Research Article

Characterization of Aspergillus niger endo-1,4-β-glucanase ENG1 secreted from Saccharomyces cerevisiae using different expression vectors

Published: June 11, 2015
Genet. Mol. Res. 14 (2) : 6439-6452 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4238/2015.June.11.20
Cite this Article:
S.M. Taipakova, I.T. Smekenov, M.K. Saparbaev, A.K. Bissenbaev (2015). Characterization of Aspergillus niger endo-1,4-β-glucanase ENG1 secreted from Saccharomyces cerevisiae using different expression vectors. Genet. Mol. Res. 14(2): 6439-6452. https://doi.org/10.4238/2015.June.11.20
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Abstract

Heterologous expression of Aspergillus niger endo-1,4-β-glucanase (ENG1) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was tested both with an episomal plasmid vector (YEGAp/eng1) and a yeast vector capable of integration into the HO locus of the S. cerevisiae chromosome (pHO-GAPDH-eng1-KanMX4-HO). In both cases, eng1 gene expression in yeast, with its native signal sequence for secretion, was under the control of the strong glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) promoter. We aimed to verify how each expression system affects protein expression, posttranslational modification, and biochemical properties. Expression of eng1 from the episomal plasmid vector YEGAp/eng1 significantly slowed the growth of a yeast cell culture. However, expression of eng1 from the vector integrated into the HO locus of the chromosome did not cause growth suppression, and the enzyme activity in a culture supernatant was maintained throughout the incubation time. ENG1 has optimum catalytic activity at pH 6.0, and is stable in the pH range 5.0-9.0. The enzyme’s optimum temperature for catalytic activity at pH 6.0 is 70°C; importantly, more than 95% of the enzyme’s initial activity remained after a 2-h incubation at 60°C. The biochemical characterization of ENG1 confirmed the correct expression of the protein and showed that ENG1 expressed by the pHO-GAPDH-eng1-KanMX4-HO vector, in addition to its N-linked sites, is overglycosylated at its O-glycosylation sites compared with ENG1 expressed by the YEGAp/eng1 vector. It is likely that the O-glycosylated form of the A. niger ENG1 retains more stable activity during continuous cultivation of recombinant yeasts than the form that is only N-glycosylated.

Heterologous expression of Aspergillus niger endo-1,4-β-glucanase (ENG1) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was tested both with an episomal plasmid vector (YEGAp/eng1) and a yeast vector capable of integration into the HO locus of the S. cerevisiae chromosome (pHO-GAPDH-eng1-KanMX4-HO). In both cases, eng1 gene expression in yeast, with its native signal sequence for secretion, was under the control of the strong glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) promoter. We aimed to verify how each expression system affects protein expression, posttranslational modification, and biochemical properties. Expression of eng1 from the episomal plasmid vector YEGAp/eng1 significantly slowed the growth of a yeast cell culture. However, expression of eng1 from the vector integrated into the HO locus of the chromosome did not cause growth suppression, and the enzyme activity in a culture supernatant was maintained throughout the incubation time. ENG1 has optimum catalytic activity at pH 6.0, and is stable in the pH range 5.0-9.0. The enzyme’s optimum temperature for catalytic activity at pH 6.0 is 70°C; importantly, more than 95% of the enzyme’s initial activity remained after a 2-h incubation at 60°C. The biochemical characterization of ENG1 confirmed the correct expression of the protein and showed that ENG1 expressed by the pHO-GAPDH-eng1-KanMX4-HO vector, in addition to its N-linked sites, is overglycosylated at its O-glycosylation sites compared with ENG1 expressed by the YEGAp/eng1 vector. It is likely that the O-glycosylated form of the A. niger ENG1 retains more stable activity during continuous cultivation of recombinant yeasts than the form that is only N-glycosylated.