A new cold-active transglutaminase: Discovery, computational insights, and recombinant expression

Transglutaminases (TGases) are versatile enzymes widely applied in food, biomedical, and material sciences, but the cold-active TGases are underexplored despite their significance in low-temperature bioprocessing. This study reports the identification, computational characterization, and recombinant expression of a new transglutaminase (akTGase) derived from the Antarctic krill transcriptome. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that akTGase was estimated of 84.76 kDa, possesses structural traits consistent with cold adaptation, including elevated hydrophilicity, high levels of methionine and aspartic acid but low arginine content, and high proportions of flexible regions. Molecular dynamics simulations at 4 °C and 25 °C showed enhanced surface flexibility and conformational stability at low temperature. Recombinant akTGase was produced in E. coli, recovered from inclusion bodies via stepwise dialysis, and assayed for enzymatic activity. The refolded akTGase displayed significantly higher specific activity at 4 °C than at 25 °C, confirming its cold-active nature. This work highlights a successful strategy combining transcriptomic mining, structural prediction, and experimental validation for the discovery of psychrophilic enzymes, particularly TGase, offering promising potential for sustainable applications in cold-adapted biocatalysis.