Enzymes found in nature have been exploited in industry due to their inherent catalytic properties in complex chemical processes under mild experimental and environmental conditions. The desired industrial goal is often difficult to achieve using the native form of the enzyme. Recent developments in protein engineering have revolutionized the development of commercially available enzymes into better industrial catalysts. Protein engineering aims at modifying the sequence of a protein, and hence its structure, to create enzymes with improved functional properties such as stability, specific activity, inhibition by reaction products, and selectivity towards non-natural substrates. Soluble enzymes are often immobilized onto solid insoluble supports to be reused in continuous processes and to facilitate the economical recovery of the enzyme after the reaction without any significant loss to its biochemical properties. Immobilization confers considerable stability towards temperature variations and organic solvents. Multipoint and multisubunit covalent attachments of enzymes on appropriately functionalized supports via linkers provide rigidity to the immobilized enzyme structure, ultimately resulting in improved enzyme stability. Protein engineering and immobilization techniques are sequential and compatible approaches for the improvement of enzyme properties. The present review highlights and summarizes various studies that have aimed to improve the biochemical properties of industrially significant enzymes.

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are copper‐containing enzymes capable of oxidizing crystalline cellulose which have large practical application in the process of refining biomass. The catalytic mechanism of LPMOs still remains debated despite several proposed reaction mechanisms. Here, we report a long‐lived intermediate (t1/2=6–8 minutes) observed in an LPMO from Thermoascus aurantiacus (TaLPMO9A). The intermediate with a strong absorption around 420 nm is formed when reduced LPMO‐CuI reacts with sub‐equimolar amounts of H2O2. UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance, resonance Raman and stopped‐flow spectroscopy suggest that the observed long‐lived intermediate involves the copper center and a nearby tyrosine (Tyr175). Additionally, activity assays in the presence of sub‐equimolar amounts of H2O2 showed an increase in the LPMO oxidation of phosphoric acid swollen cellulose. Accordingly, this suggests that the long‐lived copper‐dependent intermediate could be part of the catalytic mechanism for LPMOs. The observed intermediate offers a new perspective into the oxidative reaction mechanism of TaLPMO9A and hence for the biomass oxidation and the reactivity of copper in biological systems.

This study isolated a novel erythritol-producing yeast strain, which is capable of growth at high osmolarity. Characteristics of the strain include asexual reproduction by multilateral budding, absence of extracellular starch-like compounds, and a negative Diazonium blue B color reaction. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 26S rDNA sequence and physiological analysis indicated that the strain belongs to the species Pseudozyma tsukubaensis and has been named P. tsukubaensis KN75. When P. tsukubaensis KN75 was cultured aerobically in a fed-batch culture with glucose as a carbon source, it produced 245 g/L of erythritol, corresponding to 2.86 g/L/h productivity and 61% yield, the highest erythritol yield ever reported by an erythritol-producing microorganism. Erythritol production was scaled up from a laboratory scale (7 L fermenter) to pilot (300 L) and plant (50,000 L) scales using the dissolved oxygen as a scale-up parameter. Erythritol production at the pilot and plant scales was similar to that at the laboratory scale, indicating that the production of erythritol by P. tsukubaensis KN75 holds commercial potential.

Although genetic Aβ variants cause early-onset Alzheimer's disease, literature reports on Aβ properties are heterogeneous, obscuring molecular mechanisms, as illustrated by recent failures of Aβ-level targeting trials. Thus, we combined available data on Aβ levels and ratios, aggregation propensities, toxicities, and patient data for Aβ variants and correlated these data to identify heterogeneity, significant relations, and basis for consensus. Despite heterogeneity, age of disease onset correlates to Aβ levels (R(2) = 0.38, P = .018), but not to toxicities, Aβ42 levels, Aβ42/Aβ40 ratios, or aggregation propensities. Cytotoxicity correlates inversely with total Aβ42 (R(2) = 0.65, P = .016) and Aβ42/Aβ40 ratios (R(2) = 0.76, P = .005), i.e., chemical properties that increase Aβ42 also reduce toxicity. The complexity and heterogeneity of data reveal the need to understand these phenotypes better, e.g., by focusing on the chemical properties of the involved Aβ species.

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A novel beta-glucosidase (BGL)-producing strain was isolated and identified as Penicillium purpurogenum KJS506 based on its morphology and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA gene sequence. When rice straw and corn steep powder were used as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, the maximal BGL activity of 12.3 U ml(-1), one of the highest levels among BGL-producing microorganisms was observed. The optimum temperature and pH for BGL production were 32 degrees C and 4, respectively. An extracellular BGL was purified to homogeneity by sequential chromatography of P. purpurogenum culture supernatants, and the purified BGL showed higher activity (V (max) = 934 U mg protein(-1)) than most BGLs from other sources. The complete ORF of bgl3 was cloned from P. purpurogenum by a modified thermal asymmetric interlaced polymerase chain reaction. The bgl3 gene consists of a 2,571-bp ORF and encodes a putative protein containing 856 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 89,624 Da. The putative gene product was identified as a member of glycoside hydrolase family 3. The present results should contribute to improved industrial production of BGL by P. purpurogenum KJS506.

Nitrile groups are catabolized to the corresponding acid and ammonia through one-step reaction involving a nitrilase. Here, we report the use of bioinformatic and biochemical tools to identify and characterize the nitrilase (NitPf5) from Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-5. The nitPf5 gene was identified via sequence analysis of the whole genome of P. fluorescens Pf-5 and subsequently cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. DNA sequence analysis revealed an open-reading frame of 921 bp, capable of encoding a polypeptide of 307 amino acids residues with a calculated isoelectric point of pH 5.4. The enzyme had an optimal pH and temperature of 7.0 degrees C and 45 degrees C, respectively, with a specific activity of 1.7 and 1.9 micromol min(-1) mg protein(-1) for succinonitrile and fumaronitrile, respectively. The molecular weight of the nitrilase as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration chromatography was 33,000 and 138,000 Da, respectively, suggesting that the enzyme is homotetrameric. Among various nitriles, dinitriles were the preferred substrate of NitPf5 with a K (m) = 17.9 mM and k (cat)/K (m) = 0.5 mM(-1) s(-1) for succinonitrile. Homology modeling and docking studies of dinitrile and mononitrile substrate into the active site of NitPf5 shed light on the substrate specificity of NitPf5. Although nitrilases have been characterized from several other sources, P. fluorescens Pf-5 nitrilase NitPf5 is distinguished from other nitrilases by its high specific activity toward dinitriles, which make P. fluorescens NitPf5 useful for industrial applications, including enzymatic synthesis of various cyanocarboxylic acids.

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