Part:BBa_K4665005
Usage and Biology
Biomineralization is the process by which living organisms synthesise minerals (Dhami et al., 2013). Microbial calcium carbonate production can proceed through two main metabolic pathways, using urease or carbonic anhydrase (CA) as the catalysts of the reaction (Chaparro-Acuña et al., 2019). However, synthesis through urea hydrolysis produces toxic byproducts which is not observed in the CA catalyzed pathway.
SazCA, derived from the thermophilic bacterium Sulfurihydrogenibium azorense, is the fastest known carbonic anhydrase to date, boasting a kcat/KM value of 3.5 × 108 M−1 s−1 (De Simone et al, 2015). SazCA facilitates the hydration of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate and protons, creating alkaline conditions that aid the formation of calcium carbonate crystals on the extracellular matrix (EPS) of bacterial cells (Fig. 1) (Anbu, et al., 2016).
4 at 25℃. IPTG induction was performed 3 hours prior to experimentation. The assay was run on 8 mL Tris-HCl buffer 8.3 and 50mL of saturated CO2 aqueous solution at 0℃. 3 mL of cell pellet were introduced into the solution, and the reaction was allowed to proceed on ice for an hour. At this point, the bacteria should have been able to produce bicarbonate ions. Cells were removed from the solution by centrifugation (15 min x 5000g). 25mL of a 0.3M solution of CaCl2 was added to the remaining supernatant as a calcium source. The reaction was left to run at 25℃ for 12h. Samples were filtered using vacuum filtration and dried at 50℃ to evaporate the solvent. Solid mass was weighed and recorded as “Wet Weight”. Upon preliminary analysis of FT-IR data, it was concluded that the mineral sample contained a large amount of water, elucidated by the stretching O-H peak at 3400 cm.1. Hence, the sample was dried further in liquid nitrogen for 48 hours, final weight was recorded at 2.3 g (yield=306.17%). Precipitated dry crystals were analysed using ATR-IR and 13C NMR.
Enzymatic activity of SazCA:
To measure the activity of the SazCA construct, a colorimetric Wilbur Anderson assay was adapted from Kim & Jo, (2022). The assay measures the ability of carbonic anhydrase to hydrate CO2. Protons released during the hydration reaction cause a decrease in the pH of the solution. Such displacement of H+ can be recorded as a function of time taken for pH to shift from 8.5 to 6.5.
The colorimetric approach taken for the assay indirectly measured the change of pH by recording the colour change of phenol red upon the addition of SazCA. A reaction buffer of 20mM Tris pH. 8.3 (pKa=8.1) and 100µM phenol red (pKa=7.9) was used. Phenol red was chosen as the pH indicator as it shifts colours from yellow to pink over a pH range of 6.3 to 8.3. Total reaction volume was 1mL. 10µL of SazCA-BL21(DE3) culture were added into a cuvette for each reaction. Varying amounts of saturated CO2 aqueous solution (0.279M) were added, volume filled to 1mL with corresponding amounts of reaction buffer. Data collection was performed by UV-Vis spectrophotometry, measuring absorbance change at 570 nm using the kinetics function of the spectrophotometer, recording every 0.1s for 30 minutes. All reactions were performed ice-cold. The blank reaction consisted of 600µL reaction buffer and 400µL CO2 solution. SazCA samples compared to WT BL21. Abs values were obtained as a colorimetric reference for the reaction buffer adjusted for pH at 8.3, 7.5, and 6.5.
Wilbur-Anderson Units (WAU) were calculated according to the following formula:
WAU=(t0-t)/t, where t0 is the time (s) taken for the control to undergo a colour shift, and t is the time taken for SazCA samples to undergo a colour shift.
References
Anbu, P. et al. (March 1, 2016). Formations of calcium carbonate minerals by bacteria and its multiple applications. Springerplus 5(250). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-1869-2
Chaparro-Acuña, S.P., et al. (June, 2018). Soil bacteria that precipitate calcium carbonate: mechanism and applications of the process. Acta Agronómica 67(2). https://doi.org/10.15446/acag.v67n2.66109
De Luca, V. et al. (March 15, 2013). An α-carbonic anhydrase from the thermophilic bacterium Sulphurihydrogenibium azorense is the fastest enzyme known for the CO2 hydration reaction. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 21(6): 1465.1469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmc.2012.09.047
De Simone, G., et al. (May 1, 2015). Crystal structure of the most catalytically effective carbonic anhydrase enzyme known, SazCA from the thermophilic bacterium Sulfurihydrogenibium azorense. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 1;25(9): 2002-2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmcl.2015.02.068
Dhami, N.K., et al. ( May 2013). Biomineralization of calcium carbonate polymorphs by the bacterial strains isolated from calcareous sites. Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 23(5): 707-714. https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.1212.11087
Jo, B.H. (October 3, 2013). Engineered Escherichia coli with Periplasmic Carbonic Anhydrase as a Biocatalyst for CO2 Sequestration. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02400-13
Kim, J. H., & Jo, B. H. (2022). A Colorimetric CO2 Hydration Assay for Facile, Accurate, and Precise Determination of Carbonic Anhydrase Activity. Catalysts, 12(11), 1391. MDPI AG. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/catal12111391
Pan, S. H., & Malcolm, B. A. (2000). Reduced background expression and improved plasmid stability with pET vectors in BL21 (DE3). BioTechniques, 29(6), 1234–1238. https://doi.org/10.2144/00296st03
Zhu, Y., et.al (December 6, 2021). Surface display of carbonic anhydrase on Escherichia coli for CO2 capture and mineralisation. Synthetic and Systems biotechnology, 7(1): 460-473. https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.synbio.2021.11.008
Sequence and Features
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