Background In recent years, proteases have arisen as standard biocatalysts in many industrial processes in different fields, such as pharmaceutical, medicine, detergent manufacturing and food science. Among them, papain is undoubtedly one of the most frequently studied and widely used proteases in the food industry around the world. However, the latest advances in recombinant papain expression systems, genetically engineered biocatalysts, new purification and isolation strategies, and enzymatic immobilization will enhance the development of new applications of papain, as well as improve and optimize classical applications. Scope and approach This review addresses not only the latest advances in classic applications, such as meat tenderization and protein hydrolysates, but also the most innovative applications in different industries such as food, animal feed, bioactive peptides production, water treatment, baking and brewing, among many others. In addition, papain is a perfect example of a successful industrial enzyme that covers all the steps of the biocatalytic cycle that are necessary for the industrial implementation of any biocatalyst. This cycle includes the production and extraction of the enzyme concerned (from natural or recombinant sources), functional and structural characterization, genetic improvement, immobilization and, finally, industrial application. This review describes the complete biocatalytic cycle of papain. Key findings and conclusions Papain is clearly a case of industrial and commercial success over the last 40 years. The key to this success has been continual biotechnological and process engineering innovation, which has opened up a new range of possibilities for this exciting biocatalyst. However, further efforts are needed in protein engineering and characterization of new mutants to reach the full potential of this enzyme.

The phaZ ( Sex ) gene encoding poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) depolymerase from Streptomyces exfoliatus has been successfully cloned and expressed in Rhodococcus sp. T104 for the first time. Likewise, the recombinant enzyme was efficiently produced as an extracellular active form and purified to homogeneity by two hydrophobic chromatographic steps. MALDI-TOF analysis showed that the native enzyme is a monomer. Circular dichroism studies have revealed a secondary structure showing 25.6% α-helix, 21.4% β-sheet, 17.1% β-turns, and 35.2% random coil, with a midpoint transition temperature (T (m)) of 55.8 °C. Magnesium and calcium ions enhanced the enzyme activity, whereas manganese inhibited it. EDTA moderately decreased the activity, and the enzyme was completely deactivated at 3 M NaCl. Chemical modification studies indicated the presence of the catalytic triad serine-histidine-carboxylic acid in the active site. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of PHB products of enzymatic hydrolysis showed monomers and dimers of 3-hydroxybutyric acid, demonstrating that PHB depolymerase is an exo-hydrolase. Addition of methyl-β-cyclodextrin simultaneously increased the activity as well as preserved the enzyme during lyophilization. Finally, thermoinactivation studies showed that the enzyme is highly stable at 40 °C. All these features support the potential industrial application of this recombinant enzyme in the production of (R)-3-hydroxyalkanoic acid derivatives as well as in the degradation of bioplastics.

Traditionally, enzymatic synthesis of nucleoside-5'-monophosphates (5'-NMPs) using low water-soluble purine bases has been described as less efficient due to their low solubility in aqueous media. The use of enzymes from extremophiles, such as thermophiles or alkaliphiles, offers the potential to increase solubilisation of these bases by employing high temperatures or alkaline pH. This study describes the cloning, expression and purification of hypoxanthine-guanine-xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase from Thermus thermophilus (TtHGXPRT). Biochemical characterization indicates TtHGXPRT as a homotetramer with excellent activity and stability across a broad range of temperatures (50-90°C) and ionic strengths (0-500mMNaCl), but it also reveals an unusually high activity and stability under alkaline conditions (pH range 8-11). In order to explore the potential of TtHGXPRT as an industrial biocatalyst, enzymatic production of several dietary 5'-NMPs, such as 5'-GMP and 5'-IMP, was carried out at high concentrations of guanine and hypoxanthine.

Chitinolytic enzymes are capable to catalyze the chitin hydrolysis. Due to their biomedical and biotechnological applications, nowadays chitinolytic enzymes have attracted worldwide attention. Chitinolytic enzymes have provided numerous useful materials in many different industries, such as food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, or biomedical industry. Marine enzymes are commonly employed in industry because they display better operational properties than animal, plant, or bacterial homologs. In this mini-review, we want to describe marine chitinolytic enzymes as versatile enzymes in different biotechnological fields. In this regard, interesting comments about their biological role, reaction mechanism, production, functional characterization, immobilization, and biotechnological application are shown in this work.

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Aculeacin A acylase from Actinoplanes utahensis produced by Streptomyces lividans revealed acylase activities that are able to hydrolyze penicillin V and several natural aliphatic penicillins. Penicillin K was the best substrate, showing a catalytic efficiency of 34.79 mM ؊1 s ؊1 . Furthermore, aculeacin A acylase was highly thermostable, with a midpoint transition temperature of 81.5°C.

Many Gram-negative bacteria produce N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), quorum sensing (QS) molecules that can be enzymatically inactivated by quorum quenching (QQ) processes; this approach is considered an emerging antimicrobial alternative. In this study, kinetic parameters of several AHLs hydrolyzed by penicillin acylase from Streptomyces lavendulae (SlPA) and aculeacin A acylase from Actinoplanes utahensis (AuAAC) have been determined. Both enzymes catalyze efficiently the amide bond hydrolysis in AHLs with different acyl chain moieties (with or without 3-oxo modification) and exhibit a clear preference for AHLs with long acyl chains (C12-HSL > C14-HSL > C10-HSL > C8-HSL for SlPA, whereas C14-HSL > C12-HSL > C10-HSL > C8-HSL for AuAAC). Involvement of SlPA and AuAAC in QQ processes was demonstrated by Chromobacterium violaceum CV026-based bioassays and inhibition of biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a process controlled by QS molecules, suggesting the application of these multifunctional enzymes as quorum quenching agents, this being the first time that quorum quenching activity was shown by an aculeacin A acylase. In addition, a phylogenetic study suggests that SlPA and AuAAC could be part of a new family of actinomycete acylases, with a preference for substrates with long aliphatic acyl chains, and likely involved in QQ processes.

bThe pva gene from Streptomyces lavendulae ATCC 13664, encoding a novel penicillin V acylase (SlPVA), has been isolated and characterized. The gene encodes an inactive precursor protein containing a secretion signal peptide that is activated by two internal autoproteolytic cleavages that release a 25-amino-acid linker peptide and two large domains of 18.79 kDa (␣-subunit) and 60.09 kDa (␤-subunit). Based on sequence alignments and the three-dimensional model of SlPVA, the enzyme contains a hydrophobic pocket involved in catalytic activity, including Ser␤1, His␤23, Val␤70, and Asn␤272, which were confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis studies. The heterologous expression of pva in S. lividans led to the production of an extracellularly homogeneous heterodimeric enzyme at a 5-fold higher concentration (959 IU/liter) than in the original host and in a considerably shorter time. According to the catalytic properties of SlPVA, the enzyme must be classified as a new member of the Ntn-hydrolase superfamily, which belongs to a novel subfamily of acylases that recognize substrates with long hydrophobic acyl chains and have biotechnological applications in semisynthetic antifungal production. P enicillin acylase (PA; penicillin amidohydrolase; EC 3.5.1.11) catalyzes the hydrolysis of penicillins into 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) and the corresponding organic acid. The classification of PAs is based on their substrate specificity, i.e., penicillin G acylases (PGA) or penicillin V acylases (PVA), that preferentially cleave phenylacetyl penicillin (penicillin G [PG]) or phenoxymethyl penicillin (penicillin V [PV]), respectively (1, 2). The relevance of these enzymes lies in the fact that semisynthetic penicillins currently are industrially produced by the enzymatic hydrolysis of PG or PV.PVA is widely distributed among several microorganisms, being intra-and extracellularly produced (2-6). PVA from Streptomyces lavendulae ATCC 13664 (SlPVA) is an extracellular enzyme which has been exhaustively characterized (7-10) and immobilized (11, 12) due to its ability to hydrolyze very efficiently PV and other natural aliphatic penicillins that contaminate PV and usually reduce 6-APA yield at the end of the process. The broad substrate specificity of SlPVA allows this enzyme to hydrolyze several penicillins with aliphatic acyl chains, e.g., 3-hexenoyl-penicillin (penicillin F [PF]), hexanoyl-penicillin (penicillin dihydro-F [PdF]), and octanoyl-penicillin (penicillin K [PK]), as the catalytic constant for PK was even higher than that for PV (13). These observations indicate SlPVA is an effective industrial enzyme, provided that it can be obtained in large amounts.Here, we describe the heterologous overproduction of SlPVA in Streptomyces lividans and the characterization of its catalytic residues by site-directed mutagenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials.Penicillin V (potassium salt), penicillin G (potassium salt), phenoxyacetic acid, phenylacetic acid, aculeacin A, and fluorescamine were from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO). 6-AP...