Aspergillus oryzae S2 AmyA amylase expression in Pichia pastoris: production, purification and novel properties

A synthetic cDNA-AmyA gene was cloned and successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris as a His-tagged enzyme under the methanol inducible AOX1 promoter. High level of extracellular amylase production of 72 U/mL was obtained after a 72h induction by methanol. As expected, the recombinant strain produced only the AmyA isoform since the host is a protease deficient strain. Besides, the purified r-AmyA showed a molecular mass of 54kDa, the same pH optimum equal to 5.6 but a higher thermoactivity of 60 degrees C against 50 degrees C for the native enzyme. Unlike AmyA which maintained 50% of its activity after a 10-min incubation at 60 degrees C, r-AmyA reached 45min. The higher thermoactivity and thermostability could be related to the N-glycosylation. The r-AmyA activity was enhanced by 46% and 45% respectively in the presence of 4mM Fe2+ and Mg2+ ions. This enzyme was more efficient in bread-making since such ions were reported to have a positive impact on the nutriment quality and the rheological characteristics of the wheat flour dough. The thermoactivity/thermostability as well as the iron and magnesium activations could also be ascribed to the presence of an additional C-terminal loop containing the His tag.