D-PANTOLACTONE HYDROLASE AND PRODUCTION THEREOF

Abstract: A novel enzyme which selectively hydrolyzes D-pantolactone in D,L-pantolactone, produced by any of the microorganisms belonging to the Genera Fusarium, Cylindrocarpon Gibberella, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Bordetell a, Gliocladium, Eurotium, Nectria, Schizophyllum, Myrothecium, Neurospora, Acremonium, Tubercullna, Absidia, Sporothrix, Verticillium and Arthroderma.

Description: D-pantolactone is known as an intermediate in the preparation of D-pantothenic acid and pantethine both useful as vitamins of medical or physiological importance. The present invention relates to a new enzyme useful for the optical resolution of D,L-pantolactone and a process for the preparation thereof. D-pantolactone has heretofore been prepared through optical resolution of chemically synthesized D,L-pantolactone. Such process, however, requires the use of costly resolving agents such as quinine or brucine, and has such drawbacks as the recovery of D-pantolactone not being easy. Processes of optical resolution of D,L-pantolactone by enzymatic asymmetric hydrolysis have also been known from Japanese published unexamined patent application No. 57-152895 (JP, A, 57-152895) and Japanese published unexamined patent application No. 62-294092 (JP, A, 62-294092). In these processes, the L-pantolactone in D,L-pantolactone is selectively subjected to asymmetric hydrolysis with microorganisms to afford D-pantolactone. These processes have the disadvantage that L-pantolactone, not being completely hydrolysable, does not give D-pantolactone of high optical purity, and they are also of low significance as a practical process for the preparation of D-pantolactone due to the fact that both the substrate concentration and the reaction rate are low. As a result of extensive researches on the asymmetric hydrolysis of D,L-pantolactone, the present inventors have previously found that D-pantolactone can be obtained efficiently from D,L-pantolactone through selective asymmetric hydrolysis by certain microorganisms of the D-pantolactone only in D,L-pantolactone to form D-pantoic acid, followed by separation, and conversion into D-pantolactone, of the D-pantoic acid (see Japanese patent application No. 1-200347). Thus, the present inventors have succeeded in providing a process for the preparation of D-pantolactone, characterized in that the D-pantolactone in D,L-pantolactone is selectively subjected to asymmetric hydrolysis using a microorganism with the lactone-hydrolyzing ability selected from the microorganisms belonging to the genus Fusarium , Cylindrocarpon , Gibberella , Aspergillus , Penicillium , Rhizopus , Volutella , Gliocladium , Eurotium , Nectria , Schizophyllum , Myrothecium , Neurospora , Acremonium , Tuberculina , Absidia , Sporothrix , Verticillium or Arthroderma , to form D-pantoic acid, which is then separated and converted into D-pantolactone. The invention has many advantages, over the above-mentioned known processes of selective asymmetric hydrolysis of the L-pantolactone in D,L-pantolactone, for example in that considerably higher substrate concentrations may be used, that shorter reaction times may be set, and that D-pantolactone of extremely high optical purity can be obtained. The present inventors have now succeeded in obtaining a new enzyme capable of specifically hydrolyzing D-lactone from the specific microorganisms mentioned above. Thus, the present inventors have succeeded in obtaining a new D-pantolactone hydrolase from the culture broth of a microorganism with the ability of producing said new enzyme capable of specifically hydrolyzing D-pantolactone selected from the microorganisms belonging to the genus Fusarium , Cylindrocarpon , Gibberella , Aspercillus , Penicillium , Rhizopus , Volutella , Gliocladium , Eurotuim , Nectria , Schizophyllum , Myrothecium , Neurospora , Acremonium , Tuberculina , Absidia , Sporothrix , Verticillium or Arthroderma . Accordingly, the present invention provides such D-pantolactone hydrolase as well as a process for the preparation of said enzyme by means of microorganisms belonging to the genera mentioned above. In the following is described the present invention in more detail. The new enzyme according to the present invention is, in general, prepared in the following manner. Thus, a microorganism with the D-pantolactone hydrolase-producing ability is selected from the microorganisms belonging to the genus Fusarium , Cylindrocarpon , Gibberella , Aspergillus , Penicillium , Rhizopus , Volutella , Gliocladium , Eurotium , Nectria , Schizophyllum , Myrothecium , Neurospora , Acremonium , Tuberculina , Absidia , Sporothrix , Verticillium or Arthroderma , and cultured and said enzyme is obtained from the culture broth. Examples available to the public of such microorganisms are listed in Table 1. In cultivating these microorganisms, any culture media, synthetic or natural, may be used insofar as they contain, as appropriate, carbon sources, nitrogen sources, inorganics or other nutrients. There are used such media which contain saccharides such as glucose or sucrose, alcohols such as ethanol or glycerin, fatty acids such as oleic acid or stearic acid or esters thereof or oils such as rapeseed oil or soybean oil as carbon sources; ammonium sulfate, sodium nitrate, peptone, Casamino acid, corn steep liquor, bran, yeast extract or the like as nitrogen sources; magnesium sulfate, sodium chloride, calcium carbonate, dipotassium monohydrogenphosphate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate or the like as inorganic salt sources; and malt extract, meat extract or the like as other nutrients. The cultivation is carried out aerobically, normally for an incubation period of 1-7 days at a medium pH of 3 - 9 and an incubation temperature of 10-50°C. Carrying out of the cultivation in the manner as described above results in the production of large amounts of D-pantolactone hydrolase in the culture medium and/or the cells, which enzyme is then obtained in the following manner. Since D-pantolactone hydrolase is normally existent in cells, the procedure will now be described with particular reference to that of obtaining the enzyme from cells. After completion of the cultivation, the culture broth is filtered or centrifuged to obtain cells, which are washed well with water or buffer. The thus obtained cells are suspended in an appropriate volume of buffer and then disrupted. The disruption is carried out mechanically (as with mortar, DYNO®-MILL, french press, ultrasonic disruptor or the like). From the thus obtained disruption suspension of cells is filtered or centrifuged for removal of solids to afford a cell-free extract, from which D-pantolactone hydrolase is obtained through conventional methods of enzyme isolation. Thus, for example, there may be used combinations of such methods as ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography, affinity chromatography, gel filtration and ultrafiltration. To obtain enzyme which accumulates in the extracellular culture medium, the procedure as mentioned above may be followed except in that operations of cell separation and cell disruption are omitted. Thus, as will be mentioned in working examples, the enzyme according to the present invention can easily be purified electrophoretically homogeneously. The enzyme according to the present invention may be characterized as follows: (a) Action: It acts on pantolactone to give the corresponding acid; (b) Specificity for substrate: It acts specifically on D-pantolactone but not on L-pantolactone; (c) pH stability: It is stable at pH 5 - 9 (method of determination: 10 µl of 200 mM buffer of different pH values are added to 40 µl of enzyme solution and each mixture, after reaction at 30°C for 30 minutes, is assayed for activity in accordance with the enzyme activity determination method as described below); (d) Optimal pH: 7.0 - 7.5 (Method of determination: 50 µl of enzyme solution is added to 200 µl of 2.5% D-pantolactone solution in 250 mM buffer of different pH values and each mixture, after reaction at 30°C for 60 minutes, is assayed for activity); (e) Optimal temperature: ca. 50°C (Method of determination: After reaction at different temperatures for 60 minutes the activity is determined in accordance with the enzyme activity determination method); (f) Effect of various metal ions or inhibitors: It is inhibited by Cd 2+ , Hg 2+ , Cu 2+ or EDTA. The following examples are given to illustrate the process for the preparation of the enzyme according to the present invention, but the invention is in no way restricted to these examples. Example 1 Fusarium oxysporum (IFO 5942) was inoculated into each of thirty 2 l shake flasks each containing 500 ml of culture medium with the composition of 5% sucrose, 0.4% sodium nitrate, 0.2% dipotassium monohydrogenphosphate, 0.05% magnesium sulfate, 0.05% potassium chloride, 0.001% ferric sulfate and 0.002% zinc sulfate (pH 6.0), and subjected to shake culture at 28°C for 7 days. The combined culture broths were centrifuged to give 800 g of wet mass of cells. The cells were triturated by means of a DYNO®-MILL with 2.5 l of 0.1 mM dithiothreitol-containing 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.4) added, and the mixture was centrifuged to give 2.3 l of cell-free extract. The specific activity of this cell-free extract and the optical purity of the D-pantoic acid formed were measured and the results are shown in Table 2 (see Example No. 1). Furthermore, 572 g of potassium chloride was added to, and dissolved in, this cell-free extract and the mixture was loaded on a Octyl Sepharose CL4B column (3 x 28cm) and eluted with 3 M potassium chloride. 2.4 l of eluted active fractions were dialyzed against 0.1 mM dithiothreitol-containing 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.4). The resultant 2.9 l of enzyme solution was loaded on a DEAE Sephacel column (5.5 x 34cm) and eluted with a linear gradient of 0 to 0.5 M potassium chloride. 255 ml of eluted active fractions were loaded on a hydroxyapatite column (5 x 10cm) and eluted with a linear gradient of 0 to 0.88 M sodium sulfate. 425 ml of eluted active fractions were subjected to ultrafiltration using an Amicon YM 10, and 115 ml of the resultant enzyme concentrate was dialyzed against 0.1 mM dithiothreitol-containing 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.4). 190 ml of the enzyme solution was subjected to ultrafiltration using an Amicon YM 30 and 14.5 ml of the resultant enzyme solution was loaded on a Sephacryl S-300 column (2.5 x 95cm) and eluted with 0.2 M potassium chloride. 44.5 ml of eluted active fractions were dialyzed against 0.1 mM dithiothreitol-containing 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.4), then loaded on a Q Sepharose Fast Flow column (1.8 x 3cm) and eluted with a linear gradient of 0 to 1 M potassium chloride. 7 ml of eluted active fractions were dialyzed against 0.1 mM dithiothreitol-containing 20 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.4) to obtain 6.8 ml of purified enzyme solution. This purified enzyme solution showed only one band in electrophoresis and, after desalted by gel filtration and then freeze-dried, gave 5.1 mg of enzyme in fine powder. The total activity was 1170 U, the specific activity 232 U/mg and the yield 38.8%. Characteristics of the thus purified D-pantolactone hydrolase are shown below. (1) Method of enzyme activity determination: In determining enzyme activity, the enzyme activity which hydrolyzes 1 µmol of D-pantolactone during one minute under the conditions as specified below was taken as one unit (U). 50 µl of enzyme solution was added to 200 µl of 10% D-pantolactone solution in 0.5 M PIPES buffer (pH 7.0). After reaction at 30°C for 120 minutes, 250 µl of 2 mM EDTA solution in methanol was added to stop the reaction. The resultant reaction mixture was applied to HPLC (Nucleosil 5C 18 4.6 x 150mm; eluent 10% methanol; rate of flow lml/min; detection wavelength 230nm) to determine the % hydrolysis. For example, where the % hydrolysis is 1%, the enzyme activity/ml of enzyme solution corresponds to 1.6x10 -2 U/ml. (2) Specific activity of the purified enzyme: 232 U/mg of protein (3) Molecular weight: 125000 when measured by gel filtration, and 63000 when measured by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This suggests that the enzyme is a dimeric protein consisting of two subunits each having molecular weight 63000. (4) Isoelectric point: 4.7 (5) Optimal pH: 7 - 7.5 (6) pH stability: stable at 5 - 9 (against treatment at 30°C for 60 minutes) (7) Optimal temperature: ca. 50°C (8) Thermal stability: stable up to 50°C (against treatment at pH 7.0 for 60 minutes) (9) Specificity for substrate: It acts specifically on D-pantolactone (Km: 82 mM), but not on L-pantolactone. It acts also on D-galactonolactone (Km: 3.6 mM), D-gulonolactone (Km: 29 mM) and D-mannonolactone (Km: 23 mM), wherein Km stands for Michaelis constant. (10) Inhibitor: The activity of the enzyme is inhibited by certain heavy metal ions. Representatives thereof are shown below. Values in parentheses are those for the activity of the respective metal ions of 2.5 mM in concentration as measured with the activity value in the case of no addition of metal ions taken as 100. Zn 2+ (10), Cd 2+ (0), Cu 2+ (6), Hg 2+ (0). The enzyme is also inhibited completely by 5 mM EDTA. Examples 2-19 The microorganisms described in Nos. 2-19 of Table 1 were used in place of Fusarium oxysporum (IFO 5942) used in Example 1. In accordance with the procedure described in Example 1, the respective microorganisms were cultivated and their respective culture broths were treated to give the corresponding cell-free extracts. From each cell-free extract can be obtained, if necessary, the enzyme as pure product after purification. Each cell-free extract was used to determine, in accordance with the enzyme activity determination method, the specific activity as well as the optical purity of the D-pantoic acid formed. The results are shown in Table 2 (see Example Nos. 2-19). The determination of the D-pantoic acid was carried out using HPLC (MCI GEL CRS 10W 4.6 x 50mm; eluent 2 mM CuSO 4 solution in 10% methanol; rate of flow 0.8 ml/min; detection wavelength 254 nm) (J. Chromatogr., 474 , 405 (1989)). 4. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 shows the activity vs. pH relationship; Fig. 2 shows the activity vs. temperature relationship; Fig. 3 shows the activity vs. pH relationship, as determined by treatment at 30°C for 60 minutes at different pHs; and Fig. 4 shows the activity vs. temperature relationship, as determined by treatment at pH 7.0 for 60 minutes at different temperatures, of D-pantolactone hydrolase of the present invention.

Claims: D-pantolactone hydrolase characterized by the following: (a) action: it acts on pantolactone to give the corresponding acid; (b) specificity for substrate: it acts specifically on D-pantolactone but not on L-pantolactone; (c) pH stability: it is stable at pH 5 - 9; (d) optimal pH: 7.0 - 7.5; (e) optimal temperature: ca. 50°C; and (f) effect of various metal ions or inhibitors: it is inhibited by Cd 2+ , Hg 2+ , Cu 2+ or EDTA. A microbiological process for the preparation of D-pantolactone hydrolase characterized by cultivating a microorganism with the D-pantolactone hydrolase-producing ability which belongs to the genus Fusarium , Cylindrocarpon , Gibberella , Aspergillus , Penicillium , Rhizopus , Volutella , Gliocladium , Eurotium , Nectria , Schizophyllum , Myrothecium , Neurospora , Acremonium , Tuberculina , Absidia , Sporothrix , Verticillium or Arthroderma , and obtaining D-pantolactone hydrolase from the culture broth.

Inventors: SAKAMOTO KEIJI, SHIMIZU SAKAYU, YAMADA HIDEAKI, SAKAMOTO, KEIJI, SHIMIZU, SAKAYU, YAMADA, HIDEAKI
Applicants: FUJI YAKUHIN KOGYO KK, FUJI YAKUHIN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1991
Main classification: C12N9
IPC codes: C12P7, C12N9, C12R1, C12P17, C12P41