Purification and Characterization of a Trehalose Synthase from the Basidiomycete Grifola frondosa

A trehalose synthase (TSase) that catalyzes the synthesis of trehalose from d-glucose and α-d-glucose 1-phosphate (α-d-glucose 1-P) was detected in a basidiomycete, Grifola frondosa. TSase was purified 106-fold to homogeneity with 36% recovery by ammonium sulfate precipitation and several steps of column chromatography. The native enzyme appears to be a dimer since it has apparent molecular masses of 120 kDa, as determined by gel filtration column chromatography, and 60 kDa, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Although TSase catalyzed the phosphorolysis of trehalose to d-glucose and α-d-glucose 1-P, in addition to the synthesis of trehalose from the two substrates, the TSase equilibrium strongly favors trehalose synthesis. The optimum temperatures for phosphorolysis and synthesis of trehalose were 32.5 to 35°C and 35 to 37.5°C, respectively. The optimum pHs for these reactions were 6.5 and 6.5 to 6.8, respectively. The substrate specificity of TSase was very strict: among eight disaccharides examined, only trehalose was phosphorolyzed, and only α-d-glucose 1-P served as a donor substrate with d-glucose as the acceptor in trehalose synthesis. Two efficient enzymatic systems for the synthesis of trehalose from sucrose were identified. In system I, the α-d-glucose 1-P liberated by 1.05 U of sucrose phosphorylase was linked with d-glucose by 1.05 U of TSase, generating trehalose at the initial synthesis rate of 18 mmol/h in a final yield of 90 mol% under optimum conditions (300 mM each sucrose and glucose, 20 mM inorganic phosphate, 37.5°C, and pH 6.5). In system II, we added 1.05 U of glucose isomerase and 20 mM MgSO₄ to the reaction mixture of system I to convert fructose, a by-product of the sucrose phosphorylase reaction, into glucose. This system generated trehalose at the synthesis rate of 4.5 mmol/h in the same final yield.Trehalose (1-α-d-glucopyranosyl-α-d-glucopyranoside) is a nonreducing disaccharide with an α,α-1,1 glycosidic linkage and is widely distributed in plants, insects, fungi, yeast, and bacteria (7). Due to the absence of reducing ends in trehalose, it is highly resistant to heat, pH, and Maillard’s reaction (24). In trehalose-producing organisms, this compound may serve as an energy reserve, a buffer against stresses such as desiccation and freezing, and a protein stabilizer (5, 7, 26, 31, 32). If trehalose can be produced economically, then it has potential commercial applications as a sweetener, a food stabilizer, and an additive in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals (6, 25). Recently, trehalose production through fermentation of yeast (17) and Corynebacterium (30), enzymatic processes from starch (18, 34) and maltose (19, 22, 23, 33), and extraction from transformed plants (10) has been reported.Our approach to trehalose production is to use an enzymatic process to produce trehalose from sucrose, one of the least expensive sugars. Since sucrose is efficiently converted to α-d-glucose 1-phosphate (α-d-glucose 1-P) and fructose by sucrose phosphorylase (SPase), we screened microorganisms for an enzyme that converts α-d-glucose 1-P to trehalose on the assumption that the combination of the putative trehalose synthase (TSase) and SPase would convert sucrose into trehalose. Although similar enzyme activities have been reported in the basidiomycete Flammulina velutipes (11) and in the yeast Pichia fermentans (27), these enzymes have not been well characterized.Our objectives were (i) to screen microorganisms, primarily fungi, for TSase activity; (ii) to purify and characterize the TSase; (iii) to identify the enzymatic process by which trehalose is produced from sucrose; and (iv) to identify an enzymatic process for production of trehalose from sucrose in which the fructose component is also converted to trehalose.