A Novel Neoagarotriose-Producing Agarase from the Marine Bacterium Gilvimarinus Agarilyticus JEA5
Abstract Background The degradation of agar by bacterial agarases has many commercial and academic applications. We recently identified a novel neoagarotriose-producing β-agarase, Gaa16B, in the marine bacterium Gilvimarinus agarilyticus JEA5. This is the first report to describe neoagarotriose production from β-agarase.Results The Gaa16B agarase, which belongs to the glycoside hydrolase 16 (GH16) family of β-agarases, shows less than 70.9% amino acid similarity with previously characterized agarases. The coding region of Gaa16B is 1800 bp long, encoding 600 amino acids, and exhibits features typical of agarases belonging to the GH16 family. A recombinant Gaa16B lacking the carbohydrate binding region (rGaa16Bc) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified as a maltose-binding protein (MBP) fusion protein. Activity assays revealed the optimal temperature and pH of rGaa16Bc to be 55 °C and pH 6–7, respectively, and the protein was highly stable at 55 °C for 90 min. Additionally, rGaa16Bc activity was strongly enhanced (2.3-fold) in the presence of 2.5 mM MnCl2. The Km and Vmax of rGaa16Bc for agarose were 6.4 mg/ml and 953 U/mg, respectively. Thin layer chromatography analysis revealed that rGaa16Bc can hydrolyze agarose into neoagarotetraose, neoagarotriose, and neoagarobiose, and the production of neoagarotriose by rGaa16Bc was successfully validated by high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.Conclusion The biochemical properties of Gaa16B and the results of the hydrolytic pattern analysis suggest that Gaa16B could be useful to produce functional neoagaro-oligosaccharides for industrial applications.