• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1401-1407
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• 2008

The roles of conserved amino acid residues (Va1329-Ala330-Asn331-Glu332), constituting an extra sugar-binding space (ESBS) of Thermus maltogenic amylase (ThMA), were investigated by combinatorial saturation mutagenesis. Various ThMA mutants were firstly screened on the basis of starch hydrolyzing activity and their enzymatic properties were characterized in detail. Most of the ThMA variants showed remarkable decreases in their hydrolyzing activity, but their specificity against various substrates could be altered by mutagenesis. Unexpectedly, mutant H-16 (Gly-Leu-Val-Tyr) showed almost identical hydrolyzing and transglycosylation activities to wild type, whereas K-33 (Ser-Gly-Asp-Glu) showed an extremely low transglycosylation activity. Interestingly, K-33 produced glucose, maltose, and acarviosine from acarbose, whereas ThMA hydrolyzed acarbose to only glucose and acarviosine-glucose. These results propose that the substrate specificity, hydrolysis pattern, and transglycosylation activity of ThMA can be modulated by combinatorial mutations near the ESBS.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.969-975
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• 2003

Two conserved amino acid residues in the extra sugar-binding space near the catalytic site of Thermus maltogenic amylase (ThMA) were analyzed for their role in the hydrolysis and transglycosylation activity of the enzyme. Site-directed mutagenesis was carried out by replacing N33l with a lysine (N331K), E332 with a histidine (E332H), or by replacing both residues at the same time (N331K/E332H). The measured $K_m$ values indicated that affinities toward all substrates tested, including starch, pullulan, ${\beta}-cyclomaltodextrin$, and acarbose, were lower in all the mutants compared to that of wild-type ThMA, leading to reduced hydrolysis activity. In addition, the lower ratio of transglycosylation to hydrolysis in the mutants compared to that in the wild-type ThMA indicated that these mutants preferred hydrolysis to the transglycosylation reaction. These results demonstrated that the conserved dipeptide at 331 and 332 of ThMA is directly involved in the formation and accumulation of transfer products by accommodating acceptor sugar molecules.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Life Science Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.23-37
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• 2003

A novel inhibitor against maltose-producing a-amylase was prepared via stepwise degradation of a high molecular weight acarbose (HMWA) using Thermus maltogenic amylase (ThMA). The structure of the purified inhibitor was determined to be ${\alpha}$-D-glucopyranosyl-${\alpha}$-acarviosinyl-D-glucopyranose (GlcAcvGlc). Progress curves of p-nitrophenyl-${\alpha}$-D-maltoside (PNPG2) hydrolysis by various amylolytic enzymes, including maltogenase (MGase), ThMA, and cyclodextrinase(CDase) I-5, in the presence of acarbose or GlcAcvGlc indicated a slow-binding mode of inhibition. The inhibition potency of GlcAcvGlc for MGase, ThMA, and CDase I-5 was 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of acarbose.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1093-1100
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• 2015

Acetate and lactate in growth media are detrimental to the production of Thermus maltogenic amylase (ThMA), a heterologous protein, as well as to the growth of recombinant Escherichia coli. Only 50 mM of acetate or 10 mM of lactate reduced 90% of specific ThMA activity. In this study, mutant E. coli strains blocked in the ackA-pta or ackA-pta and ldh pathways were created, characterized, and assessed for their culture performace in 300 L-scale fermentation. The ackApta and ldh double-mutant strain formed significantly less lactate and acetate, and produced a concomitant increase in the excretion of pyruvate (17.8 mM) under anaerobic conditions. The ackA-pta mutant strain accumulated significant acetate but had an approximately 2-fold increase in the formation of lactate. The ackA-pta and ldh double-mutant strain had superior overall performance in large-scale culture under suboptimal conditions, giving 67% higher cell density and 66% higher ThMA activity compared with those of the control strain. The doublemutant strain also achieved a 179% improvement in volumetric ThMA production.