Biochemical characterization and functional analysis of UDP-glucose dehydrogenase, in the synthesis of biopolymer Ss from Sphingomonas sanxanigenens NX02.

Biopolymer Ss of Sphingomonas sanxanigenens strain NX02 is an sphingan that can be extracted using a small quantity of acid, which is a low cost extraction process. A UDP-glucose dehydrogenase gene (ugdG), related to Ss biosynthesis, was cloned from S. sanxanigenens NX02 and expressed in Escherichia coli. It encoded a 454-residue protein of 48.2 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence had 77% identity with UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UgdG) from Sphingomonas sp. KC8, and 73% identity with UgdG from Sphingomonas elodea ATCC31461. Purified recombinant UgdG had maximum activity at 35°C and pH 8.0, with Km values of 0.47 and 0.38 mM for UDP-glucose and NAD+, respectively. Overexpression of the ugdG gene in S. sanxanigenens resulted in increased (14.9 ± 0.5)% Ss production and higher fermentation broth viscosity. Furthermore, the weight-average molecular weight of polymer Ss from the recombinant strain was (5.3 ± 0.16)% higher and the viscosity was (74 ± 0.15)% higher than those from the WT strain at a shear rate of 1 rev/min.