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Title: The hyperthermophilic α-amylase from Thermococcus sp. HJ21 does not require exogenous calcium for thermostability because of high-binding affinity to calcium. Author: Cheng H, Luo Z, Lu M, Gao S, Wang S. Journal: J Microbiol; 2017 May; 55(5):379-387. PubMed ID: 28251549. Abstract: The hyperthermophilic α-amylase from Thermococcus sp. HJ21 does not require exogenous calcium ions for thermostability, and is a promising alternative to commercially available α-amylases to increase the efficiency of industrial processes like the liquefaction of starch. We analyzed the amino acid sequence of this α-amylase by sequence alignments and structural modeling, and found that this α-amylase closely resembles the α-amylase from Pyrococcus woesei. The gene of this α-amylase was cloned in Escherichia coli and the recombinant α-amylase was overexpressed and purified with a combined renaturation-purification procedure. We confirmed thermostability and exogenous calcium ion independency of the recombinant α-amylase and further investigated the mechanism of the independency using biochemical approaches. The results suggested that the α-amylase has a high calcium ion binding affinity that traps a calcium ion that would not dissociate at high temperatures, providing a direct explanation as to why the addition of calcium ions is not required for thermostability. Understanding of the mechanism offers a strong base on which to further engineer properties of this α-amylase for better potential applications in industrial processes.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]