Enzymatic hydrolysis and transgalactosylation of stevioside (St) were investigated using a β-galactosidase from Sulfolobus sp. The hydrolysis yielded steviol as the main final product. Under the optimal transgalactosylation conditions, the highest conversion of stevioside was 87.3% with lactose as a donor, several galactosylated products (St-Gals) were obtained. Metal ions such as Na+, K2+, Ca2+, Ba2+, Mn2+ and Mg2+ (2 mM) did not affect the transgalactosylation activity, while Fe2+, Fe3+ and Cu2+ reduced the transgalactosylation activity of β-galactosidase to 64%, 33% and 18%, respectively.
This study aims to use neutral pH optimum arginase as the catalyst for high-efficiency l -ornithine production. Sulfobacillus acidophilus arginase was firstly cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli . The purified enzyme was obtained, and the molecular mass determination showed that this arginase was a hexamer. S. acidophilus arginase possessed similarities with the other arginases such as the conserved sequences, purification behavior, and the necessity for Mn 2+ as a cofactor. The maximum enzyme activity was obtained at pH 7.5 and 70 °C. Thermostability and pH stability analysis showed that the arginase was stable at 30–60 °C and pH 7.0–8.5, respectively. The kinetic parameters suggested that S. acidophilus arginase could efficiently hydrolyze l -arginine. Bioconversion with this neutral pH optimum arginase had the advantages of avoiding producing by-product, high molar yield, and high-level production of l -ornithine. When the bioconversion was performed with a fed-batch strategy and a coupled-enzyme system involving S. acidophilus arginase and Jack bean urease, the final production of 2.87 mol/L was obtained with only 1.72 mmol/L l -arginine residue, and the molar yield was 99.9%. The highest production record suggests that S. acidophilus arginase has a great prospect in industrial l -ornithine production.