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A novel, extremely alkaliphilic and cold-active esterase from Antarctic desert soil

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Abstract

A novel, cold-active and highly alkaliphilic esterase was isolated from an Antarctic desert soil metagenomic library by functional screening. The 1,044 bp gene sequence contained several conserved regions common to lipases/esterases, but lacked clear classification based on sequence analysis alone. Moderate (<40%) amino acid sequence similarity to known esterases was apparent (the closest neighbour being a hypothetical protein from Chitinophaga pinensis), despite phylogenetic distance to many of the lipolytic “families”. The enzyme functionally demonstrated activity towards shorter chain p-nitrophenyl esters with the optimal activity recorded towards p-nitrophenyl propionate (C3). The enzyme possessed an apparent Topt at 20°C and a pH optimum at pH 11. Esterases possessing such extreme alkaliphily are rare and so this enzyme represents an intriguing novel locus in protein sequence space. A metagenomic approach has been shown, in this case, to yield an enzyme with quite different sequential/structural properties to known lipases. It serves as an excellent candidate for analysis of the molecular mechanisms responsible for both cold and alkaline activity and novel structure–function relationships of esterase activity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the National Research Foundation of South Africa for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM), University of the Western Cape, Modderdam Road, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa

    Xiao Ping Hu, Caroline Heath, Mark Paul Taylor, Marla Tuffin & Don Cowan

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  1. Xiao Ping Hu
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  2. Caroline Heath
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  3. Mark Paul Taylor
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  4. Marla Tuffin
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  5. Don Cowan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Don Cowan.

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Communicated by F. Robb.

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Hu, X.P., Heath, C., Taylor, M.P. et al. A novel, extremely alkaliphilic and cold-active esterase from Antarctic desert soil. Extremophiles 16, 79–86 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-011-0407-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-011-0407-y

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