Inulooligosaccharide Production from Inulin by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strain Displaying Cell-Surface Endoinulinase

The endoinulinase gene (inu1) from Pseudomonas mucidolens was expressed on the cell surface of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by fusing with Aga2p linked to the membrane anchored protein, Aga1p. The inu1 gene of P. mucidolens was subcloned into the surface display vector, pCTcon (GAL1 promoter). The constructed plasmid, pCTENIU (8.5kb), was then introduced to S. cerevisiae EBY100 cells and the yeast transformants selected on synthetic defined media lacking uracil and inulin-containing media. The inu1 gene under the control of the GAL1 promoter was successfully expressed in the yeast transformants, and the surface display of endoinulinase confirmed by immunofluorescence microscopy, along with its enzymatic ability to form inulooligosaccharides (IOSs) from inulin. The total endoinulinase activity reached about 2.31 units/ml when the yeast transform ants were cultivated on a YPDG medium. To efficiently hydrolyze the inulin, various reaction conditions were examined, including the pH, temperature, and inulin source. The optimized conditions were then determined as follows: pH, 7.0; temperature, $50^{\circ}C$; inulin source, Jerusalem artichoke. Under the optimized condition and 46 units of endoinulinase per g of inulin, IOSs started to be produced after 10 min of enzymatic reaction. The highest yield, 71.2% of IOSs, was achieved after 30 h of reaction without any significant loss of the initial enzyme activity. As a result of the reaction with inulin, IOSs consisting of inulobiose (F2), inulotriose (F3), inulotetraose (F4), and inulopentaose (F5) were produced, and F4 was the major product.