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A novel cold-active and salt-tolerant α-amylase from marine bacterium Zunongwangia profunda: molecular cloning, heterologous expression and biochemical characterization

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Abstract

A novel gene (amyZ) encoding a cold-active and salt-tolerant α-amylase (AmyZ) was cloned from marine bacterium Zunongwangia profunda (MCCC 1A01486) and the protein was expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene has a length of 1785 bp and encodes an α-amylase of 594 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 66 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The enzyme belongs to glycoside hydrolase family 13 and shows the highest identity (25 %) to the characterized α-amylase TVA II from thermoactinomyces vulgaris R-47. The recombinant α-amylase showed the maximum activity at 35 °C and pH 7.0, and retained about 39 % activity at 0 °C. AmyZ displayed extreme salt tolerance, with the highest activity at 1.5 M NaCl and 93 % activity even at 4 M NaCl. The catalytic efficiency (k cat/K m) of AmyZ increased from 115.51 (with 0 M NaCl) to 143.30 ml mg−1 s−1 (with 1.5 M NaCl) at 35 °C and pH 7.0, using soluble starch as substrate. Besides, the thermostability of the enzyme was significantly improved in the presence of 1.5 M NaCl or 1 mM CaCl2. AmyZ is one of the very few α-amylases that tolerate both high salinity and low temperatures, making it a potential candidate for research in basic and applied biology.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. J1103510).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Yongjun Qin, Zongqing Huang & Ziduo Liu

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  1. Yongjun Qin
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  2. Zongqing Huang
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  3. Ziduo Liu
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Correspondence to Ziduo Liu.

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Communicated by F. Robb.

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Qin, Y., Huang, Z. & Liu, Z. A novel cold-active and salt-tolerant α-amylase from marine bacterium Zunongwangia profunda: molecular cloning, heterologous expression and biochemical characterization. Extremophiles 18, 271–281 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-013-0614-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-013-0614-9

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