Enrique R Pérez

A thermostable exo-β-fructosidase immobilised through rational design

Thermotoga maritima exo-β-fructosidase (BfrA) secreted by a recombinant Pichia pastoris strain was optimally immobilised on Glyoxyl-Sepharose CL 4B using the Rational Design of Immobilised Derivatives (RDID) strategy. Covalent attachment of the N-glycosylated BfrA onto the activated support at pH 10 allowed total recovery of the loaded enzyme and its activity. The immobilisation process caused no variation in the catalytic properties of the enzyme and allowed further enhancement of the thermal stability. Complete inversion of cane sugar (2.04 M) in a batch stirred tank reactor at 60 °C was achieved with a productivity of 22.2 g of substrate hydrolysed/gram of biocatalyst/hour. Half-life of the immobilised enzyme of 5 days at 60 °C was determined in a continuously operated fixed-bed column reactor. Our results promote the applicability of the BfrA-immobilised biocatalyst for the complete hydrolysis of concentrated sucrose solutions under industrial conditions, especially at a high reaction temperature.

Kinetics of Sucrose Hydrolysis by Immobilized Recombinant Pichia pastoris Cells in a Batch reactors

Sucrose hydrolysis was carried out in a constant-volume batch reactor, using recombinant Pichia pastoris BfrA4X whole cells expressing Thermotoga maritima invertase, entrapped in calcium alginate beads. The kinetics of the enzymatic hydrolysis of sucrose by the biocatalyst was examined at substrate concentrations ranging between 0.03 M and 2.04 M. The reaction rate increases until 0.31 M after which the reaction velocity was constant until 1.16 M, above this concentration, the reaction rate decreases with increasing sucrose concentration. The experimental data obtained with two weight of the biocatalyst were incorporated into two kinetic models to predict the reaction time needed for sucrose hydrolysis. One model was applied for sucrose concentrations bellow 1.16 M while a second one could be used at inhibitory range between 1.46 and 2.04 M with a k value as function of initial sucrose concentration and biocatalyst weight.

Fructooligosaccharides production by Schedonorus arundinaceus sucrose:sucrose 1-fructosyltransferase constitutively expressed to high levels in Pichia pastoris

The non-saccharolytic yeast Pichia pastoris was engineered to express constitutively the mature region of sucrose:sucrose 1-fructosyltransferase (1-SST, EC 2.4.1.99) from Tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus). The increase of the transgene dosage from one to nine copies enhanced 7.9-fold the recombinant enzyme (Sa1-SSTrec) yield without causing cell toxicity. Secretion driven by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae α-factor signal peptide resulted in periplasmic retention (38%) and extracellular release (62%) of Sa1-SSTrec to an overall activity of 102.1 U/ml when biomass reached (106 g/l, dry weight) in fed-batch fermentation using cane sugar for cell growth. The volumetric productivity of the nine-copy clone PGFT6x-308 at the end of fermentation (72 h) was 1422.2 U/l/h. Sa1-SSTrec purified from the culture supernatant was a monomeric glycoprotein optimally active at pH 5.0-6.0 and 45-50 °C. The removal of N-linked oligosaccharides by Endo Hf treatment decreased the enzyme stability but had no effect on the substrate and product specificities. Sa1-SSTrec converted sucrose (600 g/l) into 1-kestose (GF2) and nystose (GF3) in a ratio 9:1 with their sum representing 55-60% (w/w) of the total carbohydrates in the reaction mixture. Variations in the sucrose (100-800 g/l) or enzyme (1.5-15 units per gram of substrate) concentrations kept unaltered the product profile. Sa1-SSTrec is an attractive candidate enzyme for the industrial production of short-chain fructooligosaccharides, most particularly 1-kestose.