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To isolate novel and useful microbial enzymes from uncultured gastrointestinal microorganisms, a fecal microbial metagenomic library of the pygmy loris was constructed. The library was screened for amylolytic activity, and 8 of 50,000 recombinant clones showed amylolytic activity. Subcloning and sequence analysis of a positive clone led to the identification a novel gene (amyPL) coding for α-amylase. AmyPL was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and the purified AmyPL was enzymatically characterized. This study is the first to report the molecular and biochemical characterization of a novel α-amylase from a gastrointestinal metagenomic library.

This paper reports the production and characterization of crude xylanase from the newly isolated Humicola sp. Ly01. The highest (41.8 U/ml) production of the crude xylanase was obtained under the optimized conditions (w/v): 0.5% wheat bran, 0.2% KH2PO4, and 0.5% peptone; initial pH 7.0; incubation time 72 h; 30°C; and 150 rpm. A considerable amount of the crude xylanase was induced using hulless barley bran or soybean meal as the carbon source, but a small amount of the enzyme was produced when supplementary urea was used as the nitrogen source to wheat bran. The crude xylanase showed apparent optimal cellulase-free xylanase activity at 60°C and pH 6.0, more than 71.8% of the maximum xylanase activity in 3.0-30.0% (v/v) ethanol and more than 82.3% of the initial xylanase activity after incubation in 3.0-30.0% (v/v) ethanol at 30°C for 2 h. The crude xylanase was moderately resistant to both acid and neutral protease digestion, and released 7.9 and 10.9 μmol/ml reducing sugar from xylan in the simulated gastric and intestinal fluids, respectively. The xylooligosaccharides were the main products of the hydrolysis of xylan by the crude xylanase. These properties suggested the potential of the crude enzyme for being applied in the animal feed industry, xylooligosaccharides production, and high-alcohol conditions such as ethanol production and brewing.

During the fermentation process of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, yeast cells must rapidly respond to a wide variety of external stresses in order to survive the constantly changing environment, including ethanol stress. The accumulation of ethanol can severely inhibit cell growth activity and productivity. Thus, the response to changing ethanol concentrations is one of the most important stress reactions in S. cerevisiae and worthy of thorough investigation. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between ethanol tolerance in S. cerevisiae and a unique protein called alcohol sensitive RING/PHD finger 1 protein (Asr1p). A real-time PCR showed that upon exposure to 8% ethanol, the expression of Asr1 was continuously enhanced, reaching a peak 2 h after stimulation. This result was confirmed by monitoring the fluorescence levels using a strain with a green fluorescent protein tagged to the C-terminal of Asr1p. The fluorescent microscopy also revealed a change in the subcellular localization before and after stimulation. Furthermore, the disruption of the Asr1 gene resulted in hypersensitivity on the medium containing ethanol, when compared with the wild-type strain. Thus, when taken together, the present results suggest that Asr1 is involved in the response to ethanol stress in the yeast S. cerevisiae.