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Inulin, a widely recognized prebiotic, has diverse applications across various industrial sectors. Although inulin is primarily produced through plant extraction, there is growing interest in enzymatic synthesis as an alternative. The enzymatic production of inulin from sucrose, which yields polymers with degrees of polymerization similar to those of plant-derived inulin, shows potential as a viable replacement for traditional extraction methods. In this study, an inulosucrase from Neobacillus bataviensis was identified, demonstrating a non-processive mechanism specifically tailored for synthesizing inulin with polymerization degrees ranging from 3 to approximately 40. The enzyme exhibited optimal activity at pH 6.5 and 55 °C, efficiently producing inulin with a yield of 50.6%. Ca 2+ can improve the activity and thermostability of this enzyme. To enhance catalytic total activity, site-directed and truncated mutagenesis techniques were applied, resulting in the identification of a mutant, T149S, displaying a significant 57% increase in catalytic total activity. Molecular dynamics simulations unveiled that the heightened flexibility observed in three surface regions positively influenced enzymatic activity. This study not only contributes to the theoretical foundation for inulosucrase engineering but also presents a potential avenue for the production of inulin., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Inulin has found commercial applications in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and food industries due to its beneficial health effects. The enzymatic biosynthesis of microbial inulin has garnered increasing attention. In this study, molecular modification was applied to Lactobacillus mulieris UMB7800 inulosucrase, an enzyme that specifically produces high-molecular weight inulin, to enhance its catalytic activity and thermostability. Among the 18 variable regions, R5 was identified as a crucial region significantly impacting enzymatic activity by replacing it with more conserved sequences. Site-directed mutagenesis combined with saturated mutagenesis revealed that the mutant A250 V increased activity by 68%. Additionally, after screening candidate mutants by rational design, four single-point mutants, S344D, H434P, E526D, and G531P, were shown to enhance thermostability. The final combinational mutant, M5, exhibited a 66% increase in activity and a 5-fold enhancement in half-life at 55 °C. These findings are significant for understanding the catalytic activity and thermostability of inulosucrase and are promising for the development of microbial inulin biosynthesis platforms.

Carbohydrate degradation is crucial for living organisms due to their essential functions in providing energy and composing various metabolic pathways. Nevertheless, in the catalytic cycle of polysaccharide degradation, the details of how the substrates bind and how the products release need more case studies. Here, we choose an inulin fructotransferase ( Sp IFTase) as a model system, which can degrade inulin into functionally difructose anhydride I. At first, the crystal structures of Sp IFTase in the absence of carbohydrates and complex with fructosyl-nystose (GF4), difructose anhydride I, and fructose are obtained, giving the substrate trajectory and product path of Sp IFTase, which are further supported by steered molecular dynamics simulations (MDSs) along with mutagenesis. Furthermore, structural topology variations at the active centers of inulin fructotransferases are suggested as the structural base for product release, subsequently proven by substitution mutagenesis and MDSs. Therefore, this study provides a case in point for a deep understanding of the catalytic cycle with substrate trajectory and product path.

Carbohydrate-active enzymes are accountable for the synthesis and degradation of glycosidic bonds among diverse carbohydrates. Fructosyl-transferases represent a subclass of these enzymes, employing sucrose as a substrate to generate fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and fructan polymers. This category primarily includes levansucrase (LS, EC 2.4.1.10), inulosucrase (IS, EC 2.4.1.9), and β-fructofuranosidase (Ffase, EC 3.2.1.26). These three enzymes possess a similar five-bladed β-propeller fold and employ an anomer-retaining reaction mechanism mediated by nucleophiles, transition state stabilizers, and general acids/bases. However, they exhibit distinct product profiles, characterized by variations in linkage specificity and molecular mass distribution. Consequently, this article comprehensively explores recent advancements in the catalytic characteristics, structural features, reaction mechanisms, and product specificity of levansucrase, inulosucrase, and β-fructofuranosidase (abbreviated as LS, IS, and Ffase, respectively). Furthermore, it discusses the potential for modifying catalytic properties and product specificity through structure-based design, which enables the rational production of custom fructan and FOS., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Levansucrase (LS, EC 2.4.1.10) catalyzes the synthesis of levan by successively transferring the fructosyl moiety from sucrose to an elongated fructan chain. Although the product distribution of LS from Erwinia amylovora ( Ea -LS) was studied under different sucrose concentrations, the effect of residues on the product formation is yet unknown. The first levanhexaose-complexed structure of LS from Bacillus subtilis ( Bs -SacB) provided information on the oligosaccharide binding sites (OB sites), from +1 to +4 subsites. Since Ea -LS would efficiently produce fructooligosaccharides, a substitution mutation of OB sites in Bs -SacB and the corresponding residues of Ea -LS were conducted to investigate how these mutants would influence the product distribution. As a result, a series of mutants with different product spectrum were obtained. Notably, the mutants of G98E, V151F, and N200T around loop 1, loop 3, and loop 4 all showed a significant increase in both the molecular mass and the yield of high-molecular-mass levan, suggesting that the product profile of Ea -LS was significantly modified.

Microbial inulosucrase as a transfructosylation tool has been used to produce inulin and inulin-type fructooligosaccharides with various polymerization degrees. Tailor-made oligosaccharides could be generated by inulosucrase via chain length modulation. In this study, a semi-rational design based on the modeled structure of Lactobacillus reuteri 121 inulosucrase was carried out to screen and construct variants. The residues Arg541 and Arg544 were determined to be significant to the product chain elongation of L. reuteri 121 inulosucrase. The variant R544W altered the product specificity of inulosucrase and produced short-chain fructooligosaccharides with 1-kestose as the main component. Molecular dynamic simulations verified an increased binding free energy of variant R544W with 1-kestose than the wild-type enzyme with 1-kestose. After optimization, 1-kestose and total short-chain fructooligosaccharides production reached approximately 206 g/L and 307 g/L, respectively. This study suggests the great potential of variant R544W in the biotransformation from sucrose to functional sugar., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The thermostability of enzymes is an essential factor that performs a vital role during practical applications. Inulin fructotransferases can efficiently convert inulin into bio-functional difructose anhydrides (DFAs). The present study aimed to improve the thermostability of a previously reported inulin fructotransferase, SpIFTase, and apply it to the biosynthesis of DFA I. In silico rational design was used to predict mutation sites, based on sequential and structural information. Two triple-site mutants, Q69L/Q234L/K310G and E201I/Q234L/K310G, were characterized and exhibited enhanced thermostability with approximately 5 °C higher in melting temperature (T m ), respectively, and a 45-fold longer half-life (t 1/2 ) at 70 °C, compared to that of SpIFTase. Molecular dynamic simulations and elaborate structural analysis suggested that the combinations of hydrophobic interaction, electrostatic potential distribution, and decreased flexibility via stabilization of loops and α-helix improved the thermostability of SpIFTase. Additionally, the promising mutants exhibited great potential to the industrial production of DFA I., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Microbial levansucrases (LSs, EC 2.4.1.10) have been widely studied for the synthesis of β-(2,6)-fructans (levan) from sucrose. LSs synthesize levan-type fructo-oligosaccharides, high-molecular-mass levan polymer or combinations of both. Here, we report crystal structures of LS from the G - -bacterium Brenneria sp. EniD 312 ( Brs -LS) in its apo form, as well as of two mutants (A154S, H327A) targeting positions known to affect LS reaction specificity. In addition, we report a structure of Brs -LS complexed with sucrose, the first crystal structure of a G - -LS with a bound substrate. The overall structure of Brs -LS is similar to that of G - - and G + -LSs, with the nucleophile (D68), transition stabilizer (D225), and a general acid/base (E309) in its active site. The H327A mutant lacks an essential interaction with glucosyl moieties of bound substrates in subsite +1, explaining the observed smaller products synthesized by this mutant. The A154S mutation affects the hydrogen-bond network around the transition stabilizing residue (D225) and the nucleophile (D68), and may affect the affinity of the enzyme for sucrose such that it becomes less effective in transfructosylation. Taken together, this study provides novel insights into the roles of structural elements and residues in the product specificity of LSs.

As a type of prebiotics and dietary fiber, inulin performs plenty of significant physiological functions and is applied in food and pharmaceutical fields. Inulosucrase from microorganisms can use sucrose as the substrate to synthesize inulin possessing higher molecular weight than that from plants. In this work, a hypothetical gene coding inulosucrase was selected from the GenBank database. The catalytic domain was remained by N- and C- truncation strategies, constructing the recombinant plasmid. The recombinant plasmid was expressed in E. coli expression system, and after purifying the crude enzyme by Ni²⁺ affinity chromatography, a recombinant enzyme with a molecular weight of approximately 65 kDa was obtained. The optimal pH and temperature of the recombinant enzyme were 5.5 and 45 °C, respectively, when sucrose was used as the sole substrate. The activity of this enzyme was inhibited by various metal ions at different degrees. After purifying the produced polysaccharide, nuclear magnetic resonance analysis was used to determine that the polysaccharide was inulin connected by β-(2,1) linkages. Finally, the conditions for the production of inulin were optimized. The results showed that the inulin production reached the maximum, approximately 287 g/L after 7 h, when sucrose concentration and enzyme dosage were 700 g/L and 4 U/mL, respectively. The conversion rate from sucrose to inulin was approximately 41%.

Fructan, inulin and levan, have been applied in many industrial fields because of their versatile properties and functions. Recently, microbial fructan has attracted much attention. In this study, a novel inulosucrase from Lactobacillus jensenii JV-V16 was constructed by truncating partial sequence. The truncated inulosucrase was overexpressed, purified and identified. The optimized pH and temperature for transfructosylation were pH 6.0 and 45 °C, respectively. The inulosucrase showed high thermostability and the half-life at 60 °C was 14.5 h. It also exhibited high transfructosylation capability, resulting in a high ratio of transfructosylation activity to hydrolysis activity. After optimizing the conditions of inulin production, 278.4 g/L inulin was obtained from 600 g/L sucrose with an approximately 46% conversion rate from sucrose to inulin. Additionally, acceptor reaction was attempted to explore the transfructosylation capability of the enzyme and some novel saccharides were detected, indicating the potential application in the synthesis of prebiotics., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Inulin is a widespread polysaccharide, and it can be bio-transferred to α-d-fructofuranose-β-d-fructofuranose 1,2':2,1'-dianhydride (DFA I), a potential low-calorie sweetener, via inulin fructotransferase (IFTase, EC 4.2.2.17). In this study, a novel DFA I-forming IFTase was identified and characterized from Streptomyces peucetius subsp. caesius ATCC 27952 (SpIFTase). The specific activity of SpIFTase was determined to be 420.84 ± 6.21 U mg -1 at pH 6.5 and 45 °C. The enzyme exhibited a prominent thermostability with a half-life of 70 min at 70 °C and a structural melting temperature (T m ) of 75.48 °C. The values of K m and k cat /K m of SpIFTase against inulin substrate were 3.08 mM and 199.09 mM -1 s -1 , respectively. Furthermore, the catalytic residues were investigated by site-directed mutagenesis with an alanine scanning method. Interestingly, the critical catalytic residues of SpIFTase were speculated to be residues D162 and E231, which were firstly non-conserved with those of previously reported IFTases. This work proposes a potential for industrial DFA I production and new insights into the catalytic mechanism of DFA I-forming IFTases., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest There are no conflicts to declare., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: To increase the low residual activity of levansucrase during long-time processing, an enhancement of its weak thermostability is needed. Here, the effect of metal ions and polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the thermostability of levansucrase from Brenneria sp. EniD312 were studied and evaluated. The residual activity was determined and the protein structure was evaluated by circular dichroism spectrum, fluorescence intensity (FI), and surface hydrophobicity (S 0 )., Results: As a result of incubation with 10% (w/v) PEG 4000, the enzyme activity was increased by 1.24-fold. After incubation with 5% PEG 4000 for 6 h, the residual activity at 35 and 45 °C was decreased to 55% and 60% of the initial activity, with an increase of 1.2- and 3.3-fold than the wild-type enzyme. Furthermore, the random coil content of enzyme was decreased from 53% of the wild-type enzyme to 33.9% of the PEG pre-incubated enzyme. Additionally, the FI was maximally increased and the S 0 was decreased from 117 to 69., Conclusion: All of these results suggested that after incubation with PEG 4000, the secondary and tertiary structure of wild-type enzyme could be greatly maintained and then its thermostability could be increased. This study was the first report on the enhancement of levansucrase thermostability by PEG incubation and might be a good guideline to other researches on levansucrase. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Functional carbohydrates are ideal substitutes for table sugar and make up a large share of the worldwide functional food market because of their numerous physiological benefits. Growing attention has been focused on levan, a β-(2,6) fructan that possesses more favorable physicochemical properties, such as lower intrinsic viscosity and greater colloidal stability, than β-(2,1) inulin. Levan can be used not only as a functional carbohydrate but also as feedstock for the production of levan-type fructooligosaccharides (L-FOSs). Three types of levan-degrading enzymes (LDEs), including levanase (EC 3.2.1.65), β-(2,6)-fructan 6-levanbiohydrolase (LF2ase, EC 3.2.1.64), and levan fructotransferase (LFTase, EC 4.2.2.16), play significant roles in the biological production of L-FOSs. These three enzymes convert levan into different L-FOSs, levanbiose, and difructose anhydride IV (DFA IV), respectively. The prebiotic properties of both L-FOSs and DFA IV have been confirmed in recent years. Although levanase, LF2ase, and LFTase belong to the same O-glycoside hydrolase 32 family (GH32), their catalytic properties and product spectra differ significantly. In this paper, recent studies on these LDEs are reviewed, including those investigating microbial source and catalytic properties. Additionally, comparisons of LDEs, including those of their differing cleavage behavior and applications for different L-FOSs, are presented in detail.

Inulin, a natural fructan, cannot be hydrolyzed by digestive enzymes in the human body and plays a role as a dietary fiber and prebiotic. Due to its versatile physicochemical properties and physiological functions, inulin has been widely applied in food, pharmaceuticals, and many other fields. The microorganism-derived inulin-forming enzyme inulosucrase (ISase) (EC: 2.1.4.9) can biosynthesize higher-molecular-weight inulin than plants using sucrose as the sole substrate, and the enzyme also shows transfructosylation activity toward other saccharide acceptors. In this article, the properties, functions, and applications of inulin are overviewed. The biosynthesis of inulin by ISase is addressed, including ISase characteristics, structural features, molecular modifications and applications., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Levansucrase (EC 2.1.4.10, LS) has been used in the production of levan and levan-type fructooligosaccharides from sucrose; however, development of further application is restricted due to its poor thermostability. The LS from Brenneria sp. EniD312 was engineered using a structure-guided approach. Residue Glu 404 was located in the "-TEAP-" motif and varied among LSs with different thermostabilities. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed in Glu 404 and thermostability was evaluated by measuring the half-life and structural melting temperature (T m ) of the wild-type LS and its Glu 404 -mutant variants. The optimal temperature for the Glu 404 mutants was similar to that of the wild-type enzyme, however, the T m of E404 L mutant was enhanced by 2.8 °C and the half-life was increased by 12.5- and 1.3- fold at 35 and 45 °C, respectively. The other mutants E404 W, E404 V, E404I, and E404 F also showed a pronounced increase in T m and thermostability. Finally, the improvement of thermostability of LS through mutation in Glu 404 belonging to the "-TEAP"- motif could be ascribed to the change of microenvironment in the LS structure. The change of the micro-environment mainly included the enhanced structural stability between two β-hairpins and the elevated hydrophobic interactions in the overall protein structure. This work proposes new insights into the thermostabilization mechanism of other LSs., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Levan and inulin are two types of fructan. Levan is composed of β -(2, 6) fructosyl linkage and inulin is composed of β -(2, 1) linkage. Both levan and inulin have been accepted and applied in the food, medicinal and chemical industries for their outstanding physicochemical properties in recent years. Microbial levansucrase and inulosucrase are key enzymes responsible for the synthesis of fructan from sucrose. In this review, levansucrase and inulosucrase are discussed together for the first time regarding the evolutionary relationships, bacteria origin, crystal structure, product-forming mechanism and commercial applications. Particularly, some insights into the product specificity about levansucrase and inulosucrase as well as the mechanism for product elongation for fructan are also discussed in the article.

Lactosucrose is a kind of trisaccharide that functions as a significant prebiotic in the maintenance of gastrointestinal homeostasis for human. In this study, a levansucrase from Brenneria goodwinii was further used for the lactosucrose production. The recombinant levansucrase showed efficiency in the lactosucrose production by transfructosylation from sucrose and lactose, and no other oligosaccharide or polysaccharide was detected in the reaction mixture. The transfructosylation product by this recombinant enzyme was structurally determined to be lactosucrose by FT-IR and NMR. The production condition was optimized as pH at 6.0, temperature at 35 °C, 5 U mL -1 enzyme, 180 g L -1 sucrose, and 180 g L -1 lactose. Under the optimal condition, the enzyme could approximately produce 100 g L -1 lactosucrose when the reaction reached equilibrium. The recombinant levansucrase could effectively and exclusively catalyze the formation of lactosucrose, which might expand the enzymatic choice for further preparation of lactosucrose.

Levan is a kind of fructan that composing of fructose by β-(2, 6) linkage and has been already applied as thickening agent and colloidal stabilizer in the cosmetic, medicinal and food industries. Microbial levansucrase is a key enzyme catalyzing the formation of levan from sucrose by transfructosylation. Here, a gene encoding levansucrase from Brenneria sp. EniD312 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant levansucrase showed the optimal pH and temperature at pH 6.5 and 45 °C. The enzyme produced 85 g/L levan from 250 g/L sucrose at pH 6.5 and 45 °C for 6 h. The residues D68, D225 and E309 of this levansucrase were speculated to be the nucleophile, the transition stabilizer and the general acid respectively by homology modelling, site-directed mutagenesis and molecular docking. Particularly, the residues in position 154 and 327 were found to play a significant role in determining the ratio of hydrolysis activity to transfructosylation activity., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Levan, a versatile fructan, possesses promising prospects for application in the food and pharmaceutical industries and in many other fields due to the superior physicochemical properties and physiological functions of this fructan. In this study, a thermostable levansucrase was identified from Lactobacillus reuteri LTH5448. This enzyme shared higher identity with reported inulosucrases than levansucrases but, unexpectedly, yielded a levan-type fructan. Structural analysis of the produced polysaccharide revealed that the glycosidic bonds were β-(2, 6) linkages, and the average molecular weight was 3.924×10 7 Da under optimized conditions. The optimal pH and temperature for levan formation were 6.0 and 35°C, respectively. The total activity was enhanced to 135% in the presence of Ca 2+ . After optimizing the production of levan, 13U/g sucrose of levansucrase and 500g/L sucrose were utilized to obtain 183g/L levan after a 12-h reaction., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Inulin is composed of fructose residues connected by β-(2, 1) glycosidic linkages with many promising physiochemical and physiological properties. In this study, an inulin-producing inulosucrase gene from Lactobacillus gasseri DSM 20604 was cloned, expressed and purified. SDS-PAGE and gel filtration found that the recombinant inulosucrase is a monomeric protein with a molecular weight of 63KDa. The optimal pH for its sucrose hydrolysis and transfructosylation activities was pH 5.5. The optimal temperatures were measured to be 45, 25, and 35°C for sucrose hydrolysis, transfructosylation, and total activity, respectively. Biosynthesis studies showed that the optimal enzyme dosage was 4.5U/g sucrose. Higher sucrose concentrations immensely contributed to inulin biosynthesis; the inulin yield reached its maximum after 1.5h of reaction. Structural analyses of the polysaccharide produced by the recombinant enzyme from sucrose revealed that it is an inulin-type fructan with a molecular weight of 5.858×10 6 Da., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Previously, a α-d-fructofuranose-β-d-fructofuranose 1,2':2,1'-dianhydride (DFA I)-forming inulin fructotransferase (IFTase), namely, SdIFTase, was identified. The enzyme does not show high performances. In this work, to improve catalytic behavior including activity and thermostability, the enzyme was modified using site-directed mutagenesis on the basis of structure. The mutated residues were divided into three groups. Those in group I are located at central tunnel including G236, A257, G281, T313, and A314S. The group II contains residues at the inner edge of substrate binding pocket including I80, while group III at the outer edge includes G121 and T122. The thermostability was reflected by the melting temperature (T m ) determined by Nano DSC. Finally, the T m values of G236S/G281S/A257S/T313S/A314S in group I and G121A/T122L in group III were enhanced by 3.2 and 4.5 °C, and the relative activities were enhanced to 140.5% and 148.7%, respectively. The method in this work may be applicable to other DFA I-forming IFTases.

Melibiose, which is an important reducing disaccharide formed by α-1,6 linkage between galactose and glucose, has been proven to have beneficial applications in both medicine and agriculture. In this study, a characterized levansucrase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512 FMC was further used to study the bioproduction of melibiose from raffinose. The reaction conditions were optimized for melibiose synthesis. The optimal pH, temperature, substrate concentration, ratio of substrates, and units of enzymes were determined as pH 6.0, 45 °C, 210 g/L, 1:1 (210 g/L:210 g/L), and 5 U/mL, respectively. The transfructosylation product of raffinose was determined to be melibiose by FTIR and NMR. A high raffinose concentration was found to strongly favor the production of melibiose. When 210 g/L raffinose and 210 g/L lactose were catalyzed using 5 U/mL purified levansucrase at pH 6.0 and 45 °C, the maximal yield of melibiose was 88 g/L.

Levan, a unique homopolysaccharide consisting of fructose residues linked by β-(2, 6) bonds, possess promising physiochemical and physiological properties with numerous potential applications. In this study, a novel levan-producing levansucrase was characterized from Brenneria goodwinii. The polysaccharide produced by the recombinant enzyme from sucrose was structurally determined to be levan-type fructan connected by β-(2, 6) linkages. The optimum pH was measured to be pH 6.0 for both sucrose hydrolysis and transfructosylation. The optimum temperature was 35, 45, and 40°C for transfructosylation, sucrose hydrolysis, and total activity, respectively. Higher sucrose concentration greatly favored to levan biosynthesis. The purified recombinant enzyme produced 185g/L levan from 50% (w/v) sucrose at pH 6.0 and 35°C for 12h. The molecular weight of the produced levan polysaccharide reached 1.3×10 8 Da, which was much higher than the ones produced by many reported levansucrases., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Raffinose, a functional trisaccharide of α-d-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-α-d-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-β-d-fructofuranoside, is a prebiotic that shows promise for use as a food ingredient., Results: In this study, the production of raffinose from melibiose and sucrose was studied using whole recombinant Escherichia coli cells harboring the levansucrase from Clostridium arbusti SL206. The reaction conditions were optimized for raffinose synthesis. The optimal pH, temperature and washed cell concentration were pH 6.5 (sodium phosphate buffer, 50 mmol L -1 ), 55 °C and 3% (w/v), respectively. High substrate concentrations, which led to low water activity and thus reduced levansucrase hydrolysis activity, strongly favored the production of raffinose through the fructosyl transfer reaction. Additionally, high concentrations of excess acceptor and donor glycosides favored raffinose production. When 30% (w/v) sucrose and 30% (w/v) melibiose were catalyzed using 3% (w/v) whole cells at pH 6.5 (sodium phosphate buffer, 50 mmol L -1 ) and 55 °C, the highest raffinose yield was 222 g L -1 after a 6 h reaction. The conversion ratio from each substrate to raffinose was 50%., Conclusion: Raffinose could be effectively produced with melibiose as an acceptor and with sucrose as a fructosyl donor by whole recombinant E. coli cells harboring C. arbusti levansucrase. The yield from E. coli was significantly higher than those of the previously reported Bacillus subtilis levansucrase and fungal α-galactosidases. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.)

In this work, a novel gene encoding DFA I-forming inulin fructotransferase (IFTase) from Streptomyces davawensis SK39.001 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The enzyme was purified, identified, and characterized. The results showed that this IFTase (DFA I-forming) is a trimer (molecular weight of 125KDa) consisting of three identical subunits (the molecular weight as assayed by SDS-PAGE was approximately 40KDa). At pH 5.5 and 40°C, the maximum specific activity (approximately 100Umg -1 ) was achieved. Moreover, the enzyme was stable up to 70°C. K m and V max were 2.89±0.2mM and 1.94±0.9mMmin -1 , respectively. For exploring putative active sites and probable catalytic mechanisms, homology modelling and molecular docking methods after site-directed mutagenesis were applied to IFTase (DFA I-forming). The results revealed that D183 and E194 were potential catalytic residues of the purified enzyme., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Inulin fructotransferase (IFTase) is an important enzyme that produces di-d-fructofuranose 1,2':2,3' dianhydride (DAF III), which is beneficial for human health. Present investigations mainly focus on screening and characterizing IFTase, including catalytic efficiency and thermostability, which are two important factors for enzymatic industrial applications. However, few reports aimed to improve these two characteristics based on the structure of IFTase. In this work, a structural model of IFTase (DFA III-producing) from Arthrobacter sp. 161MFSha2.1 was constructed through homology modeling. Analysis of this model reveals that two residues, Ser-309 and Ser-333, may play key roles in the structural stability. Therefore, the functions of the two residues were probed by site-directed mutagenesis combined with the Nano-DSC method and assays for residual activity. In contrast to other mutations, single mutation of serine 309 (or serine 333) to threonine did not decrease the enzymatic stability, whereas double mutation (serine 309 and serine 333 to threonine) can enhance thermostability (by approximately 5 °C). The probable mechanisms for this enhancement were investigated.

Lactosucrose, a rare trisaccharide formed from sucrose and lactose by enzymatic transglycosylation, is a type of indigestible carbohydrate with a good prebiotic effect. In this study, lactosucrose biosynthesis was efficiently carried out by a purified levansucrase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512. The target gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant enzyme was purified to homogeneity by nickel affinity and gel filtration chromatography. The effects of pH, temperature, substrate concentration, substrate ratio, and enzyme amount on lactosucrose biosynthesis were studied in detail, and the optimized conditions were determined to be pH 6.5, 50 °C, 27% (W/V) sucrose, 27% (W/V) lactose, and 5 U mL(-1) of the purified recombinant enzyme. Under the optimized reaction conditions, the maximal lactosucrose yield reached 224 g L(-1) after reaction for 1 h. Therefore, L. mesenteroides levansucrase could be considered a potential candidate for future industrial production of lactosucrose.

An intracellular levansucrase from Bacillus methylotrophicus SK 21.002 was isolated, purified, and characterized. The final specific levansucrase activity was 135.40 U/mg protein with an 11.78-fold enrichment and a 9.28% recovery rate. The molecular weight of the enzyme was approximately 60,000 Da as evaluated by gel filtration and SDS-PAGE. Both the maximum transfructosylation and hydrolytic activities were observed at pH 6.5. The enzyme exhibited optimum transfructosylation activity at 40 °C, whereas the optimum temperature of hydrolytic activity was 45 °C. Cu(2+), Fe(2+), Zn(2+), and Ni(2+) inhibited both the transfructosylation and hydrolytic activities up to 100%, whereas Mn(2+) inhibited only hydrolytic activity. Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) stimulated both transfructosylation and hydrolytic activities. The chemical modifiers (n-bromosuccinimide and phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride) strongly inhibited hydrolytic and transfructosylation activity of the levansucrase. The Km and Vmax values of the purified levansucrase were 117.2 mM and 33.23 μmol/mg·Min, respectively. When the fructose concentration was below 0.2 M, higher fructose concentrations promoted the transfructosylation and inhibited the hydrolytic activity., (© 2014 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.)

Levansucrase catalyzes three distinct reactions depending on the fructosyl acceptor molecule, including polymerization, transfructosylation, and hydrolysis. As a key biocatalyst in the synthesis of levan and levan-type fructooligosaccharides, levansucrase has been widely and intensively studied. Due to the promising physiological effects of levan and levan-type fructooligosaccharides, they exhibit great potential in food and pharmaceutical industries. Another important point that attracts much attention is the wide substrate specificity of levansucrase toward monosaccharides, disaccharides, and aromatic and alkyl alcohols, producing diverse sucrose analogues, hetero-oligosaccharides (especially lactosucrose), and interesting fructosides. The present article summarizes and discusses the recent applications of microbial levansucrase in detail.

Background: Inulin fructotransferase (IFTase) catalyzes inulin conversion to difructose anhydride (DFA III), which is a natural low-calorie sweetener. Although heterologous expression of IFTase was achieved in Escherichia coli, the extracellular enzyme activity was very low, which limited the commercialization of IFTase., Results: Active IFTase of about 43 kDa molecular mass of subunit was extracellularly expressed by Pichia pastoris and was greatly regulated by the IFTase gene copy number integrated into the P. pastoris genome and by the methanol concentration in the induction phase. Under optimized culture conditions, multicopy P. pastoris exhibited a maximum extracellular IFTase activity of 105.4 U mL(-1) in a 5 L fermenter, which was 8.9-fold the activity in shake flasks and 5.3-fold that obtained from wild-type strain., Conclusion: IFTase was expressed in a eukaryotic P. pastoris system for the first time and achieved high-level extracellular expression using a high-cell-density fed-batch cultivation strategy. This demonstrated that P. pastoris was a good candidate for potential DFA III production as a novel IFTase expression system., (© 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Difructose dianhydride III (DFA III) is a functional carbohydrate produced from inulin by inulin fructotransferase (IFTase, EC 4.2.2.18). In this work, an IFTase gene from Arthrobacter sp. 161MFSha2.1 was cloned and expressed in Escherachia coli. The recombinant enzyme was purified by metal affinity chromatography. It showed significant inulin hydrolysis activity, and the produced main product from inulin was determined as DFA III by nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The molecular mass of the purified protein was calculated to be 43 and 125 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration, respectively, suggesting the native enzyme might be a homotrimer. The recombinant enzyme showed maximal activity as 2391 units/mg at pH 6.5 and 55 °C. It displayed the highest thermostability among previously reported IFTases (DFA III forming) and was stable up to 80 °C for 4 h of incubation. The smallest substrate was determined as nystose. The conversion ratio of inulin to DFA III reached 81% when 100 g/L inulin was catalyzed by 80 nM recombinant enzyme for 20 min at pH 6.5 and 55 °C. All of these data indicated that the IFTase (DFA III forming) from Arthrobacter sp. 161MFSha2.1 had great potential for industrial DFA III production.

Lactosylfructoside is a functional oligosaccharide consisting of D-glucose, D-galactose, and D-fructose. In this work, lactosylfructoside was biosynthesized from sucrose as a fructosyl donor and lactose as an acceptor by an intracellular levansucrase derived from strain Bacillus methylotrophicus (B. methylotrophicus) SK21.002. The trisaccharide was purified from the product using a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system and was confirmed to be lactosylfructoside by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The biosynthesis conditions (such as pH, temperature, enzyme dosage, substrate concentrations, and the concentration ratio of the two substrates) for lactosylfructoside production were optimized. The optimum conditions for lactosylfructoside preparation were a pH of 6.5, temperature of 37 °C, and enzyme dosage of 8 U/g substrates. The concentration of substrates (total lactose and sucrose) was 400mg/mL, and the ratio of lactose to sucrose was 1:1. The optimum time for lactosylfructoside production was 20 h, the yield of lactosylfructoside under the optimal conditions was 143 mg/mL, and the lactosylfructoside conversion efficiency was 36%., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Fructans are the polymers of fructose molecules, normally having a sucrose unit at what would otherwise be the reducing terminus. Inulin and levan are two basic types of simple fructan, which contain β-(2, 1) and β-(2, 6) fructosyl-fructose linkage, respectively. Fructans not only can serve as soluble dietary fibers for food industry, but also may be biologically converted into high-value products, especially high-fructose syrup and fructo-oligosaccharides. In recent years, much attention has been focused on production of difructose dianhydrides (DFAs) from fructans. DFAs are cyclic disaccharides consisting of two fructose units with formation of two reciprocal glycosidic linkages. They are expected to have promising properties and beneficial effects on human health. DFAs can be produced from fructans by fructan fructotransferases. Inulin fructotransferase (IFTase) (DFA III-forming) and IFTase (DFA I-forming) catalyze the DFA III and DFA I production from inulin, respectively, and levan fructotransferase (LFTase) (DFA IV-forming) catalyzes the production of DFA IV from levan. In this article, the DFA-producing microorganisms are summarized, relevant studies on various DFAs-producing enzymes are reviewed, and especially, the comparisons of the enzymes are presented in detail.

Inulin fructotransferase (IFTase) has received considerable attention due to its ability to catalyse inulin hydrolysis to difructose anhydride (DFA III), a natural low-calorie functional sweetener. In the present study, for the first time, we describe the expression of IFTase in Pichia pastoris under the control of the formaldehyde dehydrogenase 1 promoter (PFLD1). Using this system, we achieved efficient secretion with four substrate fed-batch strategies in a 3-L fermenter. The co-feeding induction strategy with methylamine hydrochloride and methanol achieved the maximum extracellular IFTase activity of 62.72 U mL(-1), which was 3.2-fold higher than that obtained with the wild-type strain. In addition to methanol, carbon sources such as glucose and glycerol could also be utilised by PFLD1-controlled P. pastoris for IFTase production using methylamine hydrochloride induction. However, we found that glycerol and glucose should be strictly controlled at low concentrations of 0.5-1.5 % (v/v) and 1-1.5 % (w/v), respectively. The use of glycerol and glucose demonstrated that P. pastoris was also attractive for IFTase production via methanol-free cultivation strategies. This study may provide the basis for the industrial use of this recombinant IFTase for the production of DFA III.

A new strain SK 21.002 which could produce intracellular levansucrase was isolated from beet sugar growing soil. It was identified as Bacillus methylotrophicus based on the sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA and the morphological characteristic. The structure of levan biosynthesized from the levansucrase was determined to be connected through β-(2→6) linkages with fructofuranosyl residues. The molecular weight of the product was between 4 and 5 kDa. The optimal conditions to produce levan using the levansucrase were studied. The presence of Mg(2+) could increase the yield of levan. The yield of levan reached about 100g/L with the enzyme under the optimum conditions., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Difructosan anhydrides III (DFA III) are usually obtained by inulin conversion with inulin fructotransferase (IFTase). IFTase liquor is difficult to store for a long time, which could greatly restrict its application and DFA III production. To meet DFA III scale-up preparation, this work was explored to research dry powder preparation of IFTase from Arthrobacter aurescens SK 8.001 fermented liquor by ultrafiltration concentration, ammonium sulfate precipitation and freeze drying. IFTase powder (10.2g) was obtained from IFTase precipitation (126.4 g) and its specific activity determined was 16.4 U/mg. Dry powder of IFTase could maintain over 120 days at different temperatures. These results showed that it is easy to scale up DFA III preparation for industrial capacity., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Difructosan anhydrides III (DFA III) preparation was usually obtained by inulin hydrolysis with inulin fructotransferase (IFTase). The fructofuranosidic linkages of inulin were the same as fructooligosaccharides (FOS), which was synthesized by sucrose with fructosyltransferase (FTase). FOS was mainly composed of 1-kestose (GF(2)), nystose (GF(3)) and fructofuranosylnystose (GF(4)), and nystose was observed to be the smallest substrate for IFTase to synthesize DFA III. So sucrose, much cheaper than inulin, was considered to produce DFA III by coupled FTase and IFTase reaction. DFA III yield was obtained about 100mg/g (DFA III weight/sucrose weight) through this method. The results demonstrated the high potential of the coupled enzyme reaction as a novel DFA III producing method., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

An ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor was used for the production of DFA III from enzymatic conversion of inulin. Compared with the traditional batch reactor, the productivity and purity of DFA III could be markedly enhanced and product inhibition was removed and IFTase could be continuously used for six runs in the UF membrane bioreactor. When the substrate concentration was 100 g/L, the concentration of DFA III was about 78.4 g/L, while the productivity and purity of DFA III could attain about 2385 and 92%, respectively., (Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Difructose anhydride (DFA) III is a natural and low-calorie sweetener. It stimulates the absorption of calcium and other minerals. Inulin fructotransferase (IFTase; EC 4.2.2.18), catalysing inulin hydrolysis to DFA III, is considered to be the most promising enzyme for the production of DFA III., Results: IFTase gene from Arthrobacter aurescens SK 8.001 was cloned and sequenced. Transformant with native IFTase signal peptide was a useful system for extracellular over-expression of IFTase, and its extracellular IFTase activity reached 81.0 U mL(-1) . This value was 4.1-fold of that obtained with A. aurescens SK 8.001 for IFTase production. The recombinant IFTase was purified to electrophoretical homogeneity and characterized. The enzyme showed maximum activity at pH 6.0 and 55 °C, and retained 81.3% of its initial activity after incubation at 60 °C for 4 h., Conclusion: IFTase gene from A. aurescens SK 8.001 was cloned, sequenced and over-expressed in E. coli. IFTase was reported for the first time to be over-expressed extracellularly. The recombinant IFTase was purified and characterized, and shown to be a good candidate for potential application in DFA III production., (Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Difructose anhydride III (DFA III), the smallest cyclic disaccharide, consists of two fructose residues. DFA III is a hydrolysate of inulin and is rarely found in nature. Industrial interest in DFA III as a low-calorie sugar substitute is increasing. The present review describes the properties and physiological functions of DFA III as well as its commercial importance. Focus is also given on the biological production of DFA III from inulin, which contains enzyme resources, inulase II properties, and the capacity for mass DFA III production. Inulase II as an industrial enzyme and its molecular evolution are discussed as well. The aim is to better understand commercial-scale DFA III production as a food product.

The soil bacterium Arthrobacter aurescens SK 8.001 produces inulin fructotransferase (IFTase), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) analysis demonstrated that the main product of the enzyme was difructose anhydride III (DFA III). The IFTase was purified by ethanol precipitation, DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow, and Superdex 200 10/300 GL gel chromatography. Its molecular mass was estimated to be 40 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 35 kDa by gel filtration. The enzyme showed maximum activity at pH 5.5 and 60-70 °C, and retained 86.5% of its initial activity after incubation at 60 °C for 4 h. Chemical modification results suggested that a tryptophan residue is essential to enzyme activity. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined as AEGAKASPLNSPNVYDVT. The kinetic values, Km and Vmax, were estimated to be 0.52 mM and 0.3 μmol/ml min. Nystose was observed to be the smallest substrate for the produced IFTase. This IFTase provides a promising way to utilize inulin for the production of DFA III., (Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)