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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Defining Substrate Specificities for Lipase and Phospholipase Candidates
Published on: November 23, 2016
Exploring a Streptomyces wax synthase using acyl-SNACs as donor substrates
Federica Casolari1, Saad Alrashdi1,2, Reuben Carr3
1Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen Aberdeen AB24 3UE UK h.deng@abdn.ac.uk.
Abstract:
The demand of fragrance and food industries for short/branched wax esters is increasing due to their rich scent and low toxicity. Wax synthase and acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase (WS/DGAT) are a family of bacterial enzymes capable of catalysing the production of wax esters. Here, we report that a WS/DGAT from Streptomyces coelicolor is able to mediate the reactions between alcohol acceptors and synthetic acyl-donor mimics, acyl-SNACs. The enzyme displayed considerable substrate tolerance towards acyl-donors with structural diversity. Structural modelling-guided site directed mutagenesis resulted in a variant, L25F, the catalytic efficiency of which was improved toward aromatic, short-linear, and branched acyl-donors compared to the wild type.
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