Surface residues serine 69 and arginine 194 of metagenome-derived lipase influence catalytic activity

A lipase gene was identified and isolated from a fosmid metagenomics library constructed from forest topsoil samples. Error prone PCR and saturation mutagenesis were used to generate seven lipase variants: S69 P/R194Q, S69 G, S69 P, S69E, S69 P/T99S/N190S/R194Q, R194S, and R194A; by testing five different fatty acids of p-nitrophenyl (p-NP) ester, positions S69 and R194 were found to influence the catalytic activity. Specifically, variant R194S...