A new cold-adapted, alkali-stable and highly salt-tolerant esterase from Bacillus licheniformis

Bacterial esterases and lipases, especially extremozymes attract increasing attention due to various advantages both in good properties and wide applications. In the present study, a cold-adapted, alkali-stable and highly salt-tolerant esterase (Est700) was cloned from Bacillus licheniformis, expressed and purified with a molecular mass of 25 kDa. The optimal temperature of Est700 was 30 °C, with 35% maximal activity retaining at 0 °C. Its optimal pH was 8.0 and showed high stability at pH 5.0-11.0. Noticeably, Est700 was highly activated by 3.5 M NaCl and the extent of this activation is much stronger than that of currently reported halophilic ones. It was also stable in 5 M NaCl with no activity loss. High salt concentrations changed the secondary structure and folding properties of Est700 with formation of more α-helix and less β-sheet domains. With salt incubation, its melting temperature was estimated to be 57.2 °C, which is 12.8 °C higher than that of native one. Interestingly, Est700 lacks the acidic surface that is considered essential for enzyme stability at high salinity. However, it has a mainly positive surface electrostatic potential, which is probably different from most reported halotolerant esterases. These multiple properties make Est700 a valuable candidate in both basic research and industrial applications.