Improving the Thermostability of Glutamate Decarboxylase from Lactobacillus brevis by Consensus Mutagenesis

γ-Aminobutyrate (GABA) is an important bioactive compound synthesized through decarboxylation of L-glutamate by the glutamate decarboxylase (GAD). In this study, stabilized variants of the GAD from Lactobacillus brevis were constructed by consensus mutagenesis. Using Consensus Finder ( http://cbs-kazlab.oit.umn.edu/ ), eight positions with the most prevalent amino acid (over 60% threshold) among the homologous family members were identified. Subsequently, these eight residues were individually mutated to match the consensus sequence using site-directed mutagenesis. Compared to the wild-type, T383K variant displayed the largest shift in thermostability among the single variants, with a 3.0 °C increase in semi-inactivation temperature (T₅₀¹⁵), a 1.7-fold improvement of half-life (t_1/2) at 55 °C, and a 1.2-fold improvement of t_1/2 at 37 °C, respectively, while its catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) was reduced. To obtain the mutant with improvement in both thermostability and catalytic activity, we performed a site-saturation mutation at T383. Notably, mutants T383V and T383G exhibited an increasement in thermostability and k_cat/K_m than that of wild-type. This study not only emphasizes the value of consensus mutagenesis for improving the thermostability of GAD but also sheds a powerful guidance to study the thermal stability of other enzymes.