Secretion of the alpha-galactosidase from Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (guar) by Bacillus subtilis

A fusion of DNA sequences encoding the SPO2 promoter, the alpha-amylase signal sequence from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, and the mature part of the alpha-galactosidase from Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (guar) was constructed on a Bacillus subtilis multicopy vector. Bacillus cells of the protease-deficient strain DB104 harboring this vector produced and secreted the plant enzyme alpha-galactosidase up to levels of 1,700 U/liter. A growth medium suppressing the residual proteolytic activity of strain DB104 was used to reach these levels in a fermentor. Purification of the secreted product followed by NH2-terminal amino acid sequencing showed that the alpha-amylase signal sequence had been processed correctly. The molecular mass of the product estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was slightly lower than that of the plant purified enzyme, which is most likely due to glycosylation of the latter. The alpha-galactosidase product was active both on the artificial substrate para-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-galactopyranoside and on the galactomannan substrate, guar gum. The activity of this Bacillus sp.-produced enzyme was similar to that of the glycosylated enzyme purified from guar seeds, indicating that glycosylation has no essential function for enzyme activity.