Dimethylformamide is a novel nitrilase inducer in Rhodococcus rhodochrous

Nitrilases are of commercial interest in the selective synthesis of carboxylic acids from nitriles. Nitrilase induction was achieved here in three bacterial strains through the incorporation of a previously unrecognised and inexpensive nitrilase inducer, dimethylformamide (DMF), during cultivation of two Rhodococcus rhodochrous strains (ATCC BAA-870 and PPPPB BD-1780), as well as a closely related organism (Pimelobacter simplex PPPPB BD-1781). Benzonitrile, a known nitrilase inducer, was ineffective in these strains. Biocatalytic product profiling, enzyme inhibition studies and protein sequencing were performed to distinguish the nitrilase activity from that of sequential nitrile hydratase-amidase activity. The expressed enzyme, a 40-kDa protein with high sequence similarity to nitrilase protein Uniprot Q-03217, hydrolyzed 3-cyanopyridine to produce nicotinic acid exclusively in strains BD-1780 and BD-1781. These strains were capable of synthesising both the vitamin nicotinic acid as well as β-amino acids, a compound class of pharmaceutical interest. The induced nitrilase demonstrated high enantioselectivity (> 99%) in the hydrolysis of 3-amino-3-phenylpropanenitrile to the corresponding carboxylic acid.

     

Application of termite hindgut metagenome derived carboxyl ester hydrolases in the modification of cephalosporin substrates

In the pharmaceutical industry, de-acetylated cephalosporins are highly valuable starting materials for producing semi-synthetic β-lactam antibiotics. In this study a fosmid metagenome library from termite hindgut symbionts was screened for carboxyl ester hydrolases capable of de-acetylating cephalosporins. Recombinant Escherichia coli clones with esterolytic phenotypes on tributyrin agar plates were selected and further tested for de-acetylating activity against Cephalothin and 7-aminocephalosporanic acid (7-ACA). Two clones displaying de-acetylating activity were sequenced and the corresponding two carboxyl ester hydrolase encoding genes (axeA and axeB) belonging to the carbohydrate esterase family 7 (CE7) were identified. The primary structure of both the axeA and axeB revealed the presence of G-X-S-X-G sequence motif and respective subunit molecular masses of 40 kDa. In addition to de-acetylating cephalosporin based molecules, the two enzymes were also shown to be true esterases based on their preferences for short chain length fatty acid esters.     

Enantioselective hydrolysis of β-hydroxy nitriles using the whole cell biocatalyst Rhodococcus rhodochrous ATCC BAA-870

Candida rugosa lipase was covalently immobilized onto silica gel in two different ways: via glutaraldehyde (L_GAL) and via hydrophobic spacer arm (1,6 diamino hexane) (L_SA). Free lipase, L_GAL and L_SA were used to investigate the hydrolysis of two different substrates, namely p-nitrophenyl palmytate (pNPP) and p-nitrophenyl acetate (pNPA), both in aqueous medium. In addition, these lipase samples were used to synthesize the pNPP from p-nitrophenol (pNP) and palmytic acid (PA) and pNPA from pNP and acetic acid (AA), both in hexane medium. Hydrolytic and synthetic activities of L_SA were higher than those of free lipase and L_GAL. Synthetic activities of free lipase, L_GAL and L_SA for pNPA in the presence of pNP and AA within hexane medium were higher than those of hydrolytic activities for pNPA in aqueous medium. The same tendency was also observed with pNPP. The effects of pH and temperature on hydrolytic and synthetic activities were investigated for all lipase preparations. Operational stability was the highest for L_GAL and L_SA when these enzymes were used for pNPP synthesis and in hexane medium, after 100 repeated uses, 68% and 51% of initial activities remained, respectively, at the end of 100 repeated cycles. Free lipase lost all of its activity within 15 and 20 days when stored at 25 °C and 5 °C, respectively. However, L_GAL showed 54% and 70% of initial activity at the end of 60 storage days at 25 °C and 5 °C, respectively, while these values were observed as 36% and 60% for L_SA.     

Biocatalytic conversion of aloeresin A to aloesin

Leaf exudates from Aloe species, such as the Southern African Aloe ferox, are used in traditional medicines for both humans and livestock. This includes aloesin, a skin bleaching product that inhibits the synthesis of melanin. Aloesin, (a C-glycoside-5-methylchromone) can be released from aloeresin A, an ester of aloesin, through hydrolysis. The objective of the current study was to identify an enzymatic hydrolysis method for converting aloeresin A to aloesin, resulting in increased concentrations of aloesin in the aloe bitters extract. More than 70 commercially available hydrolytic enzymes were screened for the conversion of aloeresin A. An esterase (ESL001-02) from Diversa, a lipase (Novozym 388) and a protease (Aspergillus oryzae) preparation were identified during screening as being capable of providing conversion of pure aloeresin A, with the protease giving the best conversion (~100%). It was found that a contaminating enzyme in Novo 388 was responsible for the conversion of aloeresin A to aloesin. This contaminating enzyme, possibly a protease, was able to give almost complete conversion using crude aloe bitters extract, doubling the concentration of aloesin in aloe bitters extract via the hydrolysis of aloeresin A.     

Metagenomic mining of feruloyl esterases from termite enteric flora

A metagenome expression library was created from Trinervitermes trinervoides termite hindgut symbionts and subsequently screened for feruloyl esterase (FAE) activities, resulting in seven recombinant fosmids conferring feruloyl esterase phenotypes. The amino acid sequence lengths of the seven FAE encoding open reading frames (ORFs) ranged from 260 to 274 aa and encoded polypeptides of between 28.9 and 31.4 kDa. The highest sequence identity scores for the seven ORFs against the GenBank database were between 45 and 59 % to a number of carboxyl ester hydrolyses. The seven FAE primary structures contained sequence motifs that correspond well with a classical pentapeptide (G-x-S-x-G) serine hydrolyse signature motif which harbours the catalytic serine residue in other FAE families. Six of the seven fae genes were successfully expressed heterologously in Escherichia coli, and the purified enzymes exhibited temperature optima range of 40–70 °C and the pH optima of between 6.5 and 8.0. The k _cat/K _M ratios for the six characterised FAEs showed the following order of substrate preference: methyl sinapate?>?methyl ferulate?>?ethyl ferulate. All six FAEs showed poor conversion rates against methyl p-coumarate and methyl caffeate, both of which lacked the methoxy (O–CH₃) group substituent on the aromatic ring of the ester substrates, emphasising the requirement for at least one methoxy group on the aromatic ring of the hydroxycinnamic acid ester substrate for optimal FAE activity.