Microbes Producing L-Asparaginase free of Glutaminase and Urease isolated from Extreme Locations of Antarctic Soil and Moss.

L-Asparaginase (L-asparagine aminohydrolase, E.C. 3.5.1.1) has been proven to be competent in treating Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), which is widely observed in paediatric and adult groups. Currently, clinical L-Asparaginase formulations are derived from bacterial sources such as Escherichia coli and Erwinia chrysanthemi. These formulations when administered to ALL patients lead to several immunological and hypersensitive reactions. Hence, additional purification steps are required to remove toxicity induced by the amalgamation of other enzymes like glutaminase and urease. Production of L-Asparaginase that is free of glutaminase and urease is a major area of research. In this paper, we report the screening and isolation of fungal species collected from the soil and mosses in the Schirmacher Hills, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, that produce L-Asparaginase free of glutaminase and urease. A total of 55 isolates were obtained from 33 environmental samples that were tested by conventional plate techniques using Phenol red and Bromothymol blue as indicators. Among the isolated fungi, 30 isolates showed L-Asparaginase free of glutaminase and urease. The L-Asparaginase producing strain Trichosporon asahii IBBLA1, which showed the highest zone index, was then optimized with a Taguchi design. Optimum enzyme activity of 20.57 U mL-1 was obtained at a temperature of 30 °C and pH of 7.0 after 60 hours. Our work suggests that isolation of fungi from extreme environments such as Antarctica may lead to an important advancement in therapeutic applications with fewer side effects.

Characterization of a novel thiol activated phospholipase TAPLB1 from Trichosporon asahii MSR 54.

Phospholipases are hydrolytic enzymes that play crucial roles in vivo and also possess immense biotechnological potential. In the present study, the phospholipase B of Trichosporon asahii MSR54 was overexpressed in E. coli and characterized. The 68-kDa enzyme was monomeric in solution and possessed phospholipase, lysophospholipase, esterase and acyltransferase activities. It was maximally active at pH 8.0 and 40 °C. The enzyme retained >50% activity between pH 3.0-8.0 and had a half-life of 30 min at 60 °C. Its activity was not metal dependent and was stable in the presence of most metal ions. Its catalytic efficiency on lysophosphatidyl choline was 1.0 × 103 mM-1 h-1. Site directed mutagenesis revealed R121 (present in the GYRAMV motif), S194 (present in the conserved GLSGG motif) and D420 (present in LVDXGE motif) to be the crucial amino acid residues for esterolytic activity. S194 and D420 were also the catalytic amino acids for lysophospholipase and phospholipase activities of the enzymes, while R121 was not involved in catalysis of phospholipid substrates. Further, it was found that cysteine residues in C61 and C354 were involved in disulphide linkages that imparted the properties of thiol activation and thermostability, respectively.

Lipase-mediated direct in situ ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone formed by a chemo-enzymatic method.

A novel method to synthesize poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) through a three-step, lipase-mediated chemo-enzymatic reaction from cyclohexanone using an immobilized lipase from Trichosporon laibacchii (T. laibacchii) CBS5791 was developed. The immobilized preparation with 1280 U· g-1 used here was obtained by a method of purification and in situ immobilization where the crude intracellular lipase (cell homogenate) was subjected to partial purification by an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) consisting of 12% (w/w) polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 and 13% (w/w) potassium phosphate (K2HPO4) and then in situ immobilization directly on diatomite from the top PEG-rich phase of ATPS. In this multi-step process, the ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) produced by lipase-mediated one-pot two-step chemo-enzymatic oxidation of cyclohexanone was directly subjected to in situ ring-opening polymerization (ROP) started by adding highly hydrophobic solvents. It is necessary to note that ε-CL synthesis and its subsequent ROP were catalyzed by the same lipase. The impact of various reaction parameters, e.g., solvent, cyclohexanone: hydrogen peroxide molar ratio, hydrogen peroxide forms and reaction temperature were investigated. Toluene was selected as a preferred solvent due to supporting the highest molecular weight (Mn = 2168) and moderate ε-CL conversion (65.42%). Through the optimization of reaction conditions, PCL was produced with a Mn of 2283 at 50 °C for 24 h. These results reveal that this lipase-mediated direct ring-opening polymerization of in situ formed ε-CL is an alternative route to the conventional synthesis of PCL.

In vivo pathogenicity of Trichosporon asahii isolates with different in vitro enzymatic profiles in an immunocompetent murine model of systemic trichosporonosis.

Trichosporon asahii is an opportunistic yeastlike fungus that colonizes the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts and human skin. Although it is an important cause of disseminated infections by non-Candida species, there are a few reports related to its virulence factors and their possible role in in vivo pathogenicity. We developed a murine model of disseminated trichosporonosis in immunocompetent mice for the evaluation of the in vivo pathogenicity of 6 T. asahii isolates with different in vitro virulence factor profiles. Tissue fungal burden was determined on days 1, 3, 7, 15, and 25 post-challenge. Overall, the largest fungal load was detected in the kidney on the 5 experimental days, while brain, spleen, and liver displayed a comparatively low fungal count. We observed a fungal burden decrease in most experimental groups from day 15. Histological analysis showed the presence of T. asahii in tissue and a generalized inflammatory infiltrate of polymorphonuclear cells in the kidney, liver, red pulp of the spleen, and the hippocampus. Even though our isolates showed different in vitro virulence factors profiles, we did not detect relevant differences when assayed in vivo, except for a higher persistence of a protease- and biofilm-producing strain in kidney, liver, and brain.

Trichosporon asahii secretes a 30-kDa aspartic peptidase.

Trichosporon asahii is a fungal opportunistic pathogen that causes superficial and deep-seated infections presenting high mortality. Very little is known about the virulence attributes produced by this fungus. Herein, aspartic peptidase production was identified in Brazilian clinical isolates of T. asahii by different methodologies. Initially, T. asahii strain 250 (from skin lesion) was inoculated in both liquid and solid culture media containing bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the sole nitrogenous source. A translucent halo around the fungal colony was observed from the 5th day of culture. The cell-free culture supernatant revealed that soluble BSA was hydrolyzed along the growth, generating low molecular mass polypeptides as observed by electrophoresis. Subsequently, the secretions from four clinical strains of T. asahii were analyzed by BSA-SDS-PAGE and a single proteolytic band of 30-kDa was detected under acidic pH at 37°C. The secreted aspartic peptidase of T. asahii efficiently cleaved the cathepsin D peptide substrate, but not the substrates with specificity to HIV-1 peptidase and rennin. The capability to cleave either cathepsin D substrate in a fluorogenic assay or BSA immobilized within a gel matrix varied according to the T. asahii isolate. T. asahii extracellular peptidase activity was strongly inhibited by pepstatin A and HIV peptidase inhibitors, classifying it as an aspartic-type peptidase. Human serum albumin, mucin, non-immune immunoglobulin G and gelatin induced, in different levels, the secretion of this aspartic peptidase. With these results, T. asahii must be included in the list of many human fungal opportunistic pathogens able to secrete an aspartic-type peptidase.

A New Amino Acid Substitution at G150S in Lanosterol 14-α Demethylase (Erg11 protein) in Multi-azole-resistant Trichosporon asahii.

The mechanisms of azole resistance in Trichosporon asahii have not yet been fully clarified. We previously showed that T. asahii has the ERG11 gene, coding lanosterol 14-α-demethylase (Erg11 protein; Erg11p), which is the primary target of azoles. A single amino acid substitution at G453R in Erg11p was found to induce changes in the affinity of this enzyme for azoles, especially fluconazole, in vitro. In the present study, we investigated the DNA sequences of the ERG11 gene using six different strains of clinically isolated T. asahii that were highly resistant to multi-azoles, including fluconazole, itraconazole, and voriconazole. All of the T. asahii strains had a point mutation (G448A) that caused a single amino acid substitution at G150S in Erg11p. This amino acid is highly conserved among major fungal pathogens. We identified a new point mutation in the ERG11 gene that is common to clinically isolated azole-resistant T. asahii strains, suggesting that this mutation is associated with the multi-azole resistance of T. asahii.

Selective disruption of disulphide bonds lowered activation energy and improved catalytic efficiency in TALipB from Trichosporon asahii MSR54: MD simulations revealed flexible lid and extended substrate binding area in the mutant.

TALipB (33 kDa) is a solvent stable, enantioselective lipase from Trichosporon asahii MSR54. It is cysteine-rich and shows activation in presence of thiol reducing agents. DIANNA server predicted three disulphide bridges C53-C195 (S1), C89-C228 (S2) and C164-C254 (S3) in the enzyme. Selective disruption of disulphide bonds by cysteine to alanine mutations at Cys53 and Cys89 of S1 and S2 bonds resulted in enzyme activation. Mutant mTALipB (S1+S2) showed increase in specific activity by ∼4-fold (834 mM/mg) and improved Vmax of 6.27 µmol/ml/min at 40 °Con pNP caprate. Temperature optima of mTALipB shifted from 50 to 40 °C and activation energy decreased by 0.7 kcal mol(-1). However, the mutant was less thermostable with a t1/2 of 18 min at 60 °C as compared to t1/2 of 38 min for the native enzyme. Mutant also displayed an improved activity on all pNP esters and higher enantiomeric excess (61%) during esterification of (±) 1-phenylethanol. Far-UV CD analysis showed significant changes in secondary structure after S-S bridge disruption with 7.16% decrease in α-helices and 1.31% increase in ß-sheets. In silico analysis predicted two lids (α5 and α9) in TALipB. Molecular dynamic simulations at 40 °C and 50 °C revealed that in the mTALipB, both the lids opened at 40 °C with clockwise and anticlockwise rotations in Lid1 and Lid2, respectively. In the native protein, however, the lid was only partially open even at 50 °C. Concomitant to lid flexibility, there was an extension of accessible catalytic triad surface area resulting in improved catalytic efficiency of the mutant enzyme.

Novel S-enantioselective lipase TALipB from Trichosporon asahii MSR54: Heterologous expression, characterization, conformational stability and homology modeling.

A novel lipase encoding gene, TALipB from Trichosporon asahii MSR54 was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli using three vectors, pET22b, pET28a & pEZZ18. The three recombinant proteins, viz. C-hexahistidine fused HLipB, N and C-hexahistidine fused HLipBH and ZZ-fused ZZLipB were purified using affinity chromatography. All the three enzymes were mid to long fatty acyl chain selective on p-NP esters and S-enantioselective irrespective of tags. HLipB had lowest activation energy (3.5 Kcal mol(-1)) and highest catalytic efficiency (254 mM(-1) min(-1)) on p-NP caprate followed by HLipBH and ZZLipB. However, ZZLipB demonstrated best pH stability (pH 6-10), thermostability (t1/2 of 50 min at 70 °C) and stability toward the denaturant Guanidium chloride (300 mM). Far-UV CD and fluorescence studies confirmed the role of N-terminal ZZ-tag in stabilizing the protein by altering its secondary and tertiary structures. All the three proteins were thiol activated. ZZLipB required higher concentration of ß-mercaptoethanol as compared to the other two proteins to attain similar velocity. This indicated the involvement of additional disulfide bonds in its conformational stability. In silico analysis suggested low sequence identity of the enzyme with the available database but a close structural homology with Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) was revealed by PHYRE(2). MULTALIN with CALB predicted the active site residues (Ser137-Asp228-His261) which were confirmed by superimposition and site directed mutagenesis.

Elucidating the Beneficial Effect of Corncob Acid Hydrolysate Environment on Lipid Fermentation of Trichosporon dermatis by Method of Cell Biology.

In present study, the beneficial effect of corncob acid hydrolysate environment on lipid fermentation of Trichosporon dermatis was elucidated by method of cell biology (mainly using flow cytometry and microscope) for the first time. Propidium iodide (PI) and rhodamine 123 (Rh123) staining showed that corncob acid hydrolysate environment was favorable for the cell membrane integrity and mitochondrial membrane potential of T. dermatis and thus made its lipid fermentation more efficient. Nile red (NR) staining showed that corncob acid hydrolysate environment made the lipid accumulation of T. dermatis slower, but this influence was not serious. Moreover, the cell morphology of T. dermatis elongated in the corncob acid hydrolysate, but the cell morphology changed as elliptical-like during fermentation. Overall, this work offers one simple and effective method to evaluate the influence of lignocellulosic hydrolysates environment on lipid fermentation.

Molecular characterization of a eukaryotic-like phenol hydroxylase from Corynebacterium glutamicum.

This study focuses on the genetic and biochemical characterization of phenol hydroxylase (Phe, NCgl2588) from Corynebacterium glutamicum that shares 31% identity in amino acids with phenol hydroxylase from yeast Trichosporon cutaneum but less similarity with that from bacteria. The phe deletion mutant significantly reduced its ability to grow with phenol as the sole carbon and energy source. Expression of the phe gene was strongly induced with phenol and also subject to the control of carbon catabolite repression (CCR). The molecular weight of purified Phe protein determined by gel filtration chromatography was 70 kDa, indicating that Phe exists as a monomer in the purification condition. However, Phe protein pre-incubated with phenol showed a molecular weight of 140 kDa, suggesting that Phe is likely active as a dimer. In addition to phenol, the Phe protein could utilize various other phenolic compounds as substrates. Site-directed mutagenesis revealed that D75, P261, R262, R269, C349 and C476 are key amino acid residues closely related to the enzyme activity of Phe.

Trichosporon inkin biofilms produce extracellular proteases and exhibit resistance to antifungals.

The aim of this study was to determine experimental conditions for in vitro biofilm formation of clinical isolates of Trichosporon inkin, an important opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised patients. Biofilms were formed in microtitre plates in three different media (RPMI, Sabouraud and CLED), with inocula of 104, 105 or 106 cells ml- 1, at pH 5.5 and 7.0, and at 35 and 28 °C, under static and shaking conditions for 72 h. Growth kinetics of biofilms were evaluated at 6, 24, 48 and 72 h. Biofilm milieu analysis were assessed by counting viable cells and quantification of nucleic acids released into biofilm supernatants. Biofilms were also analysed for proteolytic activity and antifungal resistance against amphotericin B, caspofungin, fluconazole, itraconazole and voriconazole. Finally, ultrastructural characterization of biofilms formed in microtitre plates and catheter disks was performed by scanning electron microscopy. Greater biofilm formation was observed with a starter inoculum of 106 cells ml- 1, at pH 7.0 at 35 °C and 80 r.p.m., in both RPMI and Sabouraud media. Growth kinetics showed an increase in both viable cells and biomass with increasing incubation time, with maximum production at 48 h. Biofilms were able to disperse viable cells and nucleic acids into the supernatant throughout the developmental cycle. T. inkin biofilms produced more protease than planktonic cells and showed high tolerance to amphotericin B, caspofungin and azole derivatives. Mature biofilms were formed by different morphotypes, such as blastoconidia, arthroconidia and hyphae, in a strain-specific manner. The present article details the multicellular lifestyle of T. inkin and provides perspectives for further research.

Characterization of Inulin Hydrolyzing Enzyme(s) in Oleaginous Yeast Trichosporon cutaneum in Consolidated Bioprocessing of Microbial Lipid Fermentation.

Oleaginous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum CGMCC 2.1374 was found to utilize inulin directly for microbial lipid fermentation without a hydrolysis step. The potential inulinase-like enzyme(s) in T. cutaneum CGMCC 2.1374 were characterized and compared with other inulinase enzymes produced by varied yeast strains. The consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) for lipid accumulated using inulin was optimized with 4.79 g/L of lipid produced from 50 g/L inulin with the lipid content of 33.6% in dry cells. The molecular weight of the enzyme was measured which was close to invertase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The study provided information for inulin hydrolyzing enzyme(s) in oleaginous yeasts, as well as a preliminary CBP process for lipid production from inulin feedstock.

Gene Cloning, High-Level Expression, and Characterization of an Alkaline and Thermostable Lipase from Trichosporon coremiiforme V3.

The present study describes the gene cloning and high-level expression of an alkaline and thermostable lipase gene from Trichosporon coremiiforme V3. Nucleotide analysis revealed that this lipase gene has an open reading frame of 1,692 bp without any introns, encoding a protein of 563 amino acid residues. The lipase gene without its signal sequence was cloned into plasmid pPICZαA and overexpressed in Pichia pastoris X33. The maximum lipase activity of recombinant lipase was 5,000 U/ml, which was obtained in fed-batch cultivation after 168 h induction with methanol in a 50 L bioreactor. The purified lipase showed high temperature tolerance, and being stable at 60 °C and kept 45% enzyme activity after 1 h incubation at 70 °C. The stability, effects of metal ions and other reagents were also determined. The chain length specificity of the recombinant lipase showed high activity toward triolein (C18:1) and tripalmitin (C16:0).

Functional characterisation of novel enantioselective lipase TALipA from Trichosporon asahii MSR54: sequence comparison revealed new signature sequence AXSXG among yeast lipases.

A gene encoding lipase TALipA from Trichosporon asahii MSR54 was successfully isolated, cloned and expressed in Pichia pastoris X-33. It was purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography with 1.7 purification fold. SDS-PAGE revealed it as a monomeric 27-kDa protein. Sequence comparison showed that it has close affinity with bacterial and actinobacterial lipases. It has unique oxyanion hole "GL" and conserved pentapeptide AHSMG where alanine is present instead of glycine, which is unique to yeast lipase database. The temperature and pH optima for activity were 60 °C and pH 8.0, respectively. It is thermostable with t1/2 of 68 min at 70 °C. It hydrolyzed p-np esters with better specificity on p-np palmitate, which was again confirmed during hydrolysis of triacylglyceride mixture. The enzyme was found to be regioselective during hydrolysis of triolein. It exhibited enantio preference during esterification of phenylethanol depending upon solvent used. It was S-enantioselective in 1,4-dioxane and R-selective in isopropanol and hexane. It is a magnesium-activated metalloenzyme inhibited by 10-mM EDTA. It was stable towards most of the polar and non-polar solvents.

Functional characterization of a novel aspartic acid rich lipase, TALipC, from Trichosporon asahii MSR54: solvent-dependent enantio inversion during esterification of 1-phenylethanol.

A novel lipase gene TAlipC was isolated from Trichosporon asahii MSR54 and functionally expressed in Pichia pastoris. The protein was His-tagged and purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography. Sequence comparison revealed a high homology with lipases from Cryptococcus sp. It had a GX type oxyanion hole and a GHSLG-type conserved penta-peptide similar to those in the lipases from Yarrowia lipolytica. The enzyme had optimal activity at pH 8 and 50 °C. It was specific for long chain fatty acid groups of p-nitrophenol esters and triacylglycerols, showing regio- and enantio-selectivity. It was activated by Mg(2+) ions (20 mM) and had a predicted Mg-binding domain at the aspartic acid-rich C-terminal. Solvent-based enantio- inversion was the key feature of the enzyme where it showed (S)-selectivity in 1,4-dioxane and 2-propanol and (R)-selectivity in hexane during chiral separation of (±)1-phenylethanol by esterification.

[Investigation of some virulence factors in Trichosporon spp. strains]. / Trichosporon spp. suslarinda bazi virülans faktörlerin arastirilmasi

The frequency of fungal infections have increased recently in parallel to prolonged survival of patients with chronical infections, common use of the broad-spectrum antibiotics and cytotoxic drugs and surgical interventions. Fungi such as Trichosporon, Fusarium and Geotrichum that were previously evaluated as contaminant/colonization, become important causes of morbidity and mortality especially in neutropenic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of virulence factors such as acid proteinase, phospholipase, esterase, coagulase and hemolytic activity among Trichosporon species. A total of 40 Trichosporon strains, of them 24 (60%) were T.asahii, 6 (15%) were T.inkin and 10 (25%) were the other species (one of each of T.aquatile, T.asteroides, T.coremiiforme, T.cutaneum, T.dermatis, T.faecale, T.japonicum, T.montevideense, T.mucoides, T.ovoides) were included in the study. Identification of the isolates was performed according to microscopic morphology (blastospores, arthrospores, pseudohyphae and true hyphae) on corn meal agar media, and carbohydrate assimilation patterns (API ID32C; bioMérieux, France). Secretory acid proteinase, phospholipase and esterase activities of the strains were evaluated by 1% bovine serum albumin containing agar, by egg yolk containing solid medium, and by Tween 80 containing solid medium, respectively. Hemolytic activity of the isolates were evaluated by 5-10% sheep blood Sabouraud dextrose agar. Coagulase enzyme activity was determined by using human and rabbit plasma. In our study, all of the 40 Trichosporon spp. strains were found negative in terms of acid proteinase and phospholipase enzyme activity, however all were positive for esterase enzyme activity. Hemolytic enzyme activity were identified in a total of 15 (37.5%) strains, being "+++" in three strains (2 T.asahii, 1 T.japonicum), and "++" in 12 isolates (9 T.asahii, 1 T.inkin, 1 T.asteroides, 1 T.mentevideense). Although 11 of those 15 positive strains were T.asahii, there was no statistical difference between the species in terms of hemolytic enzyme activity (p> 0.05). Coagulase enzyme activity was detected in 5% (2/40; 1 T.asahii, 1 T.inkin) of the strains with human plasma and in 27.5% (11/40; 9 T.asahii, 1 T.inkin, 1 T.montevideense) with rabbit plasma. In conclusion, our data indicated that esterase, coagulase and hemolytic activities detected in Trichosporon spp. might play role in the pathogenesis of Trichosporon infections, however, further large-scaled clinical and mycological studies are needed to prove this relation.

Redox proteomics changes in the fungal pathogen Trichosporon asahii on arsenic exposure: identification of protein responses to metal-induced oxidative stress in an environmentally-sampled isolate.

Trichosporon asahii is a yeast pathogen implicated in opportunistic infections. Cultures of an isolate collected from industrial wastewater were exposed for 2 days to 100 mg/L sodium arsenite (NaAsO2) and cadmium (CdCl2). Both metals reduced glutathione transferase (GST) activity but had no effect on superoxide dismutase or catalase. NaAsO2 exposure increased glutathione reductase activity while CdCl2 had no effect. Protein thiols were labeled with 5-iodoacetamido fluorescein followed by one dimensional electrophoresis which revealed extensive protein thiol oxidation in response to CdCl2 treatment but thiol reduction in response to NaAsO2. Two dimensional electrophoresis analyses showed that the intensity of some protein spots was enhanced on treatment as judged by SameSpots image analysis software. In addition, some spots showed decreased IAF fluorescence suggesting thiol oxidation. Selected spots were excised and tryptic digested for identification by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. Twenty unique T. asahii proteins were identified of which the following proteins were up-regulated in response to NaAsO2: 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase, phospholipase B, alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase, ATP synthase alpha chain, 20S proteasome beta-type subunit Pre3p and the hypothetical proteins A1Q1_08001, A1Q2_03020, A1Q1_06950, A1Q1_06913. In addition, the following showed decreased thiol-associated fluorescence consistent with thiol oxidation; aconitase; aldehyde reductase I; phosphoglycerate kinase; translation elongation factor 2; heat shock protein 70 and hypothetical protein A1Q2_04745. Some proteins showed both increase in abundance coupled with decrease in IAF fluorescence; 3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA hydrolase; homoserine dehydrogenase Hom6 and hypothetical proteins A1Q2_03020 and A1Q1_00754. Targets implicated in redox response included 10 unique metabolic enzymes, heat shock proteins, a component of the 20S proteasome and translation elongation factor 2. These data suggest extensive proteomic alterations in response to metal-induced oxidative stress in T. asahii. Amino acid metabolism, protein folding and degradation are principally affected.

Different influences of ß-glucosidases on volatile compounds and anthocyanins of Cabernet Gernischt and possible reason.

The effects of three ß-glucosidases (BG1, BG2 from Trichosporon asahii, AS from Aspergillus Niger) on the aroma profiles of Cabernet Gernischt (CG) were investigated, coupled with an exploration of the possible reasons for the different performances of ß-glucosidases under the two different conditions (hydrolysis of grape glycoside extract and wine-making). The analysis of headspace solid-phase micro-extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed that volatile flavour compounds in the ß-glucosidase-treated samples were significantly increased. Specially, the wines treated with ß-glucosidase BG1 occupied the highest concentrations of 19 out of 23 volatile compounds that exhibited significant differences. The investigation of the effects of pH or glucose on ß-glucosidases showed that low pH is the main factor that exerts a more critical and irreversible influence on the activities and structures of ß-glucosidase proteins. The stronger resistances to pH and glucose provided ß-glucosidase BG1 a better ability in hydrolysing aromatic precursors than other enzymes under winemaking conditions. With the HPLC analysis, eight anthocyanins were identified from CG wine. Among the three ß-glucosidases, BG1 showed the lowest influence on the main anthocyanin glycosides. These results suggested that the ß-glucosidase BG1 may have some potential values to complement wine quality during the winemaking process.

Novel insights into the fungal oxidation of monoaromatic and biarylic environmental pollutants by characterization of two new ring cleavage enzymes.

The phenol-degrading yeast Trichosporon mucoides can oxidize and detoxify biarylic environmental pollutants such as dibenzofuran, diphenyl ether and biphenyl by ring cleavage. The degradation pathways are well investigated, but the enzymes involved are not. The high similarity of hydroxylated biphenyl derivatives and phenol raised the question if the enzymes of the phenol degradation are involved in ring cleavage or whether specific enzymes are necessary. Purification of enzymes from T. mucoides with catechol cleavage activity demonstrated the existence of three different enzymes: a classical catechol-1,2-dioxygenase (CDO), not able to cleave the aromatic ring system of 3,4-dihydroxybiphenyl, and two novel enzymes with a high affinity towards 3,4-dihydroxybiphenyl. The comparison of the biochemical characteristics and mass spectrometric sequence data of these three enzymes demonstrated that they have different substrate specificities. CDO catalyzes the ortho-cleavage of dihydroxylated monoaromatic compounds, while the two novel enzymes carry out a similar reaction on biphenyl derivatives. The ring fission of 3,4-dihydroxybiphenyl by the purified enzymes results in the formation of (5-oxo-3-phenyl-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-yl)acetic acid. These results suggest that the ring cleavage enzymes catalyzing phenol degradation are not involved in the ring cleavage of biarylic compounds by this yeast, although some intermediates of the phenol metabolism may function as inducers.

A novel extracellular ß-glucosidase from Trichosporon asahii: yield prediction, evaluation and application for aroma enhancement of Cabernet Sauvignon.

UNLABELLED: The production and application of novel ß-glucosidase from Trichosporon asahii were studied. The ß-glucosidase yield was improved by response surface methodology, and the optimal media constituents were determined to be dextrin 4.67% (w/v), yeast extract 2.99% (w/v), MgSO(4) 0.01% (w/v), and K(2) HPO(4) 0.02% (w/v). As a result, ß-glucosidase production was enhanced from 123.72 to 215.66 U/L. The effects of different enological factors on the activity of ß-glucosidases from T. asahii were investigated in comparison to commercial enzymes. ß-Glucosidase from T. asahii was activated in the presence of sugars in the range from 10% to 40% (w/v), with the exception of glucose (slight inhibition), and retained higher relative activities than commercial enzymes under the same conditions. In addition, ethanol, in concentrations between 5% and 20% (v/v), also increased the ß-glucosidase activity. Although the ß-glucosidase activity decreased with decreasing pH, the residual activity of T. asahii was still above 50% at the average wine pH (pH 3.5). Due to these properties, extracellular ß-glucosidase from T. asahii exhibited a better ability than commercial enzymes in hydrolyzing aromatic precursors that remained in young finished wine. The excellent performs of this ß-glucosidase in wine aroma enhancement and sensory evaluation indicated that the ß-glucosidase has a potential application to individuate suitable preparations that can complement and optimize grape or wine quality during the winemaking process or in the final wine. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The present study demonstrated the usefulness of response surface methodology based on the central composite design for yield enhancement of ß-glucosidase from T. asahii. The investigation of the primary characteristics of the enzyme and its application in young red wine suggested that the ß-glucosidase from T. asahii can provide more impetus for aroma improvement in the future.