Novel Alginate Lyase (Aly5) from a Polysaccharide-Degrading Marine Bacterium, Flammeovirga sp. Strain MY04: Effects of Module Truncation on Biochemical Characteristics, Alginate Degradation Patterns, and Oligosaccharide-Yielding Properties

ABSTRACT Alginate lyases are important tools for oligosaccharide preparation, medical treatment, and energy bioconversion. Numerous alginate lyases have been elucidated. However, relatively little is known about their substrate degradation patterns and product-yielding properties, which is a limit to wider enzymatic applications and further enzyme improvements. Herein, we report the characterization and module truncation of Aly5, the first alginate lyase obtained from the polysaccharide-degrading bacterium Flammeovirga . Aly5 is a 566-amino-acid protein and belongs to a novel branch of the polysaccharide lyase 7 (PL7) superfamily. The protein rAly5 is an endolytic enzyme of alginate and associated oligosaccharides. It prefers guluronate (G) to mannuronate (M). Its smallest substrate is an unsaturated pentasaccharide, and its minimum product is an unsaturated disaccharide. The final alginate digests contain unsaturated oligosaccharides that generally range from disaccharides to heptasaccharides, with the tetrasaccharide fraction constituting the highest mass concentration. The disaccharide products are identified as ΔG units. While interestingly, the tri- and tetrasaccharide fractions each contain higher proportions of ΔG to ΔM ends, the larger final products contain only ΔM ends, which constitute a novel oligosaccharide-yielding property of guluronate lyases. The deletion of the noncatalytic region of Aly5 does not alter its M/G preference but significantly decreases the enzymatic activity and enzyme stability. Notably, the truncated protein accumulates large final oligosaccharide products but yields fewer small final products than Aly5, which are codetermined by its M/G preference to and size enlargement of degradable oligosaccharides. This study provides novel enzymatic properties and catalytic mechanisms of a guluronate lyase for potential uses and improvements.