A GH42 β-galactosidase from Bifidobacterium thermophilum: Biochemical characterization and synthesis of galactosyl glycerol by reverse hydrolysis

In this study, a β-galactosidase gene (btgal42) was first cloned from Bifidobacterium thermophilum and successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. The molecular weight of the purified BtGal42 was estimated to be 78 kDa by the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 225 kDa by the size-exclusion chromatography, indicating that the native BtGal42 was a homotrimer. BtGal42 belonged to the glycosidase hydrolase family 42, exhibiting the maximum activity at pH of 7 and at temperature of 50°C. The enzyme displayed a strictly specific activity toward substrates with β-galactosyl linkages at the nonreducing ends, of which the activity on 4-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside was the highest, followed by 2-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside and lactose. Among the tested metals and reagents, BtGal42 showed tolerance in the presence of various organic solvents. Importantly, BtGal42 exhibited a high reverse hydrolysis activity when using galactose as the donor and the di-alcohol ethylene glycol and the trialcohol glycerol as the acceptors. Under unoptimized reaction conditions, the galactosyl glycerol yield reached 62.2 g/L (galactose conversion rate, 41.2%). This study might provide a feasible method for the biosynthesis of galactosyl glycerol from low-cost glycerol and galactose, which was associated with high conversion efficiency and few byproducts.