A novel d-xylose isomerase from the gut of the wood feeding beetle Odontotaenius disjunctus efficiently expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

• Published in: Scientific reports 2021-02, Vol.11 (1), p.4766-4766, Article 4766
• Main Authors: Silva, Paulo César, Ceja-Navarro, Javier A., Azevedo, Flávio, Karaoz, Ulas, Brodie, Eoin L., Johansson, Björn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/326; 631/337; 631/61; Aldose-Ketose Isomerases - genetics; Animals; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacteroidetes - enzymology; Bacteroidetes - genetics; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Biotechnology; Cloning, Molecular; Coleoptera - microbiology; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Gene Expression; Genes, Bacterial; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrolysates; Isomerization; Microbiology; Microorganisms; Molecular biology; multidisciplinary; Odontotaenius disjunctus; Phylogeny; Plasmids - genetics; Renewable fuels; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - genetics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Xylitol; Xylose; Xylose isomerase; Yeast
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-83937-z

Carbohydrate rich substrates such as lignocellulosic hydrolysates remain one of the primary sources of potentially renewable fuel and bulk chemicals. The pentose sugar d -xylose is often present in significant amounts along with hexoses. Saccharomyces cerevisiae can acquire the ability to metabolize d -xylose through expression of heterologous d -xylose isomerase (XI). This enzyme is notoriously difficult to express in S. cerevisiae and only fourteen XIs have been reported to be active so far. We cloned a new d -xylose isomerase derived from microorganisms in the gut of the wood-feeding beetle Odontotaenius disjunctus . Although somewhat homologous to the XI from Piromyces sp. E2, the new gene was identified as bacterial in origin and the host as a Parabacteroides sp. Expression of the new XI in S. cerevisiae resulted in faster aerobic growth than the XI from Piromyces on d -xylose media. The d -xylose isomerization rate conferred by the new XI was also 72% higher, while absolute xylitol production was identical in both strains. Interestingly, increasing concentrations of xylitol (up to 8 g L −1 ) appeared not to inhibit d -xylose consumption. The newly described XI displayed 2.6 times higher specific activity, 37% lower K M for d -xylose, and exhibited higher activity over a broader temperature range, retaining 51% of maximal activity at 30 °C compared with only 29% activity for the Piromyces XI.