Burkholderia cepacia lipase (BCL) was proved to be a potential catalyst in chiral resolution. However, it is not widely applied in industry because of the low catalysis activity and poor stability of the free lipase. In this study, BCL was immobilized on modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes to enhance its catalysis performance. The immobilization conditions were further optimized via single factorial experiments and response surface methodology (RSM). Under the optimum conditions, the enzyme activity attained was 50200 U g−1, 54 fold that of the free lipase in resolution of 1-phenylethanol, resulting in an immensely shortened reaction time from 30 h of the free lipase to 10 min of the immobilized one. SEM micrographs verified that CNTs were truncated and the closed ends were opened by concentrated H2SO4. EDS further confirmed the modification and successful immobilization of the lipase. FT-IR analysis demonstrated that improvement of enzyme activity and ees was correlated to the alteration of the secondary structure. Compared with other immobilized lipases, CNT–BCL exhibits great advantages and possesses promising potential in industrial application.

This study attempted to enhance the expression level of Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase (TLL) in Pichia pastoris using a series of strategies. The tll gene was first inserted into the expression vector pPIC9 K and transformed into P. pastoris strain GS115. The maximum hydrolytic activity of TLL reached 4,350 U/mL under the optimal culture conditions of a 500 mL shaking flask containing 20 mL culture medium with the addition of 1.2 % (w/v) methanol, cultivation for 144 h at pH 7.0 and 27 °C. To further increase the TLL expression and copy number, strains containing two plasmids were obtained by sequential electroporation into GS115/9k-TLL #3 with a second vector, either pGAPZαA-TLL, pFZα-TLL, or pPICZαA-TLL. The maximum activity of the resultant strains GS115/9KTLL-ZαATLL #40, GS115/9KTLL-FZαATLL #46 and GS115/9KTLL-GAPTLL #45 was 6,600 U/mL, 6,000 U/mL and 4,800 U/mL, respectively. The tll copy number in these strains, as assessed by real-time quantitative PCR, was demonstrated to be seven, five, and three, respectively, versus two copies in GS115/9k-TLL #3. When a co-feeding strategy of sorbitol/methanol was adopted in a 3-L fermenter, the maximum TLL activity of GS115/9k-TLL #3 increased to 27,000 U/mL after 130 h of fed-batch fermentation, whereas, the maximum TLL activity was 19,500 U/mL after 145 h incubation when methanol was used as the sole carbon source.

In this study, hydrophobic macroporous resin NKA was employed as matrix for immobilization of free Rhizopus oryzae lipase (ROL). The performance of the immobilized ROL was significantly enhanced. The recovery activity was up to 1,293.78 % and the specific activity increased to 152,914 U/g-protein, which was 46-fold higher than that of the free lipase. Moreover, the immobilized lipase showed higher thermostability and better pH-resistance than its free counterpart. Additionally, three different nonaqueous modification strategies (including bioimprinting, lecithin coating, and lyophilization protection) were further utilized to improve the performance of the immobilized lipase. The corresponding enhancements were 33.68 %, 31.98 %, and 99.86 %. When these modifications were combined together, the activity improved 209.51 %. In order to confirm its practical application, the modified ROL was used to biorefine rapeseed oil deodorizer distillate (RODD) for biodiesel production. The highest conversion yield reached 98.23 %, much close to that (97.46 %) of Novozym 435. The results suggest that the prepared lipase in this study is a promising biocatalyst with high stability, efficiency and operational reusability.

•NAD synthetase overexpression increased NAD(H) pool, reduced NADH/NAD+ ratio.•Low NADH/NAD+ ratio improved glucose uptake, enhanced hydrogen yield.•High level NAD(H) pool promoted hydrogen production.•Double modification strategy exhibited positive synergistic effect.•The mutant strain produced 2.89 mol H2/mol glucose and 5.1 L H2/L.The effects of combining two strategies, recycling NAD and improving the availability of NADH, on hydrogen production in Enterobacter aerogenes were investigated. The NAD synthetase encoded by nadE gene was homologously overexpressed in AB91002-O, which had been obtained previously, to increase the intracellular concentration of the NAD(H/+) pool. This overexpression was duplicated in mutant strains in which the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) gene (ppc) and hybO gene were knocked out, yielding AB91102-OP (ΔhybO/Δppc), AB91102-ON (ΔhybO/nadE), and AB91102-OP/N (ΔhybO/Δppc/nadE). Chemostat experiments showed that the total NAD(H) pool size in AB91102-ON increased 2-fold compared with the control strain AB91102-OC, but the NADH/NAD+ ratio decreased by 24%. Metabolic analysis of batch experiments indicated that a larger NAD(H/+) pool and inactivation of PEPC led to a significant shift in metabolic patterns, whereas a smaller NADH/NAD+ ratio improved glucose uptake. Thus, compared with the control strain, the hydrogen yields per glucose of the mutant strains AB91102-OP, AB91102-ON, and AB91102-OP/N were enhanced by 36.2%, 66.0%, and 149%, respectively, and the total volumes of hydrogen production increased by 27%, 165%, and 301%, respectively. The maximum hydrogen production of 5.1 L/L was achieved by AB91102-OP/N, suggesting that the double modification strategy exhibits markedly positive synergistic effects on hydrogen production.

A novel esterase gene was isolated by functional screening of a metagenomic library prepared from an activated sludge sample. The gene (est-XG2) consists of 1,506 bp with GC content of 74.8 %, and encodes a protein of 501 amino acids with a molecular mass of 53 kDa. Sequence alignment revealed that Est-XG2 shows a maximum amino acid identity (47 %) with the carboxylesterase from Thermaerobacter marianensis DSM 12885 (YP_004101478). The catalytic triad of Est-XG2 was predicted to be Ser192-Glu313-His412 with Ser192 in a conserved pentapeptide (GXSXG), and further confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. Phylogenetic analysis suggested Est-XG2 belongs to the bacterial lipase/esterase family VII. The recombinant Est-XG2, expressed and purified from Escherichia coli, preferred to hydrolyze short and medium length p-nitrophenyl esters with the best substrate being p-nitrophenyl acetate (Km and kcat of 0.33 mM and 36.21 s−1, respectively). The purified enzyme also had the ability to cleave sterically hindered esters of tertiary alcohols. Biochemical characterization of Est-XG2 revealed that it is a thermophilic esterase that exhibits optimum activity at pH 8.5 and 70 °C. Est-XG2 had moderate tolerance to organic solvents and surfactants. The unique properties of Est-XG2, high thermostability and stability in the presence of organic solvents, may render it a potential candidate for industrial applications.

In order to illustrate the underlining mechanism of the effect of high pressure on lipases from different resources, the influence of compressed carbon dioxide treatment on the esterification activities and conformation of the three lipases Candida rugosa lipase (CRL), Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase, and Rhizopus oryzae lipase was investigated in the present work. The results showed that the lipases activities were significantly enhanced in most of high-pressure treatments, except the pressure had a negative effect on CRL activity in supercritical condition. Mild depressurization rate could remain the lipase’s activity by protecting its rigid structure under supercritical fluid. Conformational analysis by Fourier transform-infrared spectrometry and fluorescence emission spectra revealed that the variances of lipase activity after high-pressure treatment were correlated with the changes of its α-helix content and fluorescence intensity. Additionally, transesterification catalyzed by three lipases in supercritical carbon dioxide were conducted, and 87.2 % biodiesel conversion was obtained by CRL after 3 h, resulting in a great reduction of reaction time.

Geotrichum sp. lipase (GSL) was first displayed on the cell wall of Pichia pastoris on the basis of the a-agglutinin anchor system developed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Surface display levels were monitored using Western blotting, immunofluorescence miscroscopy, and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis. Lipase activity of the yeast whole cells reached a maximum at 273 ± 2.4 U/g of dry cells toward olive oil after 96 h of culture at 30 °C, with optimal pH and temperature at 7.5 and 45 °C, respectively. Displayed GSL exhibited relatively high stability between pH 6.0 and 8.0 and retained >70% of the maximum activity. The surface-displayed lipase retained 80% of its original activity after incubation at 45 °C for 4 h. Moreover, the GSL-displaying yeast whole cells were then used as a biocatalyst to enrich eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from fish oil on the basis of selective hydrolysis. As a result, EPA and DHA increased from 1.53 and 24.1% in the original fish oil to 1.85 and 30.86%, which were increases of 1.21- and 1.29-fold, respectively. The total yield of EPA and DHA reached 46.62%.

As an alternative, biodegradable and nonpolluting transportation fuel, biodiesel has recently attracted considerable attention. Comparing with conventional chemical catalysis and supercritical methanol, enzymatic transesterification for biodiesel is one of the most promising strategies due to its gentle reaction conditions, environmentally friendly nature, oil feedstock permission and easy product separation. However, the two major obstacles of high cost and easy inactivation of lipases remain to retard their wide commercialization. To overcome these bottlenecks of enzymatic catalysis biodiesel production, we herein report a novel economical biocatalyst by co-displaying two synergistic lipases, Candida antarctica lipase B and Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase, on the surface of Phichia pastoris cell to markedly cut down the cost of biodiesel production. Results showed that the co-displayed whole-cells were promising biocatalysts in biodiesel production with high biodiesel conversion (ca. 95.4%) and good operational stability, which suggests biodiesel catalyzed by the co-displayed whole-cell catalysts should be a promising alternative technology for biodiesel future development.

A lipase from the Burkholderia cepacia strain G63 immobilized on resin was used for the resolution of ketoprofen. To study its catalytic properties in enantioselective esterication, different alcohols and solvents were tested to select the most suitable acyl acceptor and reaction medium. Compared with the low activity of the free lipase, the enzyme activity and E value of the immobilized lipase were significantly enhanced. The enantioselectivity of the immobilized lipase could also be markedly improved by adding a small amount of 18-crown-6. RSM was employed to optimize the reaction parameters. The optimal reaction conditions were: reaction time 22.50 h, additives dosage 0.4322 g (0.33 mmol/mL), and substrate molar ratio 54.11:1. Under optimal conditions, the maximal E value was up to 10.01, which exhibited a better enantioselectivity than some commercial lipases, such as Novozym 435, Lipozyme RM IM and LipozymeTL IM.

Cross-linking of enzyme aggregates from recombinant Geotrichum sp. lipase based on polyethylenimine (PEI) was applied to hydrolyze fish oil for enrichment of polyunsaturated fatty acids successfully. Through acetone precipitation and cross-linking of physical aggregates using glutaraldehyde in the presence of PEI, firmly cross-linked enzyme aggregates (PEI-CLEAs) were prepared. They could maintain more than 65% of relative hydrolysis degree after incubation in the range of 50–55 °C for 4 h and maintain more than 85% of relative hydrolysis degree after being treated by acetone, tert-butyl alcohol and octane for 4 h. PEI-CLEAs increased hydrolysis degree to 42% from 12% by free lipase. After five batch reactions, PEI-CLEAs still maintained 72% of relative hydrolysis degree. Hydrolysis of fish oil by PEI-CLEAs produced glycerides containing concentrated EPA and DHA in good yield. PEI-CLEAs had advantages over general CLEAs and free lipase in initial reaction rate, hydrolysis degree, thermostability, organic solvent tolerance and reusability.

•Codon-optimized CRL1 gene was overexpressed via combining strategy.•A 5 copies CRL1 gene of recombinant was conducted.•CRL1 co-expressed with two chaperones significantly enhanced expression.•The best recombinant strains were fermented in optimized conditions.In this study, combined strategies were employed to heterologously overexpress Candida rugosa lipase Lip1 (CRL1) in a Pichia pastoris system. The LIP1 gene was systematically codon-optimized and synthesized in vitro. The Lip1 activity of a recombinant strain harboring three copies of the codon-optimized LIP1 gene reached 1200 U/mL in a shake flask culture. Higher lipase activity, 1450 U/mL, was obtained using a five copy number construct. Co-expressing one copy of the ERO1p and BiP chaperones with Lip1p, the CRL1 lipase yield further reached 1758 U/mL, which was significantly higher than that achieved by expressing Lip1p alone or only co-expressing one molecular chaperone. When cultivated in a 3 L fermenter under optimal conditions, the recombinant strain GS115/87-ZA-ERO1p-BiP #7, expressing the molecular chaperones Ero1p and BiP, produced 13,490 U/mL of lipase activity at 130 h, which was greater than the 11,400 U/mL of activity for the recombinant strain GS115/pAO815-α-mCRL1 #87, which did not express a molecular chaperone. This study indicates that a strategy of combining codon optimization with co-expression of molecular chaperones has great potential for the industrial-scale production of pure CRL1.