The psychrophilic enzyme is an interesting subject to study due to its special ability to adapt to extreme temperatures, unlike typical enzymes. Utilizing computer-aided software, the predicted structure and function of the enzyme lipase AMS8 (LipAMS8) (isolated from the psychrophilic Pseudomonas sp., obtained from the Antarctic soil) are studied. The enzyme shows significant sequence similarities with lipases from Pseudomonas sp. MIS38 and Serratia marcescens. These similarities aid in the prediction of the 3D molecular structure of the enzyme. In this study, 12 ns MD simulation is performed at different temperatures for structural flexibility and stability analysis. The results show that the enzyme is most stable at 0°C and 5°C. In terms of stability and flexibility, the catalytic domain (N-terminus) maintained its stability more than the noncatalytic domain (C-terminus), but the non-catalytic domain showed higher flexibility than the catalytic domain. The analysis of the structure and function of LipAMS8 provides new insights into the structural adaptation of this protein at low temperatures. The information obtained could be a useful tool for low temperature industrial applications and molecular engineering purposes, in the near future.
A new strain of psychrophilic bacteria (designated strain AMS8) from Antarctic soil was screened for extracellular lipolytic activity and further analyzed using molecular approach. Analysis of 16S rDNA showed that strain AMS8 was similar to Pseudomonas sp. A lipase gene named lipAMS8 was successfully isolated from strain AMS8, cloned, sequenced and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Sequence analysis revealed that lipAMS8 consist of 1,431 bp nucleotides that encoded a polypeptide consisting of 476 amino acids. It lacked an N-terminal signal peptide and contained a glycine- and aspartate-rich nonapeptide sequence at the C-terminus, which are known to be the characteristics of repeats-in-toxin bacterial lipases. Furthermore, the substrate binding site of lipAMS8 was identified as S(207), D(255) and H(313), based on homology modeling and multiple sequence alignment. Crude lipase exhibited maximum activity at 20 °C and retained almost 50 % of its activity at 10 °C. The molecular weight of lipAMS8 was estimated to be 50 kDa via sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The optimal expression level was attained using the recombinant plasmid pET32b/BL21(DE3) expressed at 15 °C for 8 h, induced by 0.1 mM isopropyl β-D thiogalactoside (IPTG) at E. coli growth optimal density of 0.5.
Lipolytic enzymes with cold adaptation are gaining increasing interest due to their biotechnological prospective. Previously, a cold adapted family I.3 lipase (AMS8 lipase) was isolated from an Antarctic Pseudomonas. AMS8 lipase was largely expressed in insoluble form. The refolded His-tagged recombinant AMS8 lipase was purified with 23.0% total recovery and purification factor of 9.7. The purified AMS8 lipase migrated as a single band with a molecular weight approximately 65kDa via electrophoresis. AMS8 lipase was highly active at 30°C at pH 10. The half-life of AMS8 lipase was reported at 4 and 2h under the incubation of 30 and 40°C, respectively. The lipase was stable over a broad range of pH. It showed enhancement effect in its relative activity under the presence of Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Rb(+) and Cs(+) after 30min treatment. Heavy metal ions such as Cu(2+), Fe(3+) and Zn(2+) inhibited AMS8 activity. This cold adapted alkalophilic AMS lipase was also active in various organic solvent of different polarity. These unique properties of this biological macromolecule will provide considerable potential for many biotechnological applications and organic synthesis at low temperature.