Immobilization of Fungal β-Glucosidase on Silica Gel and Kaolin Carriers

β-Glucosidase is a key enzyme in the hydrolysis of cellulose for producing feedstock glucose for various industrial processes. Reuse of enzyme through immobilization can significantly improve the economic characteristics of the process. Immobilization of the fungal β-glucosidase by covalent binding and physical adsorption on silica gel and kaolin was conducted for consequent application of these procedures in large-scale industrial processes. Different immobilization parameters (incubation time, ionic strength, pH, enzyme/support ratio, glutaric aldehyde concentration, etc.) were evaluated for their effect on the thermal stability of the immobilized enzyme. It was shown that the immobilized enzyme activity is stable at 50 °C over 8 days. It has also been shown that in the case of immobilization on kaolin, approximately 95% of the initial enzyme was immobilized onto support, and loss of activity was not observed. However, covalent binding of the enzyme to silica gel brings significant loss of enzyme activity, and only 35% of activity was preserved. In the case of physical adsorption on kaolin, gradual desorption of enzyme takes place. To prevent this process, we have carried out chemical modification of the protein. As a result, after repeated washings, enzyme desorption from kaolin has been reduced from 75 to 20–25% loss.     

Screening and Identification of a Fungal β-Glucosidase and the Enzymatic Synthesis of Gentiooligosaccharide

After screening with 0.1% esculoside and 0.03% FeCl₃, we identified from rotten wood a fungal isolate HML0366 that produces high amount of β-glucosidase. Phenotypic and rDNA internal transcribed spacer sequence analyses indicated that the isolate belongs to Aspergillus oryzae. The β-glucosidase produced by HML0366 had an activity of 128 U/g. high performance liquid chromatography analysis also demonstrated a high transglycosylation activity of the crude enzyme. The β-glucosidase was stable between pH 4–10 at 60 °C. A gentiobiose yield of 30.86 g/L was achieved within 72 h of the enzymatic reaction at pH 5 and 55 °C using 50% glucose as the substrate. For the first time, we report here the isolation of an A. oryzae strain producing β-glucosidase with high hydrolytic activities. The crude enzyme has a high transglycosylation activity, which enables the enzymatic synthesis of gentiooligosaccharides.     

Processing of β-Glucosidase–Silk Fibroin Nanoparticle Bioconjugates and Their Characteristics

Silk fibroin derived from Bombyx mori is a biomacromolecular protein with excellent biocompatibility. The aim of this work was to develop silk fibroin nanoparticles (SFNs) derived from the fibrous protein, which is a novel vector for enzyme modification in food processing. Silk fibroin was dissolved in highly concentrated CaCl₂ and subjected to lengthy desalting in water. The resulting liquid silk, which contained water-soluble polypeptides with molecular mass ranging from 10 to 200 kDa, and β-glucosidase were added rapidly into acetone. The β-glucosidase molecules were embedded into silk fibroin nanoparticles, forming β-glucosidase–silk fibroin nanoparticles (βG–SFNs) with a diameter of 50–150 nm. The enzyme activity of the βG–SFN bioconjugates was determined with p-nitrophenyl-β-d-glucoside as the substrate, and the optimum conditions for the preparation of βG–SFNs were investigated. The enzyme activity recovery of βG–SFNs was 59.2 % compared to the free enzyme (specific activity was 1 U mg^-1). The kinetic parameters of the βG–SFNs and the free β-glucosidase were the same. The βG–SFNs had good operational stability and could be used repeatedly. These results confirmed that silk protein nanoparticles were good carriers as bioconjugates for the modification of enzymes with potential value for research and development. The method used in this study has potential applications in food processing and the production of flavour agents.     

Gene Cloning and Characterization of a Novel Salt-Tolerant and Glucose-Enhanced β-Glucosidase from a Marine Streptomycete

The gene BglNH encoding a β-glucosidase was cloned from a marine streptomycete. Sequence analysis revealed that BglNH encoded a 456-aa peptide with a calculated mass of 51 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of BglNH showed the highest identities of 61 % with known β-glucosidases and contained a catalytic domain which belonged to the glycoside hydrolase family 1. The gene BglNH was expressed in Escherichia coli and the recombinant enzyme (r-BglNH) was purified. The optimum pH and temperature of r-BglNH were pH?6.0 and 45 °C, respectively. The r-BglNH displayed the typical salt-tolerant and glucose-enhanced characteristics. Its activity was remarkably enhanced in the presence of 0.5 M NaCl (rose more than 1.6-fold) and 0.1 M glucose (rose more than 1.4-fold). Moreover, r-BglNH displayed good pH stability and metal tolerance. It remained stable after incubating with buffers from pH?4.0 to 10.0, and most metal ions had no significant inhibition on its activity. These properties indicate that r-BglNH is an ideal candidate for further research and industrial applications.     

Expression and Displaying of β-Glucosidase from Streptomyces Coelicolor A3 in Escherichia coli

Two genes encoding β-glucosidase from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). Two recombinant enzymes (SC1059 and SC7558) were purified and characterized. The molecular mass of the purified SC1059 and SC7558 as determined by SDS-PAGE agrees with the calculated values (51.0 and 52.2 kDa, respectively). Optimal temperature and pH for the two enzymes were both at 35 °C and 6.0. SC7558 exhibited to be much more active than SC1059 under optimal conditions, and it was recombined with ice nucleation protein which could anchor on the surface of the cell. The optimal temperature and pH of the recombinant cells were 55 °C and 8.0, respectively. The resultant cells were to be used as material for immobilized β-glucosidase, which is convenient to catalyze substrates in various complicated conditions.     

Cloning and Characterization of Two β-Glucosidase/Xylosidase Enzymes from Yak Rumen Metagenome

Two β-glucosidase/xylosidase genes, Rubg3A and Rubg3B, were cloned from yak rumen uncultured microorganisms by metagenome method and function-based screening. Recombinant RuBG3A and RuBG3B purified from Escherichia coli were characterized for enzymatic properties, and they exhibited activity against 4-nitrophenyl-β-d-glucopyranoside and 4-nitrophenyl-β-d-xylopyranoside, suggesting bifunctional β-glucosidase/xylosidase activity. Chromatography analysis showed that they could effectively hydrolyze cellooligosaccharide substrates, indicating the facilitation in saccharification of cellulose. RuBG3A and RuBG3B can also increase the reducing sugar released in xylan hydrolysis to 218% and 169%, respectively, through synergism with xylanase, suggesting their application in hemicellulose saccharification. Molecular modeling and substrate docking showed that there should be one active center responsible for the bifunctional activity in each enzyme, since the active site pocket is substantially wide to allow the entry of both β-glucosidic or β-xylosidic substrates, which elucidated the structure–function relationship in substrate specificities. Therefore, the enzymatic properties, the participation in hydrolysis of cellooligosaccharides, and the synergism with xylanase make RuBG3A and RuBG3B very interesting candidates for saccharification of both cellulose and hemicellulose.     

Purification and Characterization of β-Glucosidase from a Newly Isolated Strain Tolypocladium cylindrosporum Syzx4

A higher β-glucosidase-producing strain was isolated and identified as Tolypocladium cylindrosporum syzx4 based on its morphology and internal transcribed spacer(ITS) rDNA gene sequence.The present study is to ferment,purify and characterize a β-glucosidase from T.cylindrosporum gams.The enzyme was purified to homogeneity by sulfate precipitataion,diethylaminoethyl cellulose anion exchange chromatography and Sephadex G-100 gel filtration with a 9.47-fold increase in specific activity and a recovery of 12.27...     

Hydrolysis of Ammonia-pretreated Sugar Cane Bagasse with Cellulase, β-Glucosidase, and Hemicellulase Preparations

Sugar cane bagasse consists of hemicellulose (24%) and cellulose (38%), and bioconversion of both fractions to ethanol should be considered for a viable process. We have evaluated the hydrolysis of pretreated bagasse with combinations of cellulase, β-glucosidase, and hemicellulase. Ground bagasse was pretreated either by the AFEX process (2NH₃: 1 biomass, 100 °C, 30 min) or with NH₄OH (0.5 g NH₄OH of a 28% [v/v] per gram dry biomass; 160 °C, 60 min), and composition analysis showed that the glucan and xylan fractions remained largely intact. The enzyme activities of four commercial xylanase preparations and supernatants of four laboratory-grown fungi were determined and evaluated for their ability to boost xylan hydrolysis when added to cellulase and β-glucosidase (10 filter paper units [FPU]: 20 cellobiase units [CBU]/g glucan). At 1% glucan loading, the commercial enzyme preparations (added at 10% or 50% levels of total protein in the enzyme preparations) boosted xylan and glucan hydrolysis in both pretreated bagasse samples. Xylanase addition at 10% protein level also improved hydrolysis of xylan and glucan fractions up to 10% glucan loading (28% solids loading). Significant xylanase activity in enzyme cocktails appears to be required for improving hydrolysis of both glucan and xylan fractions of ammonia pretreated sugar cane bagasse.     

Production, Purification, and Characterization of a β-Glucosidase of Penicillium funiculosum NCL1

Penicillium funiculosum NCL1, a filamentous fungus, produced significantly higher levels of ??-glucosidase. The effect of initial pH, incubation temperature, and different carbon sources on extracellular ??-glucosidase production was studied in submerged fermentation. At 30?°C with initial pH 5.0, enzyme production was increased by 48-fold upon induction with paper mill waste, as compared to commercial cellulose powder. In zymogram analysis, four isoforms of ??-glucosidases were observed with wheat bran whereas a minimum of one isoform was observed with other carbon sources. A major ??-glucosidase (Bgl3A) with the apparent molecular weight of ~120?kDa, induced by paper mill waste, was purified 19-fold to homogeneity, with a specific activity of 1,796 U/mg. Bgl3A was a monomeric glycoprotein with 29% of neutral carbohydrate content. It showed optimum activity at pH 4.0 and 5.0, optimum temperature at 60?°C, and exhibited a half-life of 1?h at 60?°C. K _m of Bgl3A was found to be 0.057?mM with p-nitrophenyl ??-d-glucoside and V _max was 1,920 U/mg. The purified enzyme exhibited glucose tolerance with a K _i of 1.5?mM. Bgl3A readily hydrolyzed glucosides with ??-linkage. Bgl3A activity was enhanced (156%) by Zn²⁺ and was not affected by other metal cations and reagents. The supplementation of Bgl3A (5 U/mg) with Trichoderma reesei cellulase complex (5 FPU/mg) resulted in about 70% of enhanced glucose production, which emphasizes the industrial importance of Bgl3A.     

Molecular Cloning and Expression of a Novel β-Glucosidase Gene from Phialophora sp. G5

A novel β-glucosidase gene, bgl1G5, was cloned from Phialophora sp. G5 and successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris. Sequence analysis indicated that the gene consists of a 1,431-bp open reading frame encoding a protein of 476 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of bgl1G5 showed a high identity of 85 % with a characterized β-glucosidase from Humicola grisea of glycoside hydrolase family 1. Compared with other fungal counterparts, Bgl1G5 showed similar optimal activity at pH 6.0 and 50 °C and was stable at pH 5.0–9.0. Moreover, Bgl1G5 exhibited good thermostability at 50 °C (6 h half-life) and higher specific activity (54.9 U mg^–1). The K _m and V _max values towards p-nitrophenyl β-d-glucopyranoside (pNPG) were 0.33 mM and 103.1 μmol?min^–1?mg^–1, respectively. The substrate specificity assay showed that Bgl1G5 was highly active against pNPG, weak on p-nitrophenyl β-d-cellobioside (pNPC) and p-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside (ONPG), and had no activity on cellobiose. This result indicated Bgl1G5 was a typical aryl β-glucosidase.     

High Production of β-Glucosidase by Aspergillus niger on Corncob

Using low-cost raw material is an effective approach for reducing the cost of cellulolytic enzymes. The farmland waste corncob was found in this study to be the best carbon source for the production of β-glucosidase by Aspergillus niger. The maximum yield of β-glucosidase activity was 48.7 IU ml(-1) by using 50 g?l(-1) of corncob powder as the substrate. It was found that the water-soluble components of the corncob could increase β-glucosidase production significantly only when mixed with Avicel or wheat bran. The soluble components could not enhance the biomass and β-glucosidase production when used alone. On the other hand, the water-insoluble components of the corncob still produced high level of β-glucosidase (30 IU ml(-1)) although lower than that of using whole corncob. The results suggested that the water-insoluble components of corncob were beneficial for β-glucosidase production. It was further demonstrated that the xylan in the water-insoluble parts of corncob was the important factor in producing β-glucosidase by A. niger.     

Covalent Immobilization of β-Glucosidase on Magnetic Particles for Lignocellulose Hydrolysis

β-Glucosidase hydrolyzes cellobiose to glucose and is an important enzyme in the consortium used for hydrolysis of cellulosic and lignocellulosic feedstocks. In the present work, β-glucosidase was covalently immobilized on non-porous magnetic particles to enable re-use of the enzyme. It was found that particles activated with cyanuric chloride and polyglutaraldehyde gave the highest bead-related immobilized enzyme activity when tested with p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (104.7 and 82.2 U/g particles, respectively). Furthermore, the purified β-glucosidase preparation from Megazyme gave higher bead-related enzyme activities compared to Novozym 188 (79.0 and 9.8 U/g particles, respectively). A significant improvement in thermal stability was observed for immobilized enzyme compared to free enzyme; after 5 h (at 65 °C), 36 % of activity remained for the former, while there was no activity in the latter. The performance and recyclability of immobilized β-glucosidase on more complex substrate (pretreated spruce) was also studied. It was shown that adding immobilized β-glucosidase (16 U/g dry matter) to free cellulases (8 FPU/g dry matter) increased the hydrolysis yield of pretreated spruce from ca. 44 % to ca. 65 %. In addition, it was possible to re-use the immobilized β-glucosidase in the spruce and retain activity for at least four cycles. The immobilized enzyme thus shows promise for lignocellulose hydrolysis.     

Response Surface Methodology Based Optimization of β-Glucosidase Production from Pichia pastoris

The thermotolerant yeast Pichia etchellsii produces multiple cell bound β-glucosidases that can be used for synthesis of important alkyl- and aryl-glucosides. Present work focuses on enhancement of β-glucosidase I (BGLI) production in Pichia pastoris. In the first step, one-factor-at-a-time experimentation was used to investigate the effect of aeration, antifoam addition, casamino acid addition, medium pH, methanol concentration, and mixed feed components on BGLI production. Among these, initial medium pH, methanol concentration, and mixed feed in the induction phase were found to affect BGLI production. A 3.3-fold improvement in β-glucosidase expression was obtained at pH 7.5 as compared to pH 6.0 on induction with 1 % methanol. Addition of sorbitol, a non-repressing substrate, led to further enhancement in β-glucosidase production by 1.4-fold at pH 7.5. These factors were optimized with response surface methodology using Box–Behnken design. Empirical model obtained was used to define the optimum “operating space” for fermentation which was a pH of 7.5, methanol concentration of 1.29 %, and sorbitol concentration of 1.28 %. Interaction of pH and sorbitol had maximum effect leading to the production of 4,400 IU/L. The conditions were validated in a 3-L bioreactor with accumulation of 88 g/L biomass and 2,560 IU/L β-glucosidase activity.     

Antioxidant and α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Compounds of Centella Asiatica

Centella asiatica, as known as Pegagan was previously reported to have anti-hyperglycemic effects in animal diabetic model rats. However, its α-glucosidase activity in vitro assay not yet reported. Our goal in this study is to isolate and identify active compounds as α-glucosidase inhibitor and antioxidant from aqueous ethanol 70% (v/v) extract of C. asiatica. The extract was partitioned by n-hexane, EtOAc, and n-butanol sequentially. Among the fractions tested, EtOAc fraction was showed the highest antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities with an IC₅₀ values of 45.42 and 73.17 μg/mL, respectively. The antioxidant activity was conducted by determination of DPPH radical scavenging activity, whereas α-glucosidase inhibitory activity was determined against yeast α-glucosidase. Furthermore, isolation of the ethyl acetate extract yielded two active compounds, which were identified as kaempferol (1) and quercetin (2). Both of the compounds showed good yeast α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values of 16.50 and 21.61 μg/mL, respectively. In addition those compounds also could scavenge DPPH radical activity with IC₅₀ values of 9.64 and 11.97 μg/mL, respectively. Due to its ability in reducing α-glucosidase activity and scavenging free radical activity, the C. asiatica appears to be a potential as a good resource for future development of antioxidant and antidiabetic drug.     

Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Modulates the Production of β-Glucosidase and Protects its Functional State Under Alcoholic Condition in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In the present investigation, we have investigated the effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONP) on the production of β-glucosidase (BGL) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae under various conditions. ZnONP was synthesized chemically and characterized using various standard techniques. The results revealed that yeast culture administered with 5 mM ZnONP enhanced the intracellular BGL activity up to 28 % compared to control with simultaneous growth of cells. However, at a higher dose of ZnONP (10 and 15 mM), both the activity of the enzyme and yeast growth was dropped. When yeast cells were grown in alcoholic medium (2, 5, and 10 % ethanol), the growth was found inhibited with substantial reduction of intracellular BGL activity. Interestingly, the administration of ZnONP further inhibited the cell growth, however, suppressed the alcoholic effect on enzyme activity. Moreover, under the same condition, ZnONP enhanced the biological activity of the enzyme in cells, indicated a higher yield of BGL production. When the mechanism of ZnONP-mediated cell growth inhibition was investigated, N-acetylcysteine (NAC)-based cell growth study proved that reactive oxygen species (ROS) was not the sole cell death mechanism induced by ZnONP, indicating a second mechanism of cell death. Our findings provide a new insight on the potential application of ZnONP as an external supplement to enhance the active production of BGL like important industrial enzyme in S. cerevisiae in both normal and alcohol stressed condition as well as to produce baker’s yeast in higher amount.     

The Effect of a Covalent and a Noncovalent Small-Molecule Inhibitor on the Structure of Abg β-Glucosidase in the Gas-Phase

The effects of binding two small-molecule inhibitors to Agrobacterium sp. strain ATCC 21400 (Abg) β-glucosidase on the conformations and stability of gas-phase ions of Abg have been investigated. Biotin-iminosugar conjugate (BIC) binds noncovalently to Abg while 2,4-dinitro-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-β-d-glucopyranoside (2FG-DNP) binds covalently with loss of DNP. In solution, Abg is a dimer. Mass spectra show predominantly dimer ions, provided care is taken to avoid dissociation of dimers in solution and dimer ions in the ion sampling interface. When excess inhibitor, either covalent or noncovalent, is added to solutions of Abg, mass spectra show peaks almost entirely from 2:2 inhibitor-enzyme dimer complexes. Tandem mass spectrometry experiments show similar dissociation channels for the apo-enzyme and 2FG-enzyme dimers. The +21 dimer produces +10 and +11 monomers. The internal energy required to dissociate the +21 2FG-enzyme to its monomers (767?±?30 eV) is about 36 eV higher than that for the apo-enzyme dimer (731?±?6 eV), reflecting the stabilization of the free enzyme dimer by the 2FG inhibitor. The primary dissociation channels for the noncovalent BIC-enzyme dimer are loss of neutral and charged BIC. The internal energy required to induce loss of BIC is 482?±?8 eV, considerably less than that required to dissociate the dimers. For a given charge state, ions of the covalent and noncovalent complexes have about 15 % and 25 % lower cross sections, respectively, compared with the apo-enzyme. Thus, binding the inhibitors causes the gas-phase protein to adopt more compact conformations. Noncovalent binding surprisingly produces the greatest change in protein ion conformation, despite the weaker inhibitor binding.

Isolation and Identification of α-Glucosidase and Protein Glycation Inhibitors from Stereospermum colais

Stereospermum colais (family Bignoniaceae) is a well-known pharmacologically potent medicinal plant reported in traditional systems of medicine. Phytochemical investigation of the roots of S. colais resulted in the isolation of seven compounds, and the metabolites were screened for its α-glucosidase enzyme inhibition and anti-glycation property. The compounds identified were β-sitosterol (1), 2-(4′-hydroxyphenyl) ethyl undecanoate (2), 2-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl pentadecanoate (3), 5α-ergosta-7,22-dien-3β-ol (4), ursolic acid (5), lapachol (6), and pinoresinol (7). Ursolic acid, lapachol, and pinoresinol possessed IC₅₀ values of 119.01, 130.29, and 125.62 nM, respectively, compared to standard ascorbic acid with an IC₅₀ value of 201.01 nM. The other compounds failed to show the activity. Results of the current study showcased the possible exploration of this medicinal plant for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in line with the development of phytopharmaceutical industry.     

Preparation of β-fluoro- and β,β-difluoro-histidinols

Nucleophilic attack of azide on 2-bromo-3-fluoro-3-(1-trityl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-propan-1-ol (1a) in aprotic solvent occurs on the 2-position to give the 2-azido derivative (2a). Reduction of azide and removal of the trityl group produces β-fluorohistidinol (6a). Elimination of HBr from 1a followed by “FBr” addition to the resulting double bond gives 2-bromo-3,3-difluoro-3-(1-trityl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-propan-1-ol (1b). Nucleophilic attack of azide followed by reduction and removal of the trityl group, as for the preparation of 6a, gives β,β-difluorohistidinol (6b). Initial attempts, under a variety of conditions, to oxidize the fluorinated histidinol precursors to carboxylic acids have not been successful.     

Synthesis and biological investigation of the β-thiolactone and β-lactam analogs of tetrahydrolipstatin

The synthesis of β-thiolactone and β-lactam analogs of tetrahydrolipstatin is described from a common late-stage β-lactone derivative. These analogs, and a cis-disubstituted β-lactone analog of tetrahydrolipstatin, were screened for activity against porcine pancreatic lipase and for inhibition of cell growth of a panel of four human cancer lines.