Gene clone and characterization of a novel thermostable β-galactosidase with transglycosylation activity from Thermotoga naphthophila RUK-10

Purification and catalytic behavior optimization of lactose degrading β-galactosidase from Aspergillus nidulans

The β-galactosidase is an industrially valuable enzyme and used to hydrolyze the lactose into glucose and galactose. Considering the broad utility profile in food industry, β-galactosidase from Aspergillus nidulans was purified and characterized in term of its catalytic properties and stability. It displayed highest catalytic efficiency at 60 °C after 10.0 min within acidic pH environment (pH 5). The β-galactosidase exhibited 100% and 60% catalytic activity at 40 °C and 50 °C, respectively even after 120.0 min. The β-galactosidase activity was remained stable in the presence of Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Mg²⁺ ions. The activity was also retained in all investigated organic solvents except DMSO at various ionic concentrations. The surfactants Triton X-100 and SDS caused positive impact on the catalytic activity of enzyme at 1.0 mM concentration. However, the percent relative activity of β-galactosidase was significantly reduced when incubated with EDTA. The molecular mass of β-galactosidase estimated to be 95 kDa. The SEM micrographs of ONPG before and after β-galactosidase treatment indicated a remarkable difference in the morphology and proved the strong catalytic strength of enzyme. The β-galactosidase also demonstrated exceptional storage stability at - 80 °C, - 20 °C and 4 °C by retaining 86, 79 and 70% activity even after 100.0 days.

Synergistic effect of thermostable β-glucosidase TN0602 and cellulase on cellulose hydrolysis

Thermophilic enzymes have many potential benefits in industrial production with increased flexibility related to process configurations. A thermostable β-glucosidase from Thermotoga naphthophila RUK-10 was found to possess catalytic activity for cellobiose hydrolysis with a high potential for application in biomass conversion. The aggregation of cellobiose often has an inhibitory effect on cellobiohydrolases and endoglucanases during cellulose hydrolysis. The presence of β-glucosidases has a significant effect on reducing inhibition from hydrolytic products by hydrolysing the intermedia cellobiose. In this study, β-glucosidase TN0602 exhibited a high tolerance to glucose and high thermostability even after a long incubation (>72 h). Additionally, supplementing β-glucosidase TN0602 with microcrystalline cellulose, untreated corn straw and steam-exploded corn straw hydrolysis reactions containing a commercial cellulase led to an increased conversion rate in released glucose compared to hydrolysis without the addition of β-glucosidase (15.82, 30.62 and 35.21%, respectively); the increase of conversion rates were 61.86, 93.50 and 94.55%. It was thus shown that an obvious synergistic effect exists between TN0602 and cellulases for cellulose hydrolysis, suggesting its potential as a component of enzymatic cocktails for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to other chemicals.