[Improving the thermostability of α-amylase from Rhizopus oryzae by rational design]

Fungal α-amylases are widely used in the production of maltose syrup, while additional production costs may be required in the syrup production process due to the loss of enzyme activity, because of the poor thermostability exhibited in this type of enzyme. After deeply studying the importance of thermostability of fungal α-amylases applied in industrial production, with attempt to improve the thermostability of Rhizopus oryzae α-amylase (ROAmy), single-point mutations and combined mutations that based on analysis of B-factor values and molecular dynamics simulations were carried out for amino acid residues G128, K269 and G393 of ROAmy by overlapping PCR. The results showed that all the 7 mutants obtained presented better thermostability than the wild-type enzyme, and the best mutant was G128L/K269L/G393P which showed a 5.63-fold increase in half-life at 55 ℃ compared with the wild-type enzyme. Meanwhile, its optimum temperature increased from 50 ℃ to 65 ℃, the maximum reaction rate (Vmax) and catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) increased by 65.38% and 99.86%. By comparing and analyzing the protein structure and function between the mutants and the wild-type enzyme, it was found that the increase of the number of hydrogen bonds or the introduction of proline in special position may be the main reasons for the improved thermostability that found in the mutants.