@article{HaegerWirgesTanzmannetal.2023,
  author    = {Haeger, Gerrit and Wirges, Jessika and Tanzmann, Nicole and Oyen, Sven and Jolmes, Tristan and Jaeger, Karl-Erich and Sch{\"o}rken, Ulrich and Bongaerts, Johannes and Siegert, Petra},
  title     = {Chaperone assisted recombinant expression of a mycobacterial aminoacylase in Vibrio natriegens and Escherichia coli capable of N-lauroyl-L-amino acid synthesis},
  series = {Microbial Cell Factories},
  journal   = {Microbial Cell Factories},
  number    = {22},
  publisher = {Springer Nature},
  issn      = {1475-2859},
  doi       = {10.1186/s12934-023-02079-1},
  pages     = {Article number: 77 (2023)},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Background Aminoacylases are highly promising enzymes for the green synthesis of acyl-amino acids, potentially replacing the environmentally harmful Schotten-Baumann reaction. Long-chain acyl-amino acids can serve as strong surfactants and emulsifiers, with application in cosmetic industries. Heterologous expression of these enzymes, however, is often hampered, limiting their use in industrial processes. Results We identified a novel mycobacterial aminoacylase gene from Mycolicibacterium smegmatis MKD 8, cloned and expressed it in Escherichia coli and Vibrio natriegens using the T7 overexpression system. The recombinant enzyme was prone to aggregate as inclusion bodies, and while V. natriegens Vmax™ could produce soluble aminoacylase upon induction with isopropyl β-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), E. coli BL21 (DE3) needed autoinduction with lactose to produce soluble recombinant protein. We successfully conducted a chaperone co-expression study in both organisms to further enhance aminoacylase production and found that overexpression of chaperones GroEL/S enhanced aminoacylase activity in the cell-free extract 1.8-fold in V. natriegens and E. coli. Eventually, E. coli ArcticExpress™ (DE3), which co-expresses cold-adapted chaperonins Cpn60/10 from Oleispira antarctica, cultivated at 12 °C, rendered the most suitable expression system for this aminoacylase and exhibited twice the aminoacylase activity in the cell-free extract compared to E. coli BL21 (DE3) with GroEL/S co-expression at 20 °C. The purified aminoacylase was characterized based on hydrolytic activities, being most stable and active at pH 7.0, with a maximum activity at 70 °C, and stability at 40 °C and pH 7.0 for 5 days. The aminoacylase strongly prefers short-chain acyl-amino acids with smaller, hydrophobic amino acid residues. Several long-chain amino acids were fairly accepted in hydrolysis as well, especially N-lauroyl-L-methionine. To initially evaluate the relevance of this aminoacylase for the synthesis of N-acyl-amino acids, we demonstrated that lauroyl-methionine can be synthesized from lauric acid and methionine in an aqueous system. Conclusion Our results suggest that the recombinant enzyme is well suited for synthesis reactions and will thus be further investigated.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HaegerProbstJaegeretal.2023,
  author    = {Haeger, Gerrit and Probst, Johanna and Jaeger, Karl-Erich and Bongaerts, Johannes and Siegert, Petra},
  title     = {Novel aminoacylases from Streptomyces griseus DSM 40236 and their recombinant production in Streptomyces lividans},
  series = {FEBS Open Bio},
  volume    = {13},
  journal   = {FEBS Open Bio},
  number    = {12},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Hoboken, NJ},
  issn      = {2211-5463},
  doi       = {10.1002/2211-5463.13723},
  pages     = {2224 -- 2238},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Amino acid-based surfactants are valuable compounds for cosmetic formulations. The chemical synthesis of acyl-amino acids is conventionally performed by the Schotten-Baumann reaction using fatty acyl chlorides, but aminoacylases have also been investigated for use in biocatalytic synthesis with free fatty acids. Aminoacylases and their properties are diverse; they belong to different peptidase families and show differences in substrate specificity and biocatalytic potential. Bacterial aminoacylases capable of synthesis have been isolated from Burkholderia, Mycolicibacterium, and Streptomyces. Although several proteases and peptidases from S. griseus have been described, no aminoacylases from this species have been identified yet. In this study, we investigated two novel enzymes produced by S. griseus DSM 40236ᵀ . We identified and cloned the respective genes and recombinantly expressed an α-aminoacylase (EC 3.5.1.14), designated SgAA, and an ε-lysine acylase (EC 3.5.1.17), designated SgELA, in S. lividans TK23. The purified aminoacylase SgAA was biochemically characterized, focusing on its hydrolytic activity to determine temperature- and pH optima and stabilities. The aminoacylase could hydrolyze various acetyl-amino acids at the Nα -position with a broad specificity regarding the sidechain. Substrates with longer acyl chains, like lauroyl-amino acids, were hydrolyzed to a lesser extent. Purified aminoacylase SgELA specific for the hydrolysis of Nε -acetyl-L-lysine was unstable and lost its enzymatic activity upon storage for a longer period but could initially be characterized. The pH optimum of SgELA was pH 8.0. While synthesis of acyl-amino acids was not observed with SgELA, SgAA catalyzed the synthesis of lauroyl-methionine.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HaegerJolmesOyenetal.2024,
  author    = {Haeger, Gerrit and Jolmes, Tristan and Oyen, Sven and Jaeger, Karl-Erich and Bongaerts, Johannes and Sch{\"o}rken, Ulrich and Siegert, Petra},
  title     = {Novel recombinant aminoacylase from Paraburkholderia monticola capable of N-acyl-amino acid synthesis},
  series = {Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology},
  journal   = {Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology},
  number    = {108},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Berlin},
  issn      = {1432-0614},
  doi       = {10.1007/s00253-023-12868-8},
  pages     = {14 Seiten},
  year      = {2024},
  abstract  = {N-Acyl-amino acids can act as mild biobased surfactants, which are used, e.g., in baby shampoos. However, their chemical synthesis needs acyl chlorides and does not meet sustainability criteria. Thus, the identification of biocatalysts to develop greener synthesis routes is desirable. We describe a novel aminoacylase from Paraburkholderia monticola DSM 100849 (PmAcy) which was identified, cloned, and evaluated for its N-acyl-amino acid synthesis potential. Soluble protein was obtained by expression in lactose autoinduction medium and co-expression of molecular chaperones GroEL/S. Strep-tag affinity purification enriched the enzyme 16-fold and yielded 15 mg pure enzyme from 100 mL of culture. Biochemical characterization revealed that PmAcy possesses beneficial traits for industrial application like high temperature and pH-stability. A heat activation of PmAcy was observed upon incubation at temperatures up to 80 °C. Hydrolytic activity of PmAcy was detected with several N-acyl-amino acids as substrates and exhibited the highest conversion rate of 773 U/mg with N-lauroyl-L-alanine at 75 °C. The enzyme preferred long-chain acyl-amino-acids and displayed hardly any activity with acetyl-amino acids. PmAcy was also capable of N-acyl-amino acid synthesis with good conversion rates. The best synthesis results were obtained with the cationic L-amino acids L-arginine and L-lysine as well as with L-leucine and L-phenylalanine. Exemplarily, L-phenylalanine was acylated with fatty acids of chain lengths from C8 to C18 with conversion rates of up to 75\%. N-lauroyl-L-phenylalanine was purified by precipitation, and the structure of the reaction product was verified by LC-MS and NMR.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HaegerGrankinWagner2023,
  author    = {Haeger, Gerrit and Grankin, Alina and Wagner, Michaela},
  title     = {Construction of an Aspergillus oryzae triple amylase deletion mutant as a chassis to evaluate industrially relevant amylases using multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 editing technology},
  series = {Applied Research},
  journal   = {Applied Research},
  number    = {Early View},
  publisher = {Wiley-VCH},
  issn      = {2702-4288},
  doi       = {10.1002/appl.202200106},
  pages     = {1 -- 15},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Aspergillus oryzae is an industrially relevant organism for the secretory production of heterologous enzymes, especially amylases. The activities of potential heterologous amylases, however, cannot be quantified directly from the supernatant due to the high background activity of native α-amylase. This activity is caused by the gene products of amyA, amyB, and amyC. In this study, an in vitro CRISPR/Cas9 system was established in A. oryzae to delete these genes simultaneously. First, pyrG of A. oryzae NSAR1 was mutated by exploiting NHEJ to generate a counter-selection marker. Next, all amylase genes were deleted simultaneously by co-transforming a repair template carrying pyrG of Aspergillus nidulans and flanking sequences of amylase gene loci. The rate of obtained triple knock-outs was 47\%. We showed that triple knockouts do not retain any amylase activity in the supernatant. The established in vitro CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to achieve sequence-specific knock-in of target genes. The system was intended to incorporate a single copy of the gene of interest into the desired host for the development of screening methods. Therefore, an integration cassette for the heterologous Fpi amylase was designed to specifically target the amyB locus. The site-specific integration rate of the plasmid was 78\%, with exceptional additional integrations. Integration frequency was assessed via qPCR and directly correlated with heterologous amylase activity. Hence, we could compare the efficiency between two different signal peptides. In summary, we present a strategy to exploit CRISPR/Cas9 for gene mutation, multiplex knock-out, and the targeted knock-in of an expression cassette in A. oryzae. Our system provides straightforward strain engineering and paves the way for development of fungal screening systems.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HaegerBongaertsSiegert2022,
  author    = {Haeger, Gerrit and Bongaerts, Johannes and Siegert, Petra},
  title     = {A convenient ninhydrin assay in 96-well format for amino acid-releasing enzymes using an air-stable reagent},
  series = {Analytical Biochemistry},
  journal   = {Analytical Biochemistry},
  number    = {624},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Amsterdam},
  issn      = {1096-0309},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.ab.2022.114819},
  pages     = {Artikel 114819},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {An improved and convenient ninhydrin assay for aminoacylase activity measurements was developed using the commercial EZ Nin™ reagent. Alternative reagents from literature were also evaluated and compared. The addition of DMSO to the reagent enhanced the solubility of Ruhemann's purple (RP). Furthermore, we found that the use of a basic, aqueous buffer enhances stability of RP. An acidic protocol for the quantification of lysine was developed by addition of glacial acetic acid. The assay allows for parallel processing in a 96-well format with measurements microtiter plates.},
  language  = {en}
}
@techreport{HaegerBongaertsSiegert2023,
  author    = {Haeger, Gerrit and Bongaerts, Johannes and Siegert, Petra},
  title     = {Abschlussbericht Teil II: Eingehende Darstellung Neue biobasierte Lipopeptide aus nachhaltiger Produktion (LipoPep)},
  pages     = {17Seiten},
  year      = {2023},
  language  = {de}
}