Abstract
A novel endo-type β-agarase gene, agaA, was cloned from a newly isolated marine bacterium, Agarivorans sp. LQ48. It encodes a protein of 457 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 51.2 kDa. The deduced protein contains a typical N-terminal signal peptide of 25 amino acid residues, followed by a catalytic module, which is homologous to that of glycoside hydrolase family 16. A sequence similar to a carbohydrate-binding module is found in the C-terminal region of the enzyme. The overall amino acid sequence shares a highest identity of 73% with the sequence of beta-agarase AgaB from Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain CY24. The mature agarase was highly expressed extracellularly in Escherichia coli. At pH 7.0 and 40°C, the purified recombinant AgaA had a high specific activity of 349.3 μmol min−1 mg−1, a K m of 3.9 mg ml−1, and a V max of 909.1 μmol min−1 mg−1 for agarose. The recombinant enzyme hydrolyzed the β-1,4-glycosidic linkages of agarose, yielding neoagarotetraose and neoagarohexaose as the main products. Enzyme activity analysis revealed that the optimal temperature and pH of the recombinant AgaA were 40°C and 7.0, respectively. Notably, AgaA still retained more than 95% activity after incubation at pH 3.0–11.0 for 1 h, a characteristic much different from other agarases reported. It is the first agarase identified to have so wide a pH range stability. This favorable property could make AgaA to be attractive to the food, cosmetic, and medical industrial applications.
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This work was supported by grant no. 200805050 from the Marine Scientific Research Special Foundation for Public Sector Program.
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Long, M., Yu, Z. & Xu, X. A Novel β-Agarase with High pH Stability from Marine Agarivorans sp. LQ48. Mar Biotechnol 12, 62–69 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9200-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9200-7