Zha Dai-Ming, Yan Yun-Jun
School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, China.
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Front Microbiol. 2025 May 21;16:1592059. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1592059. eCollection 2025.
Microbial lipases constitute the primary source of commercialized and industrial lipases, and they are extensively utilized across numerous industrial sectors. Compared to fungal lipases, bacterial lipases catalyze a broader spectrum of reactions with higher activity, enhanced stability, and improved stress resistance. Among them, lipases from and are among the most widely employed microbial lipases. Furthermore, bacterial extracellular lipases act as crucial virulence factors, playing a significant role in the pathogenesis of bacteria. However, the production of bacterial lipases is typically low, rendering them expensive in the market and insufficient to meet the substantial demand for industrial production. To achieve large-scale production of bacterial lipases, stable and efficient homologous expression has proven to be an effective strategy. However, elucidating how bacterial lipase genes are regulated is the initial step for developing stable and efficient homologous expression, and a pressing scientific challenge. To date, the regulatory mechanisms governing the expression of bacterial lipase genes remain unclear, significantly impeding the construction of robust and high-yield homologous expression systems. Concurrently, understanding these regulatory mechanisms can facilitate early diagnosis of lipase-related pathogenic bacterial infections, and aid in the development of novel antibacterial drugs. In this review, we summarized the advancements in understanding the expression regulation of bacterial lipase genes, including direct regulators, the quorum sensing (QS) system, the Gac/Rsm system and its related regulators, as well as other regulators. Additionally, based on our ongoing research, we also discussed potential research directions in this field, aiming to provide valuable insights for the construction of homologous expression systems with high-yield lipases.
微生物脂肪酶是商业化和工业用脂肪酶的主要来源，广泛应用于众多工业领域。与真菌脂肪酶相比，细菌脂肪酶能催化更广泛的反应，具有更高的活性、更强的稳定性和更好的抗逆性。其中，来自[具体菌种1]和[具体菌种2]的脂肪酶是应用最广泛的微生物脂肪酶之一。此外，细菌胞外脂肪酶是关键的毒力因子，在细菌致病过程中发挥重要作用。然而，细菌脂肪酶的产量通常较低，导致其在市场上价格昂贵，无法满足工业生产的大量需求。为实现细菌脂肪酶的大规模生产，稳定高效的同源表达已被证明是一种有效的策略。然而，阐明细菌脂肪酶基因的调控方式是开发稳定高效同源表达的第一步，也是一项紧迫的科学挑战。迄今为止，细菌脂肪酶基因表达的调控机制仍不清楚，严重阻碍了强大且高产的同源表达系统的构建。同时，了解这些调控机制有助于脂肪酶相关病原菌感染的早期诊断，并有助于新型抗菌药物的开发。在本综述中，我们总结了在理解细菌脂肪酶基因表达调控方面的进展，包括直接调控因子、群体感应（QS）系统、Gac/Rsm系统及其相关调控因子，以及其他调控因子。此外，基于我们正在进行的研究，我们还讨论了该领域潜在的研究方向，旨在为构建高产脂肪酶的同源表达系统提供有价值的见解。
