Production of recombinant D-allulose 3-epimerase utilizing an auto-induction approach in fermentor cultures suitable for industrial application

D-Allulose 3-epimerase (DAEase) is the key enzyme catalyzing D-fructose to catalyze into D-allulose, a rare sugar in foods, which has lately drawn increasing worldwide attention owing to its possible health advantages and application as a substitute sucrose. This work focused on the development of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lischer, Kenny, Laksmi, Fina Amreta, Nugraha, Yudhi, Az-Zahra, Fauziah, Herawan, David, Juanssilfero, Ario Betha, Wibowo, Des Saputro, Ramadhan, Kharisma Panji, Nuryana, Isa, Ali, Mohd Shukuri Mohamad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science 2025
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/120688/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/120688/1/120688.pdf
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Summary:D-Allulose 3-epimerase (DAEase) is the key enzyme catalyzing D-fructose to catalyze into D-allulose, a rare sugar in foods, which has lately drawn increasing worldwide attention owing to its possible health advantages and application as a substitute sucrose. This work focused on the development of an economical, scalable production method of DAEase by using the Escherichia coli BL21 star™ (DE3) as host expression. The research work aims to optimize the production of the enzyme through an auto-induction strategy in chemically defined media by using lactose as a natural inducer, thereby overcoming various limitations of conventional IPTG induction methods. The optimal concentration of lactose, glucose, and glycerol for maximum expression of DAEase was determined to be 1.5%, 0.125%, and 1.5%, respectively. Fermentor-scale optimization yielded a maximum amount of this enzyme with 5% inoculant, 300 rpm agitation, and 2 vvm aeration. Purification by affinity and anion exchange chromatography resulted in a sevenfold increase in specific activity with an overall yield of 12% and 43 mg of pure recombinant DAEase per liter of culture. Enzyme assays confirmed that DAEase had catalytic activity in the conversion of D-fructose to D-allulose, which was further confirmed by HPLC analysis. This optimized auto-induction-based strategy demonstrated its potential for large-scale production of DAEase in a cost-effective manner with enhanced reproducibility to meet industrial demands for synthesizing D-allulose.