Improved activity and pH stability of E. coli ATCC 11105 penicillin acylase by error-prone PCR.

Penicillin G acylase is the key enzyme used in the industrial production of β-lactam antibiotics. This enzyme hydrolyzes penicillin G and related β-lactam antibiotics releasing 6-aminopenicillanic acid, which is an intermediate in the production of semisynthetic penicillins. To improve the enzymatic activity of Escherichia coli penicillin acylase, sequential rounds of error-prone polymerase chain reaction were applied to the E.

Ligase-independent cloning of amylase gene from a local Bacillus subtilis isolate and biochemical characterization of the purified enzyme.

Five hundred ninety-seven bacterial isolates from Turkish hot spring water sources were screened for their ability to produce extracellular α-amylase. Among them, a high enzyme-producing Bacillus subtilis isolate, A28, was selected, and its α-amylase gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli by a ligase-independent method. α-Amylase from the recombinant strain was purified to homogeneity by Q-Sepharose anion exchange and Sephacryl S-100 gel filtration chromatographies.

Improved activity and thermostability of Bacillus pumilus lipase by directed evolution.

To improve enzymatic activity of Bacillus pumilus lipases, DNA shuffling was applied to two lipase genes from local B. pumilus isolates. Using a high-throughput activity assay, the mutant with highest activity was selected.

Mutations in the translation initiation region of the pac gene resulting in increased levels of activity of penicillin G acylase.

Penicillin G acylase (PA) is an important enzyme used in the industrial production of b-lactam antibiotics. In this study, the effects of mutations in the translation initiation region of the Escherichia coli pac gene, encoding periplasmic PA, were examined. Several mutations led to increased amounts of PA activity, including those that lengthened the spacer region between the ribosome binding site and the ATG start codon, and those with altered codons on positions +2 and +4 relative to the start codon.