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Purification
and Characterization of a Novel Chitinase from Bacillus brevis
LI
Sheng, ZHAO Zhi-An, LI Ming, GU Zhen-Rong1, BAI Chen, HUANG Wei-Da*
(
Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai
200433, China;
1Shanghai
Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai 201106,
China )
Abstract An extracellular chitinase secreted by Bacillus
brevis was purified to homogeneity by a combination of ammonium sulfate
precipitation, Phenyl-Sepharose hydrophobic-interaction chromatography and DEAE
anion-exchange chromatography. On SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
analysis, the purified enzyme showed a mass of 85 kD even in the presence of b-mercaptoethanol, but shifted to 48 kD when
heated in boiling water or treated with 8 mol/L urea at 50 ℃ for 10 min. The depolymerization of subunits was
accompanied with the loss of chitinase activity, and removing denaturing
factors by dialysis could restore the dimer structure and enzymatic activity.
The enzyme had an isoelectric point of 5.5 and an optimal temperature of 60 ℃, and was most active at pH 8.0. The enzymatic
activity was stable at pH 6–10, and
inhibited by Ag+. Ten N-terminal amino acids were determined to be
AVSNSKIIGY, demonstrating that the purified enzyme was a novel one. The
hydrolysis pattern of the purified enzyme indicated that the chitinase was an
endochitinase. The extraordinary thermo-stability and high resistance to
proteolysis provide the enzyme with a good prospect to be used as a new tool
for biocontrol.
Key
words endochitinase; Bacillus
brevis; purification; dimer; disulfide bonds
Chitin
(linear poly b-1,4-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine)
is the second most abundant biopolymer on the earth[1] and can be
found mainly in the cuticles of insects, shells of crustaceans, and cell walls
of most fungi[2]. However, a wider range of organisms has the
ability of producing chitinases (EC3.2.1.14), including those
non-chitin-bearers such as bacteria, plant and vertebrates[3]. In
fungi[4], invertebrates[5] partly composed of chitin
chitinases are involved in morphogenesis, whereas in high plants 6] and
vertebrates[7] chitinases function as defensive weapons against
invasion of pathogens. Lots of pathogenic and parasitic microbes and
invertebrates synthesize chitinases in order to aggress upon chitin-containing
organisms[8]. In bacteria, chitinases are used mainly for their
nutrition[9] and parasitism purpose[10]. Numerous
chitinases from various origins constitute a super family and form a complex
chitinolytic enzyme system, which is parallel to the cellulolytic enzyme
complex[11]. To completely degrade chitin into free N-acetylglucosamine
(GlcNAc), a synergistic and consecutive action of different types of chitinases
and other enzymes is needed[12]. According to the characteristics of
hydrolyzing chitin, the chitinases are classified into two types, exochitinase
and endochitinase[13]. Endochitinases cleave randomly inside the
chains of chitin and cut them into shorter segments[13].
Exochitinases (exo-N,N′-diacetylchitobiohydrolase)
or chitobiosidase, hydrolyze chitin from the terminal end and release
chitobiose[13]. Another enzyme named N-acetylglucosaminidases
(EC 3.2.1.30) hydrolyzes short oligomers, typically chitobiose dimer units, and
releases N-acetylglucosamine[13].
Recently
chitin and chitinases are receiving more and more attention from biologists. A
wide variety of medical applications of chitin and chitin derivatives have been
reported over the last three decades[14]. N, N′-diacetylchitobiose
has been widely used as starting material for synthesis of biological active
compounds[15,16]. Chitinases promise to be safer pesticides (than
chemical ones) and microbial biocontrol agents due to the importance of
chitinolytic enzymes in insect, nematode, and fungal growth and development[17].
Chitinase activity in human serum has recently been detected, and it may play a
role in defending the invasion of fungal pathogens[18].
Bacteria,
fungi, plants and insects are four major objects of chitinase research. In
bacteria, Bacillus[19] and Streptomyces[20]
are intensively studied for their high productivity of chitinases. Wiwat et
al.[19]reported that Bacillus circulans WL-12
secreted chitinases into the culture medium, among which chitinase A1 showed
strong affinity to chitin and played a major role in the hydrolysis of chitin.
Chitinases have also been found in other Bacillus species including B.cereus,
B.licheniformis and B.subtilis[21].
Bacillus
brevis No.G1 is a newly isolated strain from
soil in Shanghai of China for its high chitinase activity secreted in culture
medium[22]. In this study we purified the extracellular chitinase to
homogeneity from the fermented broth of B.brevis No.G1 and investigated
its physico-chemical properties. With the determination of partial N-terminal
amino acid sequence and its characteristics, we demonstrated that the purified
enzyme was a novel endochitinase.
1 Materials and Methods
1.1
Bacterial strain and culture condition
Bacillus
brevis No.G1 was isolated from soil in Shanghai
of China as previously reported[22]. Cultures were maintained on
nutrient agar slants and incubated at 30 ℃
for 72 h. The bacterial cells were then inoculated into a
500-ml Erlenmeyer flask containing 50 ml liquid medium, cultured at 30 ℃
for 48–72
h on a shaker until most spores broke off. The liquid medium for bacterial
growth contained 20 g/L soybean powder, 4 g/L starch, 3 g/L peptone, 2 g/L
yeast extract, 0.3 g/L KH2PO4, 0.2 g/L MgSO4,
and 1 g/L CaCO3.
1.2
Chemicals
Phenyl-Sepharose
CL-4B, DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow, Sephadex G-150 were purchased from Pharmacia
LKB (Uppsala Sweden). Purified chitin, chitosan and thin-layer chromatography
(TLC) plates were purchased from Sigma. Other chemicals were of analytical
grade.
1.3
Preparation of colloidal chitin
Colloidal
chitin was prepared from purified chitin according to the method of Roberts et
al.[23] with minor modification. Ten grams of chitin powder were
added slowly into 180 ml of HCl (37%, W/V) at 25 ℃
under vigorous stirring for 2 h. The suspension was poured into 1 liter of
ice-cold 95% alcohol under vigorous stirring for 30 min, and stored at -20 ℃
until use. When in need, 10 ml of the suspension was centrifuged. The
precipitate was washed with 50 ml of 0.1 mol/L sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0)
for 3 times. The derived precipitate was dissolved in 90 ml 0.1 mol/L sodium
phosphate buffer (pH 6.0), which was about 10 g/L colloidal chitin solution.
1.4
Purification of chitinase
The
fermented broth of B. brevis No.G1 was collected by brief centrifugation
and the proteins fractionated with 50% saturation (NH4)2SO4
were collected by centrifugation at 8 000 g for 20 min. The protein
precipitate was dissolved in 0.8 mol/L (NH4)2SO4
solution and the insoluble materials were removed by centrifugation at 15 000 g
for 30 min. The derived supernatant was applied onto a Phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B
column (f1.2
cm×10 cm) pre-equilibrated with 1 mol/L (NH4)2SO4.
The column was washed with 1.5 bed volumes of 1 mol/L (NH4)2SO4,
2 bed volumes of 0.1 mol/L (NH4)2SO4, and then
eluted with distilled water. The flow rate was maintained at 0.5 ml/min. The fractions
with chitinase activity were pooled and dialyzed overnight at 4 ℃
against 10 mmol/L Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.2. The dialysate was collected and
immediately applied on a DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow column (f1.2
cm×4 cm) pre-equilibrated with 10 mmol/L Tris-HCl
buffer, pH 8.2. The column was further washed with 1.5 bed volumes of 10 mmol/L
Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.2) and then developed with linear 0.04–0.14
mol/L NaCl gradient in 10 mmol/L Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.2. The flow rate was
maintained at 0.25 ml/min. The fractions with chitinase activity were pooled,
concentrated and kept at -20 ℃
until use.
For
N-terminal amino acid sequencing, the enzyme fraction was further purified by
reverse-phase HPLC. Chitinase fractions derived from DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow were
loaded on a Zorbax 300SB-CN column (du Pont, f250
mm×4.6 mm I.D.), and the column was
developed with acetonitrile gradient supplemented with 0.1% trifluoroacetic
acid (TFA). The elution pattern was monitored by absorbance at 220 nm and 280
nm. The major peak was collected and lyophilized for automatic amino acid
sequencing.
1.5
Enzymatic activity assay
Two
methods for enzymatic activity assay were used in this work. For rapidly
tracing chitinase activity during the chromatographic separation processes, 100
ml
of each fraction was mixed with 2 ml 10 g/L chitosan in 50 mmol/L acetate
buffer (pH 5.0) and incubated at 50 ℃
for 10 min. The viscositic changes of the chitosan solutions were checked with
naked eye to determine those fractions with chitinase enzyme activity.
Quantitative assay of chitinase activity was carried out by colorimetric method
described by Imoto et al.[24]. In a typical reaction, 50 ml
enzyme solution, 0.05 ml 10 g/L colloidal chitin and 0.35 ml of 0.1 mol/L
Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0) were mixed and incubated at 60 ℃
for 15 min. Reaction was terminated by heating in boiling water for 15 min, and
mixed with 2.0 ml of 1.5 mmol/L potassium ferricyanide solution. The mixture
was then heated in boiling water for another 15 min and cooled to room
temperature. The supernatant was subjected to spectrophotometry measurement at
420 nm. The enzyme activity was calculated from a standard curve obtained with
known concentration of GlcNAc. One unit of chitinase activity was defined as
the amount of enzyme that liberated 1 mmol
GlcNAc per min at pH 8.0 and 60 ℃.
Negative control tubes contained all components except substrate, and blanks
contained all components except the enzyme.
1.6
Electrophoresis
SDS-polyacrylamide
gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was performed according to the method described
by Sambrook et al.[25]. The proteins were stained with
Coomassie brilliant blue R-250. For isoelectric focusing (IEF) experiment,
about 5 mg
of sample proteins in 20 ml
solution were loaded to a precasted capillary gel with 0.75% Ampholine (pH
range 3.5–10)[26],
and run under 200 V for 5 h.
Amyloglucosidase (pI 3.6), trypsin inhibitor (pI 4.6), b-lactoglubin
A (pI 5.1), conalbumin (pI 6.0), myoglobin (pI 6.8, 7.2), lentil lectin (pI
8.2, 8.6, 8.8), and trypsinogen (pI 9.3) were used as markers.
1.7
Zymogram
To
identify the protein of chitinase, zymographic approach was applied on samples
derived from DEAE Fast Flow chromatography. Samples were separated on 10%
polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at pH 8.3. As soon as the electrophoresis
was finished, the gel was immediately placed on an agarose slab gel containing
10 g/L colloidal chitin. After incubation for 1.5 h at 37 ℃,
a transparent band could be seen on the agarose slab. The sections of the
polyacrylamide gel overlapping with the transparent band were carefully cut out
and pestled with sample buffer in an Eppendorf tube. The derived paste was
analyzed on 10% SDS-PAGE.
1.8
Gel filtration chromatography
Gel
filtration chromatography was used for determination of molecular weight of
chitinase. Sephadex G-150 was packaged in a 1.2 cm ×60
cm column and pre-equilibrated with 10 mmol/L Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.2) at a
flow rate of 0.15 ml/min. About 0.4 ml concentrated enzyme obtained from the
DEAE Fast Flow column was applied to the column and eluted with the same
buffer. Protein profile was monitored at 280 nm. The molecular weight was
estimated from a standard curve obtained from the proteins with their molecular
weights known.
1.9
Determination of protein concentration
Protein
concentrations were determined by Folin phenol method[27], with
bovine serum albumin as the reference.
1.10 Silica thin layer chromatography
Silica
thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed according to the method described
by Xia et al.[28]. Five ml
of chitosan samples treated with HCl or digested with purified chitinase, were
applied on TLC plate, and the plate was developed by n-butanol ∶
acetic acid ∶
water (2 ∶
1 ∶ 1). For chitinase digestion, 1 ml of 1%
chitosan in 50 mmol/L acetate buffer (pH 5.0) was mixed with 6 mg
purified enzyme and incubated at 60 ℃
for 1 h, or at 37 ℃
for 24 h. For HCl treatment, 10 g/L chitosan in 4 mol/L HCl was prepared and
heated at 90 ℃
for 2 h. GlcNAc and chitotetraose were used as markers for TLC.
1.11 N-terminal amino acid sequencing
Samples
obtained from reverse-phase HPLC were lyophilized and subjected to N-terminal
amino acid sequencing on an automatic protein sequencer (Model 473A, Applied
Biosystems Inc, USA)
2 Results and Discussion
2.1
Purification of chitinase
B.brevis
No.G1 was originally isolated from soil of
Shanghai urban for its high chitinase activity secreted into the culture media[22].
We purified a chitinase secreted by this new strain of B.brevis for
further study. Proteins in the fermented broth was recovered with (NH4)2SO4
precipitation at 50% saturation. The protein precipitates were dissolved in 0.8
mol/L (NH4)2SO4 solution and separated by
Phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B hydrophobic interaction chromatography. In a typical
separation, 30 ml of the sample solution containing 68.4 mg of crude proteins
was applied to a 1.2 cm×10
cm column, and developed as described in Materials and Methods. Four protein
peaks were detected at 280 nm as shown in Fig.1 and Fig.2. Chitinase activity was
only found in the last peak eluted with distilled H2O.
