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Objective: A thermostable esterase EstZ1 from Bacillus sp. HJ14 able to degrade diethyl-phthalate (DEP) was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) and characterized., Methods: Full-length EstZ1 was obtained based on specific amplification and genome sequencing, and amino acid sequence of EstZ1 was analyzed. EstZ1 was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) using the pEASY-E2 expression system. EstZ1 was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by Ni2+-NTA metal chelating affinity chromatography, and the enzyme was characterized. The degradation products from DEP were detected by high-pressure liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry., Results: The 903 bp full-length EstZ1 encoded 300 amino acid residues (EstZ1:33.84 kDa). EstZ1 showed the highest identity of 98% with hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL)-like family in NCBI databases. The optimal temperature and pH was 50℃ and 9.0, respectively, with p-NP butyrate as the best substrate. Meanwhile, it was stable between 40 and 70℃, pH 7.0 to 9.5. Most of metal ions, chemical agents had little impact. DEP could partially be degraded by EstZ1 to its corresponding monoalkyl and alcohol., Conclusion: Our findings may serve as reference for phthalate esters degradation.

β-N-Acetylglucosaminidases serve important biological functions and various industrial applications. A glycoside hydrolase family 3 β-N-acetylglucosaminidase gene was cloned from Sphingobacterium sp. HWLB1 and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The purified recombinant enzyme (rNag3HWLB1) showed apparent optimal activity at pH 7.0 and 40 °C. In the presence of 0.5-20.0 % (w/v) NaCl, the activity and stability of rNag3HWLB1 were slightly affected or not affected. The enzyme could even retain 73.6 % activity when 30.0 % (w/v) NaCl was added to the reaction mixture. The half-life of the enzyme was approximately 10 min at 37 °C without the addition of NaCl. However, the enzyme was stable at 37 °C in the presence of 3.0 % (w/v) NaCl. A large negatively charged surface in the catalytic pocket of the enzyme was observed and might contribute to NaCl tolerance and thermostability improvement. The degree of synergy between a commercial endochitinase and rNag3HWLB1 on chitin enzymatic degradation ranged from 3.11 to 3.74. This study is the first to report the molecular and biochemical properties of a NaCl-tolerant β-N-acetylglucosaminidase.

est19 is a gene from Bacillus sp. K91 that encodes a new esterase. A comparison of the amino acid sequence showed that Est19 has typical Ser-Gly-Asn-His (SGNH) family motifs and could be grouped into the SGNH hydrolase family. The Est19 protein was functionally cloned, and expressed and purified from Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The enzyme activity was optimal at 60°C and pH 9.0, and displayed esterase activity towards esters with short-chain acyl esters (C₂-C₆). A structural model of Est19 was constructed using phospholipase A1 from Streptomyces albidoflavus NA297 as a template. The structure showed an α/β-hydrolase fold and indicated the presence of the typical catalytic triad Ser49-Asp227-His230, which were further investigated by site-directed mutagenesis. To the best of our knowledge, Est19 is a new member of the SGNH hydrolase family identified from thermophiles, which may be applicable in the industrial production of semisynthetic β-lactam antibiotics after modification.

Xylanases sourced from different bacteria have significantly different enzymatic properties. Therefore, studying xylanases from different bacteria is important to their applications in different fields. A potential xylanase degradation gene in Massilia was recently discovered through genomic sequencing. However, its xylanase activity remains unexplored. This paper is the first to report a xylanase (XynRBM26) belonging to the glycosyl hydrolase family (GH10) from the genus Massilia. The gene encodes a 383-residue polypeptide (XynRBM26) with the highest identity of 62% with the endoxylanase from uncultured bacterium BLR13. The XynRBM26 expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 is a monomer with a molecular mass of 45.0 kDa. According to enzymatic characteristic analysis, pH 5.5 is the most appropriate for XynRBM26, which could maintain more than 90% activity between pH 5.0 and 8.0. Moreover, XynRBM26 is stable at 37°C and could maintain at least 96% activity after being placed at 37°C for 1 h. This paper is the first to report that GH10 xylanase in an animal gastrointestinal tract (GIT) has salt tolerance, which could maintain 86% activity in 5 M NaCl. Under the optimum conditions, Km, Vmax, and kcat of XynRBM26 to beechwood xylan are 9.49 mg/ml, 65.79 μmol/min/mg, and 47.34 /sec, respectively. Considering that XynRBM26 comes from an animal GIT, this xylanase has potential application in feedstuff. Moreover, XynRBM26 is applicable to high-salt food and seafood processing, as well as other high-salt environmental biotechnological fields, because of its high catalytic activity in high-concentration NaCl.

A mannanase-coding gene was cloned from Sphingobacterium sp. GN25 isolated from the feces of Grus nigricollis. The gene encodes a 371-residue polypeptide (ManAGN25) showing less than 74 % identity with a number of hypothetical proteins and putative glucanases and mannanases. Before experiment's performance, ManAGN25 was predicted to be a low-temperature active mannanase based on the molecular characterization, including (1) ManAGN25 shared the highest identity of 41.1 % with the experimentally verified low-temperature active mannanase (ManAJB13) from Sphingomonas sp. JB13; (2) compared with their mesophilic and thermophilic counterparts, ManAGN25 and ManAJB13 had increased number of amino acid residues around their catalytic sites; (3) these increased number of amino acid residues built longer loops, more α-helices, and larger total accessible surface area and packing volume. Then the experiments of biochemical characterization verified that the purified recombinant ManAGN25 is a low-temperature active mannanase: the enzyme showed apparently optimal activity at 35-40 °C and retained 78.2, 44.8, and 15.0 % of its maximum activity when assayed at 30, 20, and 10 °C, respectively; the half-life of the enzyme was approximately 60 min at 37 °C; the enzyme presented a K m of 4.2 mg/ml and a k cat of 0.4/s in McIlvaine buffer (pH 7.0) at 35 °C using locust bean gum as the substrate; and the activation energy for hydrolysis of locust bean gum by the enzyme was 36.0 kJ/mol. This study is the first to report the molecular and biochemical characterizations of a mannanase from a strain.

A glycoside hydrolase family 32 exo-inulinase gene was cloned from Sphingomonas sp. JB13 and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The purified recombinant enzyme (rInuAJB13) showed an apparently optimal activity at pH 5.5 and 55 °C and remained activity at 10-70 °C. The addition of most metal ions and chemical reagents showed little or no effect (retaining more than 76.5 % activity) on the enzyme activity, notably the addition of surfactants SDS, CTAB, Tween 80, and Triton X-100. Most local liquid detergents, including Balin, Walch, Ariel, Tide, Tupperware, and Bluemoon, also showed little or no effect (retaining more than 77.8 % activity) on the enzyme activity. rInuAJB13 exhibited 135.3-163.6 % activity at the NaCl concentration of 1.0-4.5 M. After incubation with up to 57.0 mg mL(-1) trypsin and 90.0 mg mL(-1) proteinase K at 37 °C for 60 min (pH 7.2), rInuAJB13 retained more than 80 % of its initial activity. The enzyme presents a high proportion (28.0 %) of amino acid residues G, A, and V. This paper is the first to report a detergent-, salt-, and protease-tolerant exo-inulinase.

The esterase gene Est8 from the thermophilic bacterium Bacillus sp. K91 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The monomeric enzyme exhibited a theoretical molecular mass of 24.5 kDa and an optimal activity around 50°C at pH 9.0. A model of Est8 was constructed using a hypothetical YxiM precursor structure (2O14_A) from Bacillus subtilis as template. The structure showed an α/β-hydrolase fold and indicated the presence of a typical catalytic triad consisting of Ser-11, Asp-182, and His-185, which were investigated by site-directed replacements coupled with kinetic characterization. Asp-182 and His-185 residues were more critical than the Ser-11 residue in the catalytic activity of Est8. A comparison of the amino acid sequence showed that Est8 could be grouped into the GDSL family and further classified as an SGNH hydrolase. Est8 is a new member of the SGNH hydrolase subfamily and may employ a different catalytic mechanism.