Fully automated chip-based negative mode nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry of fructooligosaccharides produced by heterologously expressed levansucrase from Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000.

Pseudomonas syringae pathovars possess multiple levansucrases with still unclear specific roles for bacteria. We have cloned and expressed three levansucrase genes, lsc1, lsc2 and lsc3, from P. syringae DC3000 in Escherichia coli. Levansucrases synthesize a high molecular weight fructan polymer, levan, from sucrose and in the case of some levansucrases, fructooligosaccharides (FOS) with potential prebiotic effects are also produced. The ability of purified Lsc3 protein of DC3000 to synthesize FOS was tested using prolonged incubation time and varied concentrations of sugar substrates. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis of reaction products disclosed formation of FOS from both sucrose and raffinose, revealing a new catalytic property for P. syringae levansucrases. In order to analyze Lsc3-produced FOS in underivatized form, we optimized a novel method recently introduced in carbohydrate research, based on fully automated chip-based nanoelectrospray ionization (nanoESI) high-capacity ion trap mass spectrometry (HCT-MS). Uding chip-based nanoESI MS in negative ion mode, FOS, with degrees of polymerization up to five, were detected in reaction mixtures of Lsc3 with sucrose and raffinose. For confirmation, further structural analysis by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) employing collision-induced dissociation at low energies was performed. To validate the method, commercial inulin-derived FOS preparations Orafti P95 and Orafti Synergy1, which are currently used as prebiotics, were used as controls. By chip-based nanoESI HCT-MS, similar FOS distribution was observed in these reference mixtures. Thereby, the obtained data allowed us to postulate that FOS produced by the Lsc3 protein of P. syringae DC3000 may be prebiotic as well.