2
A. ZHOU ET AL.
Center. E. coli BL21 (DE3) and pET-28a (þ) were used
as host and expression vector, respectively (Novagen,
Madison, WI, USA). p-Nitrophenyl-b-glucopyranoside
(20 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.0, 0.1 M NaCl, 250 mM
imidazole). The active fractions were pooled and dia-
lyzed against 20 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.0. The
purified protein was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sul-
fate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) on
10% separating gel. Protein concentrations were deter-
mined by the method of Bradford using bovine serum
albumin (BSA) as a standard.
(pNPbGlc), pNP-a-glucopyranoside (pNPaGlc), pNP-
b-galactopyranoside (pNPbGal), pNP-a-galactopyrano-
side (pNPaGal), pNP-b-mannopyranoside (pNPbMan),
pNP-a-mannopyranoside (pNPaMan), pNP-b-xylopyra-
noside
(pNPbXyl),
pNP-a-L-arabinofuranoside
(pNPaAraf) were from Sigma (St. Louis, MO). Genomic
DNA isolation, DNA purification, and plasmid isolation
kits were from Tian gen Biotech (Beijing, China).
Characterization of recombinant BoXyl43A
Assay of the specific activity of BoXyl43A was carried
out in 200 lL of 20 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) con-
taining 5 mM substrate and 2 lg recombinant
Cloning and expression of boxyl43a gene
ꢀ
Genomic DNA of B. ovatus was isolated using Tian gen
BoXyl43A. After incubating at 30 C for 5 min, the reac-
genomic DNA isolation kit. The primers having restric-
tion was stopped by adding 50 lL Na CO (0.5 M), and
2
3
0
tion sites for EcoRI (5 - CGGAATTCATGAAAAAAGAAA
the released p-nitrophenol was measured at 405 nm
by BioTek ELx808 microplate reader (Winooski, VT,
USA). The reaction mixture without enzyme was used
0
0
TGAGATACC-3 ) and XhoI (5 - CCGCTCGAGTTACTA
0
CGCTCCTCCATCTAT-3 ) were used for gene boxyl43a
ꢀ
amplification. PCR was performed using DreamTaq
Green PCR Master Mix (Thermo Scientific) and the pro-
as the control. At assay conditions of pH 7.0, 30 C,
the amount of enzyme releasing 1 lmol/min of p-
nitrophenyl was defined as one unit (U).
ꢀ
gram was as follows: 95 C for 5 min, 30 cycles of
ꢀ
ꢀ
ꢀ
9
5 C for 30 s, 63 C for 45 s, 72 C for 1 min, and final
Effect of pH on BoXyl43A activity was determined
at pH 2.0-11.0 using pNPbXyl (5 mM) as substrate. The
pH stability was determined under standard assay con-
ditions after incubation of the purified BoXyl43A for
ꢀ
extension at 72 C for 10 min. The PCR product and
pET-28a (þ) were digested with EcoRI and XhoI,
respectively. Then boxyl43a gene was ligated with
pET-28a (þ) to generate the recombinant plasmid
pET28a-boxyl43a. Obtained recombinant amplicon was
analyzed by Comate Bioscience Co. Ltd. (Changchun,
China) with T7 and T7-ter as sequencing primers. For
BoXyl43A expression, E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells harboring
pET28a-boxyl43a were grown in 200 mL of LB culture
ꢀ
24 h at 4 C in the buffers without substrate. The effect
of temperature on BoXyl43A activity was investigated
by measuring the BoXyl43A activity at temperatures
ꢀ
ꢀ
ranging from 30 C to 50 C. Thermostability was
determined by incubating the enzyme at the tempera-
ꢀ
ꢀ
tures from 30 C to 50 C for 1 h 30 min. Residual activ-
ities were measured as described before. The initial
activity without incubation was set as 100%.
ꢀ
with 50 lg/mL kanamycin at 37 C, 160 rpm. After the
OD600 nm of bacteria reached 0.6, the culture was
induced with 0.5 mM IPTG and grown overnight at
The effects of metal ions and chemicals on the
activity of BoXyl43A were determined by incubating
ꢀ
2
5 C for expression of BoXyl43A.
purified enzyme with each metal ion or chemical (5 or
ꢀ
5
0 mM) for 24 h at 4 C. The reaction mixture without
Purification of recombinant BoXyl43A
enzyme was used as the control. The activity of
BoXyl43 assayed in the absence of metal ions or
chemical was taken as 100%, and then the residual
activity was determined using pNPbXyl as substrate.
Recombinant cells were harvested by centrifugation at
8
000 rpm for 10 min and suspended in 20 mL of lysis
buffer (20 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.0, 0.1 M NaCl)
and then disrupted by sonication on ice (3 s pulses
with 6 s interval for 10 min). Cell debris was removed
Determination of kinetic parameters
ꢀ
by centrifugation at 4 C and 13,000 rpm for 45 min,
and crude protein was obtained in supernatant.
Recombinant BoXyl43A carrying His-tag was loaded
To determine the kinetic parameters for pNPbXyl, the
buffer used was identical to that stated above and
five substrate concentrations ranging from 0.2 mM to
1 mM were used. Reactions were initiated with 20 lL
BoXyl43A (0.1 mg/mL) and production of pNP was
monitored at 405 nm every 15 s. The time courses
were linear for the first 2 min, and the rate was
2
þ
onto Ni
affinity column (GE healthcare). The 2 mL
2
þ
Ni
column was pre-equilibrated with the binding
buffer, washed with 20 mL washing buffer (20 mM
phosphate buffer, pH 7.0, 0.1 M NaCl, 20 mM imid-
azole) and then eluted with 20 mL eluting buffer