A highly efficient sorbitol dehydrogenase from Gluconobacter oxydans G624 and improvement of its stability through immobilization

A sorbitol dehydrogenase (GoSLDH) from Gluconobacter oxydans G624 (G. oxydans G624) was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)-CodonPlus RIL. The complete 1455-bp codon-optimized gene was amplified, expressed, and thoroughly characterized for the first time. GoSLDH exhibited Km and kcat values of 38.9 mM and 3820 s(-1) toward L-sorbitol, respectively. The enzyme exhibited high preference for NADP(+) (vs. only 2.5% relative activity with NAD(+)). GoSLDH sequencing, structure analyses, and biochemical studies, suggested that it belongs to the NADP(+)-dependent polyol-specific long-chain sorbitol dehydrogenase family. GoSLDH is the first fully characterized SLDH to date, and it is distinguished from other L-sorbose-producing enzymes by its high activity and substrate specificity. Isothermal titration calorimetry showed that the protein binds more strongly to D-sorbitol than other L-sorbose-producing enzymes, and substrate docking analysis confirmed a higher turnover rate. The high oxidation potential of GoSLDH for D-sorbitol was confirmed by cyclovoltametric analysis. Further, stability of GoSLDH significantly improved (up to 13.6-fold) after cross-linking of immobilized enzyme on silica nanoparticles and retained 62.8% residual activity after 10 cycles of reuse. Therefore, immobilized GoSLDH may be useful for L-sorbose production from D-sorbitol.