-scale hydrolysis of (±)-MPGM (250 mg) with partially purified enzyme (21,000 U) gave (−)-MPGM with good isolated yield (44%) and excellent enantiomeric excess (99.9%) in a very short time (12 h).     

Purification and partial characterization of feline classical pancreatic lipase

Classical pancreatic lipase has been purified and partially characterized in many species. The objective of this project was to purify feline classical pancreatic lipase (fPL) from pancreatic tissue and partially characterize this protein. Pancreata were collected from cats (Felis catus) euthanized for unrelated research projects. Fat was removed by trimming away grossly visible fat and by extraction in organic solvents. The delipidated pancreatic extract was further purified by extracting the enzymes in a Tris-buffer containing two different protease inhibitors, benzamidine and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, followed by anion-exchange, size-exclusion, and cation-exchange chromatography. Feline pancreatic lipase was successfully purified from feline pancreatic tissue. The purified product showed a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a molecular mass of approximately 52.5 kDa. Exact molecular mass was determined by mass spectrometry as 52.4 kDa. Approximate specific absorbance at 280 nm of fPL was 1.18 for a 1 mg/ml solution. N-terminal amino acid sequence of the first 25 amino acid residues showed the sequence Lys-Glu-Ile-?-Phe-Pro-Arg-Leu-Gly-?-Phe-Ser-Asp-Asp-Ala-Pro-Trp-Ala-Gly-Ile-Ala-Gln-Arg-Pro-Leu. This sequence showed close homology with the amino acid sequence of classical pancreatic lipase in other species.     

Biotechnological applications of Candida antarctica lipase A: State-of-the-art

The yeast Candida antarctica produces two different lipases, lipases A and B. While lipase B (CAL-B) is probably the mostly employed hydrolase in the biocatalysis field, the use of the lipase A (CAL-A) has been rather scarce and consequently its tridimensional structure has not been elucidated yet. However, CAL-A is a useful biocatalyst with many different applications that have been described especially in the last few years. Its attractiveness results from its unique features among hydrolases: the high thermostability, allowing operation at T > 90 °C; the ability to accept tertiary and sterically hindered alcohols, which has recently been attributed to the existence of a specific aminoacidic sequence in the active site; the sn-2 recognition in hydrolysis of triglycerides; the selectivity towards trans-fatty acids; the stability in the acidic pH range. Furthermore, it is considered to be an excellent biocatalyst for the asymmetric synthesis of amino acids/amino esters, due to its chemoselectivity towards amine groups. Considering all these aspects, in the present review, the origin, the properties and the applications of the CAL-A are briefly described and discussed, pointing out the unique characteristics of this biocatalyst.     

Fatty acid preference of mycelium-bound lipase from a locally isolated strain of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Geotrichum candidum</Emphasis>

Mycelium-bound lipase (MBL) was prepared using a strain of Geotrichum candidum isolated from local soil. At the time of maximum lipase activity (54 h), the mycelia to which the lipase was bound were harvested by filtration and centrifugation. Dry MBL was prepared by lyophilizing the mycelia obtained. The yield of MBL was 3.66 g/l with a protein content of 44.11 mg/g. The lipase activity and specific lipase activity were 22.59 and 510 U/g protein, respectively. The moisture content of the MBL was 3.85%. The activity of free (extracellular) lipase in the culture supernatant (after removal of mycelia) was less than 0.2 U/ml. The MBL showed selectivity for oleic acid over palmitic acid during hydrolysis of palm olein, indicating that the lipase from G. candidum displayed high substrate selectivity for unsaturated fatty acid containing a cis-9 double bond, even in crude form. This unique specificity of MBL could be a direct, simple and inexpensive way in the fats and oil industry for the selective hydrolysis or transesterification of cis-9 fatty acid residues in natural triacylglycerols.     

Sustained expression of keratinase gene under PxylA and PamyL promoters in the recombinant Bacillus megaterium MS941

The ker gene encoding pre-pro keratinase of Bacillus licheniformis MKU3 was cloned with xylose inducible promoter (PxylA) or -amylase promoter (PamyL) or both in Escherichia coli–Bacillus shuttle vector, pWH1520 generating recombinant plasmids pWHK3, pWAK3 and pWXAK3 respectively. Compared with Bacillius megaterium MS941 (pWXAK3) expressing ker gene with PxylA–PamyL promoters, B. megaterium MS941 (pWAK3) with PamyL displayed higher keratinase yield (168.6 U/ml) and specific activity (14.59 U/mg) after 36 h of growth in LB medium, however the keratinase yield decreased in the culture grown in LB medium supplemented with starch or xylose or both. A maximum yield of 186.3 U/ml with specific activity of 17.25 U/mg was obtained from xylose induced keratinase expression in B. megaterium MS941 (pWHK3) grown for 24 h. The recombinant plasmids were stably maintained with sustained expression of keratinase for about 60 generations in B. megaterium MS941 rather than in B. megaterium 14945.     

Isolation and characterization of an extracellular lipase from Mucor sp strain isolated from palm fruit

During our screening of lipolytic fungus which may play a role in the acidification of palm oil, we have recently isolated a Mucor sp strain. Culture conditions were optimized and the highest lipase production amounting to 57 U/ml was achieved after 6 days of cultivation. The extracellular lipase was purified 1050-fold by ammonium sulfate precipitation, carboxymethyl–sephadex chromatography and Sephadex G75 gel filtration to a final specific activity of 6600 IU/mg. The molecular weight of the homogenous lipase was determined about 42 kDa by gel filtration and SDS–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified lipase was determined as a glycoprotein with a pI of 6.2. The Nt sequence was determined as AspGluIleGluThrValGlyXPheThrMetAspLeuProProAsnProPro and showed no homology with the sequences of the known lipases suggesting that the enzyme may be a new lipase. The purified lipase hydrolyzed both synthetic and natural triglycerides with the optimal activity recorded on trioctanoin and sunflower oil, respectively. Its activity was strongly inhibited by Triton X-100 and SDS. Metal ions such as Fe³⁺, Fe²⁺ and Hg²⁺ also decreased the lipase activity.     

Lipase-catalyzed kinetic resolutions of racemic β- and γ-thiolactones

Several racemic β- and γ-thiolactones were synthesized and kinetic resolutions of them were executed using lipases. While a lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia (PCL) showed the highest enantioselectivity for (S)-form (>99% ee_S at 53% conversion, E > 100) in the kinetic resolution of racemic -methyl-β-propiothiolactone (rac-MPTL), it showed no hydrolysis activity in the kinetic resolution of -benzyl--methyl-β-propiothiolactone (rac-BMPTL), suggesting that the changes in the size of alkyl group from rac-MPTL to rac-BMPTL leads to lower hydrolysis activity and enantioselectivity. In contrast, racemic γ-butyrothiolactones were hydrolyzed by several lipases with low enantioselectivity, whereas a lipase from Candida antarctica (CAL) showed moderate enantioselectivity for (S)-form (>99% ee_S at 76% conversion, E = 11) in the kinetic resolution of racemic -methyl-γ-butyrothiolactone (rac-MBTL). Computer-aided molecular modeling was also performed to investigate the enantioselectivites and activities of PCL toward β-propiothiolactones. The computer modeling results suggest that the alkyl side chains of β-propiothiolactones and γ-butyrothiolactones interact with amino acid residues around hydrophobic crevice, which affects the activity of PCL.