Production of Sucrolytic Enzyme by Bacillus licheniformis by the Bioconversion of Pomelo Albedo as a Carbon Source

Recently, there has been increasing use of agro-byproducts in microbial fermentation to produce a variety of value-added products. In this study, among various kinds of agro-byproducts, pomelo albedo powder (PAP) was found to be the most effective carbon source for the production of sucrose hydrolyzing enzyme by Bacillus licheniformis TKU004. The optimal medium for sucrolytic enzyme production contained 2% PAP, 0.75% NH4NO3, 0.05% MgSO4, and 0.05% NaH2PO4 and the optimal culture conditions were pH 6.7, 35 degrees C, 150 rpm, and 24 h. Accordingly, the highest sucrolytic activity was 1.87 U/mL, 4.79-fold higher than that from standard conditions using sucrose as the carbon source. The purified sucrolytic enzyme (sleTKU004) is a 53 kDa monomeric protein and belongs to the glycoside hydrolase family 68. The optimum temperature and pH of sleTKU004 were 50 degrees C, and pH = 6, respectively. SleTKU004 could hydrolyze sucrose, raffinose, and stachyose by attacking the glycoside linkage between glucose and fructose molecules of the sucrose unit. The K-m and V-max of sleTKU004 were 1.16 M and 5.99 mu mol/min, respectively. Finally, sleTKU004 showed strong sucrose tolerance and presented the highest hydrolytic activity at the sucrose concentration of 1.2 M-1.5 M.

Automated summary

The study found that pomelo albedo powder is the most effective carbon source for producing sucrose hydrolyzing enzyme by Bacillus licheniformis TKU004. The optimized medium and culture conditions resulted in a 4.79-fold increase in sucrolytic activity compared to standard conditions, with the purified enzyme showing strong sucrose tolerance and highest hydrolytic activity at 1.2 M-1.5 M sucrose concentration.