Beauveria bassiana Lipase A expressed in Komagataella (Pichia) pastoris with potential for biodiesel catalysis

et al.

Lipases (EC 3.1.1.3) comprise a biotechnologically important group of enzymes because they are able to catalyze both hydrolysis and synthesis reactions, depending on the amount of water in the system. One of the most interesting applications of lipase is in the biofuel industry for biodiesel production by oil and ethanol (or methanol) transesterification. Entomopathogenic fungi, which are potential source of lipases, are still poorly explored in biotechnological processes. The present work reports the heterologous expression and biochemical characterization of a novel Beauveria bassiana lipase with potential for biodiesel production. The His-tagged B. bassiana lipase A (BbLA) was produced in Komagataella pastoris in buffered methanol medium (BMM) induced with 1% methanol at 30°C. Purified BbLA was activated with 0.05% Triton X-100 and presented optimum activity at pH 6.0 and 50°C. N-glycosylation of the recombinant BbLA accounts for 31.5% of its molecular weight. Circular dichroism and molecular modeling confirmed a structure composed of α-helix and β-sheet, similar to α/β hydrolases. Immobilized BbLA was able to promote transesterification reactions in fish oil, demonstrating potential for biodiesel production. BbLA was successfully produced in K. pastoris and shows potential use for biodiesel production by the ethanolysis reaction.

This work was supported by grants from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (FAPESP-CSIC, process 2013/50892-5), Conselho de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), National System for Research on Biodiversity (SisbiotaBrazil, CNPq 563260/2010-6/FAPESP n◦ 2010/52322-3) and CNPq Biodiesel Process n◦ 406838/2013-5. FAG Torres, JJ, MLTP and RJ Ward are Research Fellows of CNPq. FA Facchini was FAPESP fellows; AV and MGP were CNPq fellows, AC and CC were CAPES fellows.

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