Thermophilic archaeal enzymes and applications in biocatalysis

Thermophilic enzymes have advantages for their use in commercial applications and particularly for the production of chiral compounds to produce optically pure pharmaceuticals. They can be used as biocatalysts in the application of 'green chemistry'. The thermophilic archaea contain enzymes that have already been used in commercial applications such as the L-aminoacylase from Thermococcus litoralis for the resolution of amino acids and amino acid analogues. This enzyme differs from bacterial L-aminoacylases and has similarities to carboxypeptidases from other archaeal species. An amidase/gamma-lactamase from Sulfolobus solfataricus has been used for the production of optically pure gamma-lactam, the building block for antiviral carbocyclic nucleotides. This enzyme has similarities to the bacterial signature amidase family. An alcohol dehydrogenase from Aeropyrum pernix has been used for the production of optically pure alcohols and is related to the zinc-containing eukaryotic alcohol dehydrogenases. A transaminase and a dehalogenase from Sulfolobus species have also been studied. The archaeal transaminase is found in a pathway for serine synthesis which is found only in eukaryotes and not in bacteria. It can be used for the asymmetric synthesis of homochiral amines of high enantioselective purity. The L-2-haloacid dehalogenase has applications both in biocatalysis and in bioremediation. All of these enzymes have increased thermostability over their mesophilic counterparts.