Expression of a Beauveria bassiana chitosanase (BbCSN-1) in Pichia pastoris and enzymatic analysis of the recombinant protein

Chitosanase (EC 3.2.1.132) is an important chitosan-degrading enzyme involved in industrial applications. In this study, a chitosanase gene (BbCSN-1) from Beauveria bassiana, an insect fungal pathogen, was cloned and expressed in Pichia pastoris. The amount of BbCSN-1 in the fermentation broth of P. pastoris gradually increased after induction with methanol from one to 6 d, reaching 398 mu g/m1 on the 6th day. The molecular characteristics of BbCSN-1 were measured with colloidal chitosan as a substrate. The purified BbCSN-1 exhibited optimum activity at pH 5 and 30 degrees C and was stable at pH 2-8 and below 40 degrees C. The Km value of BbCSN-1 was approximately 0.8 mg/ml at 30 degrees C (pH 6.0). The activity of BbCSN-1 was significantly enhanced by Mn2+ but inhibited by Co2+ and Cu2+. These results indicated that BbCSN-1 from B. bassiana could be easily expressed in P. pastoris, which provided a basis for further study on its application.