1 Departamento de Biotecnología, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Av. Michoacán y la Purísima s/n, Colonia Vicentina, Iztapalapa, México DF, CP 09340, Mexico
2 IRD-México, Cicerón 609, Los Morales, CP 11530, México DF, Mexico
3 Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, The University of Georgia, 220 Riverbend Road, Athens, GA 30602-4712, USA
Correspondence
Christopher Augur
caugur{at}esil.univ-mrs.fr
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ABSTRACT |
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Present address: Laboratoire de Microbiologie, IRD, Université de Provence CESB/ESIL, Case 925, 163, Avenue de Luminy, F-13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France.
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INTRODUCTION |
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Unlike SmF, studies on tannase produced by solid-state fermentation (SSF) are recent. The enzyme produced in SSF is extracellular, facilitating its recovery. Lekha & Lonsane (1994) reported the production of an extracellular thermostable tannase, with higher titres in SSF as compared to SmF. During SSF, most of the supports are also substrates. Sugarcane pith bagasse has been used as solid support, absorbing the liquid medium used in the SmF process for extracellular tannase production (Lekha & Lonsane, 1994
). Pearl barley has also been used as solid support (Seth & Chand, 2000
). Polyurethane foam (PUF) has been utilized as an inert support for enzyme production, with higher enzyme titres obtained in SSF (Díaz-Godínez et al., 2001
; Romero-Gómez et al., 2000
).
The original purpose of this work was to study the tolerance limit of fungal strains to tannic acid in order to produce useful strains for industrial purposes. A strain of Aspergillus niger was among the few organisms able to grow on 20 % tannic acid (García-Peña et al., 1999). The enzymes involved in tannic acid degradation by this strain were therefore investigated. The enzyme was partially sequenced. Sequences obtained were identical to the predicted protein sequence of a
-D-glucosidase from Aspergillus kawachii (Iwashita et al, 1999
). The purified tannase was able to cleave the
,14 linkage of a disaccharide, cellobiose, resulting in a novel function for the tannase from A. niger.
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METHODS |
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Micro-organism and culture medium.
Aspergillus niger (IRD-UAM collection strain no. Aa20) used in the present study was selected for its ability to produce tannase. Spores were stored at -20 °C in protect-cryo blocks (bead storage system, Technical Service Consultants, Heywood, UK).
The fermentation medium for tannase production contained (g l-1): KH2PO4, 5; NH4NO3, 10; MgSO4.7H2O, 1; CaCl2.6H2O, 0·1; MnCl2.6H2O, 0·02; NaMoO4.2H2O, 0·01; FeSO4.7H2O, 0·125; glucose, 2·5. The pH was adjusted to 5·5 with 100 mM NaOH. This mineral medium was autoclaved at 121 °C for 15 min. A tannic acid (Sigma) solution was adjusted to pH 5·5, filter-sterilized and added to a final concentration of 0·1 % to the fermentation medium.
Cultures.
Inocula were prepared by transferring the spores to potato dextrose agar and incubating for 4 days at 30 °C. Spores were then scraped into a sterile 0·02 % Tween 80 solution and counted in a Neubauer chamber. Liquid medium to be added to each SSF support was inoculated with the spore suspension at 5x107 spores per g carbon source.
Tannase production in solid-state fermentation (SSF).
Polyurethane foam (PUF) was used as solid support to absorb the inoculated liquid medium. The density of the PUF was 17 kg m-3 (EXPUFLEX, Mexico). The foam was cut into 0·5 cm cubes, and washed twice with cold water followed by a wash with water at 60 °C. The PUF was then dried at 60 °C in an incubator before autoclaving at 121 °C for 15 min. Erlenmeyer flasks containing 10 g PUF were impregnated with 250 ml inoculated medium, prepared as described above. Flasks were incubated at 30 °C for 120 h before harvesting.
Production and concentration of enzyme extract.
Extract (about 2 l) containing extracellular tannase was obtained by compressing PUF in a Buchner funnel. The PUF was washed with 100 mM citrate/phosphate buffer pH 7·0. The extract was then centrifuged (15 min, 7000 r.p.m., Beckman JA14 rotor at 4 °C) and concentrated to 100 ml by ultrafiltration on an Amicon membrane with a 50 kDa molecular mass cut-off (Millipore). The extract was dialysed against water prior to preparative isoelectric focusing.
Tannase activity assay.
Tannase activity was assayed using the HPLC methodology essentially as described by Beverini & Metche (1990). In brief, an enzyme extract (50 µl) was added to 1 ml 0·3 mM tannic acid in 100 mM sodium acetate pH 5·5. The reaction mixture was incubated at 30 °C for 30 min. Freezing the samples at -80 °C stopped the reactions. Each sample was filtered through a 0·22 µm membrane prior to HPLC analysis.
HPLC analysis of tannase substrates and products.
Chromatographic analyses were performed on a Thermo Separation Products HPLC (Software PC1000) with a quaternary HPLC pump, an auto sampler with a 20 µl injection loop and a detector at 280 nm. Compounds were separated on a Phenomenex prodigy 5µ, ODS 3, 100Å, column (250x4·6 mm) at room temperature, with a flow rate of 1·5 ml min-1, by a gradient elution system. The eluents were methanol for pump A, and formic acid and water (1 : 99, v/v) for pump B. Compounds were separated by a linear gradient from 10 % to 100 % B in 5 min. Gallic acid was identified by comparison of its retention time with that of the pure product (Sigma). Different tannins were tested as tannase substrates for tannase activity: (-)-catechin gallate, (-)-epicatechin gallate, (-) epigallo catechin gallate, (-)-gallocatechin gallate, tannic acid and gallic acid methyl ester. Each substrate was diluted in 100 mM acetate buffer pH 5·5 to a final concentration of 1 mg ml-1. The hydrolysis of the different substrates was followed by HPLC. The activity (units) of the enzyme was expressed in µmol gallic acid released in 1 min at 30 °C. All experiments were done in duplicate.
Protein determination.
Protein concentration was determined by the Bio-Rad assay system according to the manufacturer's procedures. BSA was used as a standard.
Purification steps
Preparative isoelectric focusing.
Preparative isoelectric focusing was performed using a Rotofor cylindrical focusing chamber (Bio-Rad) with a capacity of approximately 50 ml, enabling half of the sample to be processed at a time. The chamber is divided into 20 discrete compartments by a membrane core. Ampholytes, pH 310 (Biolyte 310, Bio-Rad) were added to the enzyme solution (about 45 ml) to 1·3 % (v/v). This solution was loaded into the Rotofor chamber and maintained at 4 °C for 20 min before being electro-focused at 12 W constant power for 3 h with a model 3000Xi power supply (Bio-Rad). The contents of the focusing chamber were collected into twenty 2·5 ml fractions. Each fraction was analysed for pH and tannase activity. The run was repeated with the other half of the sample. Tannase-containing fractions from both runs were pooled, and dialysed against 50 mM acetate buffer pH 5·5 prior to anion-exchange chromatography. The proteins in each of the fractions were monitored by SDS-PAGE.
Anion-exchange chromatography.
The Rotofor-purified tannase sample (13 ml) was filtered and applied at 1 ml min-1 to a 7x52 mm MonoQ (Bio-Rad) column equilibrated in 50 mM sodium acetate pH 5·5 (buffer A). The column was washed with 50 mM sodium acetate pH 5·5, until the A280 was equal to that of the buffer. The column was eluted at 1 ml min-1 with 50 mM sodium acetate pH 5·5 containing 1 M NaCl (buffer B), in a stepwise manner starting with 10 % B for 10 ml, followed by a linear gradient from 10 to 60 % B for 25 ml, ending with 100 % B for 7 min. Each fraction was analysed for pH and tannase activity. Tannase-containing fractions were pooled and concentrated to 500 µl in a Centricon 30 (Millipore) prior to gel-filtration chromatography. The proteins in each of the fractions were monitored by SDS-PAGE.
Gel filtration.
The concentrated sample (500 µl) was applied to a Sephadex G-100 (1·6x35 cm) gel-filtration column pre-equilibrated with 50 mM sodium acetate pH 5·5 and eluted with the same buffer at 0·7 ml min-1. Fractions were analysed for tannase activity and protein content. The column was pre-calibrated with gel-filtration molecular mass standards in order to estimate the molecular mass of the tannase.
Molecular mass of tannase in SDS-PAGE.
SDS-PAGE was conducted using a 10 % (w/v) polyacrylamide gel based on the protocol of Laemmli (1970). Protein bands were detected by either Coomassie blue staining or silver staining. Molecular mass markers were purchased from Bio-Rad.
Gel localization of tannase activity.
The sample with tannase activity was mixed with SDS sample buffer without -mercaptoethanol and heated at 40 °C for 5 min. Samples were loaded and run at 70 V per gel, for 2·5 h at 4 °C, in a Mini Protean II electrophoresis cell (Bio-Rad). The location of tannase activity within the gel was determined essentially as described by Aoki et al. (1979)
. The gel was washed for 1 h in 100 ml 2·5 % (v/v) Triton X-100 followed by two 45 min washes with 100 ml 10 mM acetate buffer pH 5·5 with constant shaking. This was followed by incubation of the gel containing tannic acid 0·5 % (w/v) in 0·1 M acetate buffer pH 5·5 at 30 °C, with constant shaking. The tannic acid solution was discarded and replaced with 100 ml 0·5 % (w/v) quinine hydrochloride solution in 0·05 M acetate buffer pH 5·5 at room temperature. Tannase activity appeared as a clear band on a white background.
Tannase characterization
Optimum temperature.
Samples were prepared by adding 50 µl purified tannase to 1 ml 0·3 mM tannic acid solution in 100 mM sodium acetate pH 5. Samples were incubated at 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 °C for 30 min. For analysis, 20 µl of reaction mix was applied to the HPLC chromatography column and eluted as described. Experiments were done in duplicate.
Optimum pH.
The tannic acid substrate solution (0·3 mM final concentration) was dissolved in 0·1 M citrate/phosphate buffer solution. Tannase activity was assayed at pH 3·5, 4·0, 4·5, 5·0, 5·5, 6·0, 6·5 and 7·0. Assays were performed at 30 °C. Enzyme activity was assayed as described above. Experiments were done in duplicate.
HPAEC-PAD analysis.
Cellobiose (Sigma) and its degradation product, glucose, were analysed by anion-exchange chromatography with a Dionex AL50 HPLC and a Dionex CarboPAC PA1 column (4x250 mm) coupled to a Dionex pulsed amperometric detector. For profiles of the effect of the purified tannase on cellobiose, samples were prepared for HPLC by adding 20 µl purified tannase to 200 µl 1·5 mM solution of cellobiose in 100 mM sodium acetate pH 5·5. The reaction mixture was incubated at 30 °C for 1 h. Freezing the samples at -80 °C stopped the reactions. For analysis, 5 µl of sample was applied to the chromatography column and eluted in 90 mM NaOH and 100 mM sodium acetate over 15 min.
Comparison of tannase and -D-glucosidase activities.
Enzyme assays were carried out as follows. Purified enzyme (20 µl) was added to 200 µl 100 mM sodium acetate pH 5·5, containing either 50 mM tannic acid or 50 mM cellobiose or an equimolar concentration of both added together. Each reaction mixture was incubated at 30 °C for 1 h. Freezing the samples at -80 °C stopped the reactions. Tannase activity was assayed as described above. The -D-glucosidase activity of the pure enzyme was assayed by glucose determination using the GOD-PAP Trinder enzymatic kit from SPINREACT, Spain. All the experiments were carried out in duplicate.
Protein sequencing.
The gel-filtration-purified tannase protein was subjected to SDS-PAGE and the Coomassie-blue-stained bands corresponding to the 90 kDa and 180 kDa forms were excised, washed twice with 0·5 ml 50 % acetonitrile in HPLC-grade water, and sent for sequencing. Prior to sequencing, samples were reduced, S-carboxyamidomethylated and tryptic-digested. Sequencing of the tryptic fragments was performed at the Harvard Microchemistry Facility by microcapillary reverse-phase HPLC nano-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (µLC/MS/MS) on a Finnigan LCQ quadrupole ion-trap mass spectrometer as described by Chittum et al. (1998).
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RESULTS |
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DISCUSSION |
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The optimum pH of the A niger tannase characterized in this study, pH 6·0, was similar to those reported by other workers (Barthomeuf et al., 1994; Farias et al., 1994
; Suseela & Nandy, 1983
). Farias et al. (1994)
, working on a Cryphonectria tannase, detected activity between pH 2·5 and 8·5, and high and stable activity was observed between pH 4 and pH 7. We determined a temperature optimum for the A. niger tannase activity of 70 °C. This value was considerably higher than those of tannases produced in liquid-state fermentation (Barthomeuf et al., 1994
; Suseela & Nandy, 1983
). Tannase production by SSF resulted in a thermostable extracellular enzyme. This confirmed earlier studies by Lekha & Lonsane (1994)
, who compared tannase production by A. niger grown in solid and liquid media. They found that enzyme production with SSF was 2·5 times higher compared to liquid fermentation. The enzyme they obtained was completely extracellular in SSF compared to partially intracellular in liquid fermentation. The tannase from SSF exhibited increased thermostability.
All tannases purified so far are multimeric, with molecular masses of the monomeric forms varying from 186 kDa to over 300 kDa (Adachi et al., 1968; Hatamoto et al., 1996
). The purified tannase from the present study is therefore the smallest known active tannase to date, with a molecular mass of 90 kDa. The enzyme is also present in a less active form of 180 kDa, suggesting the presence of a homodimer with two identical subunits.
Prediction of function is based on sequence similarity with proteins of known function. To date, the only gene sequence of a functional tannase (not derived solely from homology studies) is that from Aspergillus oryzae (Hatamoto et al., 1996). The amino acid sequences resulting from tryptic digestion of both the 90 kDa and 180 kDa tannase from A. niger (Fig. 2
) show no sequence homology to that of A. oryzae. Surprisingly, however, the same peptide sequences showed 100 % homology to a 91 kDa
-glucosidase from A. kawachii. In addition, the purified tannase was able to hydrolyse cellobiose, a
-glucosidase substrate. Bifunctional glucosidases have been reported (Sang et al., 1995
), exhibiting both endo and exo activities towards specific oligosaccharide substrates. However, tannases have hitherto only been shown to exhibit esterase activity. Such bifunctionality may be a way for micro-organisms such as Aspergillus to survive in extreme environments or to efficiently degrade cellulose and tannins, abundant in decaying plant material. It is unknown whether the two functions (esterase for the tannase and hydrolase for the
-glucosidase) are carried out by one or two domains within the protein structure. However, as stated by Hegyi & Gernstein (1999)
, there is a low chance that a single-domain protein, highly homologous to a known enzyme, has a different function.
There are similarities between the tannase from A. niger and the -glucosidase from A. kawachii. Both enzymes were partially intracellular when produced by liquid fermentation. On the other hand, under solid culture conditions, both enzymes were secreted into the medium (Iwashita et al., 1998
, 1999
; Ramirez-Coronel, 2000
; Aguilar et al., 2001
). Both enzymes were also thermostable and unspecific. The A. niger tannase was able to remove gallic acid from all the hydrolysable and condensed tannins tested (Table 2
).
Concluding remarks
A thermostable tannase, active at 70 °C, has been purified to homogeneity and characterized. The protein was present in both a monomeric and a dimeric form. The enzyme is non-specific and was able to degrade all tested tannins that contained a gallic acid residue within their structure. More importantly, sequence identity with a -glucosidase was observed. The tannase exhibited cellobiase activity. However, no
-glucosidase activity was detected when the enzyme was assayed in the presence of tannic acid. This is believed to be the first report of a bifunctional tannase.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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Received 12 March 2003;
revised 25 June 2003;
accepted 7 July 2003.
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