Screening and characterization of Lactobacillus strains producing large amounts of exopolysaccharides

A total of 182 Lactobacillus strains were screened for production of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) by a new method: growth in liquid media with high sugar concentrations. Sixty EPS-positive strains were identified; 17 strains produced more than 100 mg/l soluble EPS. Sucrose was an excellent substrate for abundant EPS synthesis. The ability to produce glucans appears to be widespread in the genus Lactobacillus. The monosaccharide composition of EPS produced by Lactobacillus reuteri strain LB 121 varied with the growth conditions (solid compared to liquid medium) and the sugar substrates (sucrose or raffinose) supplied in the medium. Strain LB 121 produced both a glucan and a fructan on sucrose, but only a fructan on raffinose. This is the first report of fructan production by a Lactobacillus species. EPS production increased with increasing sucrose concentrations and involved extracellular sucrase-type enzymes.

Efficient screening methods for glucosyltransferase genes in Lactobacillus strains

Limited information is available about homopolysaccharide synthesis in the genus Lactobacillus. Using efficient screening techniques, extracellular glucosyltransferase (GTF) enzyme activity, resulting in α-glucan synthesis from sucrose, was detected in various lactobacilli. PCR with degenerate primers based on homologous boxes of known glucosyltransferase (gtf) genes of lactic acid bacteria strains allowed cloning of fragments of 10 putative gtf genes from eight different glucan producing Lactobacillus strains (five Lactobacillus reuteri strains, one Lactobacillus fermentum strain, one Lactobacillus sake strain and one Lactobacillus parabuchneri strain). Sequence analysis revealed that these lactobacilli possess a large variation of (putative) gtf genes, similar to what has been observed for Leuconostoc and Streptococcus strains. Homologs of GTFA of Lb. reuteri 121 (synthesizing reuteran, a unique glucan with α-(1→4) and α-(1→6) glycosidic bonds) were found in three of the four other Lb. reuteri strains tested. The other Lactobacillus GTF fragments showed the highest similarity with GTF enzymes of Leuconostoc spp.

Highly hydrolytic reuteransucrase from probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri strain ATCC 55730

Lactobacillus reuteri strain ATCC 55730 (LB BIO) was isolated as a pure culture from a Reuteri tablet purchased from the BioGaia company. This probiotic strain produces a soluble glucan (reuteran), in which the majority of the linkages are of the α-(1→4) glucosidic type (∼70%). This reuteran also contains α-(1→6)- linked glucosyl units and 4,6-disubstituted α-glucosyl units at the branching points. The LB BIO glucansucrase gene (gtfO) was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the GTFO enzyme was purified. The recombinant GTFO enzyme and the LB BIO culture supernatants synthesized identical glucan polymers with respect to linkage type and size distribution. GTFO thus is a reuteransucrase, responsible for synthesis of this reuteran polymer in LB BIO. The preference of GTFO for synthesizing α-(1→4) linkages is also evident from the oligosaccharides produced from sucrose with different acceptor substrates, e.g., isopanose from isomaltose. GTFO has a relatively high hydrolysis/transferase activity ratio. Complete conversion of 100 mM sucrose by GTFO nevertheless yielded large amounts of reuteran, although more than 50% of sucrose was converted into glucose. This is only the second example of the isolation and characterization of a reuteransucrase and its reuteran product, both found in different L. reuteri strains. GTFO synthesizes a reuteran with the highest amount of α-(1→4) linkages reported to date

Lactobacillus reuteri glucosyltransferase

The present invention describes a protein having glucosyltransferase activity. This protein is derived from lactobacilli, which are food-grade microorganisms with the Generally Recognised As Safe (GRAS) status. The protein produces a glucan with a unique structure having 4-linked, 6-linked and 4,6-linked anhydroglucose units or in the presence of suitable acceptors, oligosaccharides. According to the invention lactobacilli capable of producing this glucan using the novel glucosyltransferase can be used as a probiotic or symbiotic

Structure-function relationships of glucansucrase and fructansucrase enzymes from lactic acid bacteria

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) employ sucrase-type enzymes to convert sucrose into homopolysaccharides consisting of either glucosyl units (glucans) or fructosyl units (fructans). The enzymes involved are labeled glucansucrases (GS) and fructansucrases (FS), respectively. The available molecular, biochemical, and structural information on sucrase genes and enzymes from various LAB and their fructan and α-glucan products is reviewed. The GS and FS enzymes are both glycoside hydrolase enzymes that act on the same substrate (sucrose) and catalyze (retaining) transglycosylation reactions that result in polysaccharide formation, but they possess completely different protein structures. GS enzymes (family GH70) are large multidomain proteins that occur exclusively in LAB. Their catalytic domain displays clear secondary-structure similarity with α-amylase enzymes (family GH13), with a predicted permuted (β/α)8 barrel structure for which detailed structural and mechanistic information is available. Emphasis now is on identification of residues and regions important for GS enzyme activity and product specificity (synthesis of α-glucans differing in glycosidic linkage type, degree and type of branching, glucan molecular mass, and solubility). FS enzymes (family GH68) occur in both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria and synthesize β-fructan polymers with either β-(2→6) (inulin) or β-(2→1) (levan) glycosidic bonds. Recently, the first high-resolution three-dimensional structures have become available for FS (levansucrase) proteins, revealing a rare five-bladed β-propeller structure with a deep, negatively charged central pocket. Although these structures have provided detailed mechanistic insights, the structural features in FS enzymes dictating the synthesis of either β-(2→6) or β-(2→1) linkages, degree and type of branching, and fructan molecular mass remain to be identified