A novel GH16 beta-agarase isolated from a marine bacterium, Microbulbifer sp. BN3 and its characterization and high-level expression in Pichia pastoris.

An agar-degrading bacterium, strain BN3, was isolated from a coastal soil sample collected in Taiwan Strait, China and identified to be a novel species of the genus Microbulbifer. The gene (N3-1) encoding for a novel β-agarase from the isolate was cloned and sequenced. It encoded a mature protein with 274 amino acids and a calculated molecular mass of 34.