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The carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) in polysaccharide hydrolases plays a key role in the hydrolysis of cellulose, xylan and chitin. However, the function of CBM in alginate lyases has not been elucidated. A new alginate lyase gene, alyL2, was cloned from the marine bacterium Agarivorans sp. L11 by using degenerate and site-finding PCR. The alginate lyase, AlyL2, contained an N-terminal CBM13 and a C-terminal catalytic family 7 polysaccharide lyase (PL7) module. To better understand the function of CBM13 in alginate lyase AlyL2, the full-length enzyme (AlyL2-FL) and its catalytic module (AlyL2-CM) were expressed in Escherichia coli and characterized. The specific activity and catalytic efficiency of AlyL2-FL were approximately twice those of AlyL2-CM. The half-lives of AlyL2-FL were 4.7-6.6 times those of AlyL2-CM at 30-50°C. In addition, the presence of CBM13 in AlyL2 changed its substrate preference and increased the percentage of disaccharides from 50.5% to 64.6% in the total products. This first report of the function of CBM13 in alginate lyase provides new insights into the degradation of alginate by marine microorganisms.

Alginate oligosaccharides (AOS) show versatile bioactivities. Although various alginate lyases have been characterized, enzymes with special characteristics are still rare. In this study, a polysaccharide lyase family 7 (PL7) alginate lyase-encoding gene, aly08, was cloned from the marine bacterium Vibrio sp. SY01 and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified alginate lyase Aly08, with a molecular weight of 35 kDa, showed a specific activity of 841 U/mg at its optimal pH (pH 8.35) and temperature (45 °C). Aly08 showed good pH-stability, as it remained more than 80% of its initial activity in a wide pH range (4.0–10.0). Aly08 was also a thermo-tolerant enzyme that recovered 70.8% of its initial activity following heat shock treatment for 5 min. This study also demonstrated that Aly08 is a polyG-preferred enzyme. Furthermore, Aly08 degraded alginates into disaccharides and trisaccharides in an endo-manner. Its thermo-tolerance and pH-stable properties make Aly08 a good candidate for further applications.

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Alginate, the most abundant carbohydrate presents in brown macroalgae, has recently gained increasing attention as an alternative biomass for the production of biofuel. Oligoalginate lyases catalyze the degradation of alginate oligomers into monomers, a prerequisite for bioethanol production. In this study, two new oligoalginate lyase genes, oalC6 and oalC17, were cloned from Cellulophaga sp. SY116, and expressed them in Escherichia coli. The deduced oligoalginate lyases, OalC6 and OalC17, belonged to the polysaccharide lyase (PL) family 6 and 17, respectively. Both showed less than 50% amino acid identity with all of the characterized oligoalginate lyases. Moreover, OalC6 and OalC17 could degrade both alginate polymers and oligomers into monomers in an exolytic mode. Substrate specificity studies demonstrated that OalC6 preferred α-L-guluronate (polyG) blocks, while OalC17 preferred poly β-D-mannuronate (polyM) blocks. The combination of OalC6 and OalC17 showed synergistic degradation ability toward both alginate polymers and oligomers. Finally, an efficient process for the production of alginate monomers was established by combining the new-isolated exotype alginate lyases (i.e., OalC6 and OalC17) and the endotype alginate lyase AlySY08. Overall, our work provides new insights for the development of novel biotechnologies for biofuel production from seaweed.

Chitosanase plays an important role in the production of chitooligosaccharides (CHOS), which possess various biological activities. Herein, a glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 46 chitosanase-encoding gene, csnB, was cloned from marine bacterium Bacillus sp. BY01 and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant chitosanase, CsnB, was optimally active at 35 °C and pH 5.0. It was also revealed to be a cold-adapted enzyme, maintaining 39.5% and 40.4% of its maximum activity at 0 and 10 °C, respectively. Meanwhile, CsnB showed wide pH-stability within the range of pH 3.0 to 7.0. Then, an improved reaction condition was built to enhance its thermostability with a final glycerol volume concentration of 20%. Moreover, CsnB was determined to be an endo-type chitosanase, yielding chitosan disaccharides and trisaccharides as the main products. Overall, CsnB provides a new choice for enzymatic CHOS production.

The purpose of this study was to find a cold-adapted and surfactant-stable alginate lyase as a candidate for biotechnological and industrial applications. The gene for a new alginate lyase, AlyL1, from Agarivorans sp. L11 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant AlyL1 was most active at 40°C (1,370 U/mg). It was a cold-adapted alginate lyase, which showed 54.5% and 72.1% of maximum activity at 15°C and 20°C, respectively. AlyL1 was an alkaliphilic enzyme and most active at pH 8.6. In addition, it showed high stability in the presence of various surfactants at a high concentration (from 0.1% to 1% (w/v)). AlyL1 was an endo-type alginate lyase that degraded both polyM and polyG blocks, yielding disaccharides and trisaccharides as the main products. This is the first report of the cloning and functional expression of a cold-adapted and surfactant-stable alginate lyase. AlyL1 might be an interesting candidate for biotechnological and industrial applications.

Chitooligosaccharide (COS) has been recognized to exhibit efficient anti-oxidant activity. Enzymatic hydrolysis using chitosanases can retain all the amino and hydroxyl groups of chitosan, which are necessary for its activity. In this study, a new chitosanase encoding gene, csnQ, was cloned from the marine Bacillus sp. Q1098 and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant chitosanase, CsnQ, showed maximal activity at pH 5.31 and 60 °C. Determination of CsnQ pH-stability showed that CsnQ could retain more than 50% of its activity over a wide pH, from 3.60 to 9.80. CsnQ is an endo-type chitosanase, yielding chitodisaccharide as the main product. Additionally, in vitro and in vivo analyses indicated that chitodisaccharide possesses much more effective anti-oxidant activity than glucosamine and low molecular weight chitosan (LMW-CS) (~5 kDa). Notably, to our knowledge, this is the first evidence that chitodisaccharide is the minimal COS fragment required for free radical scavenging.