Expression and characterization of a novel cold-adapted chitosanase suitable for chitooligosaccharides controllable preparation

Chitooligosaccharide is widely used as a functional food additive and a valuable pharmacological agent. The transformation of chitinous biomass into valuable bioactive chitooligosaccharides is one of the most exciting applications of chitosanase. A novel glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 46 chitosanase (GsCsn46A) from rhizobacterium Gynuella sunshinyii was cloned and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli . GsCsn46A showed maximal activity at pH 5.5 and 30 °C. GsCsn46A featured remarkable cold-adapted property, which controllably hydrolyzed chitosan to three types of chitooligosaccharides at the mild reaction condition (reaction condition: pH 5.5 at 30 °C; method for stopping the reaction: 50 °C for 30 min). The yields of three types of chitooligosaccharides products (degree of polymerization (DP): 2–7, 2–5 and 2–3) were 70.9%, 87.1% and 94.6% respectively. This novel cold-adapted chitosanase provides a cleaner production process for the controllable preparation of chitooligosaccharides with the specific DP.