Production of rhamnolipids-producing enzymes of Pseudomonas in E. coli and structural characterization

Abstract

Rhamnolipids are a class of biosurfactants that have a great potential to be used in industries. Five proteins/enzymes, namely RhlA, RhlB, RhlC, RhlG and RhlI, are critical for the production of rhamnolipids in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Four of the 5 proteins except RhlC were successfully over-expressed in E. coli and three of them (RhlA, RhlB and RhlI) were purified and obtained in milligram quantities. The purified proteins were shown to be folded in solution. Homology models were built for RhlA, RhlB and RhlI. These results lay a basis for further structural and functional characterization of these proteins in vitro to favor the construction of super strains for rhamnolipids production.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

rhamnolipids / Pseudomonas / RhlA / RhlB / RhlI / protein folding

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) of Singapore (SERC grant number: 1526004161).

Funding

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2017 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg