Purification and biochemical characterization of a novel thermostable lipase from Aspergillus niger.

An extracellular 1,3-specific lipase with molecular weight of 35.5 kDa and an isoelectric point of 4.4 from Aspergillus niger has been purified 50-fold by pH precipitation followed by a series of chromatographic steps with an overall yield of 10%. The enzyme was homogeneous as judged by denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and size-exclusion fast-performance liquid chromatography. It contained 2.8% sugar which was completely removed by endoglycosidase F treatment, and the deglycosylated enzyme retained full activity. The native lipase showed optimal activity between temperatures 35 and 55 degrees C and pH 5.0 and 6.0. The amino acid composition and the N-terminal sequence were found to be different from lipases previously purified from A. niger. The enzyme was resistant to trypsin, chymotrypsin, endoprotease Glu-C, thrombin, and papain under native conditions but was susceptible to cleavage by the same proteases when heat-denatured.