Characterization of Two New Glycosyl Hydrolases from the Lactic Acid Bacterium Carnobacterium piscicola Strain BA

AUTOR(ES)
FONTE

American Society for Microbiology

RESUMO

Three genes with homology to glycosyl hydrolases were detected on a DNA fragment cloned from a psychrophilic lactic acid bacterium isolate, Carnobacterium piscicola strain BA. A 2.2-kb region corresponding to an α-galactosidase gene, agaA, was followed by two genes in the same orientation, bgaB, encoding a 2-kb β-galactosidase, and bgaC, encoding a structurally distinct 1.76-kb β-galactosidase. This gene arrangement had not been observed in other lactic acid bacteria, including Lactococcus lactis, for which the genome sequence is known. To determine if these sequences encoded enzymes with α- and β-galactosidase activities, we subcloned the genes and examined the enzyme properties. The α-galactosidase, AgaA, hydrolyzes para-nitrophenyl-α-d-galactopyranoside and has optimal activity at 32 to 37°C. The β-galactosidase, BgaC, has an optimal activity at 40°C and a half-life of 15 min at 45°C. The regulation of these enzymes was tested in C. piscicola strain BA and activity on both α- and β-galactoside substrates decreased for cells grown with added glucose or lactose. Instead, an increase in activity on a phosphorylated β-galactoside substrate was found for the cells supplemented with lactose, suggesting that a phospho-galactosidase functions during lactose utilization. Thus, the two β-galactosidases may act synergistically with the α-galactosidase to degrade other polysaccharides available in the environment.

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