Ancestral sequence reconstruction
(ASR) has been used
to produce
enzymes that exhibit enhanced stability, activity, and promiscuity
compared to wild-type (WT) enzymes. In this work, we compiled a panel
of 57 closely related wild-type ene reductases and 56 counterpart
ancestral enzymes and statistically compared their biocatalytic properties.
Enzyme activity, selectivity, thermostability, and expression level
distributions were used to compare their performance. ASR and WT enzymes
exhibited comparable activity and overexpression levels, but ASR enzymes
displayed enhanced average thermostability (by 9 °C) compared
to their wild-type counterparts. Our results demonstrate that ASR-derived
ene reductase enzymes may be used as a complement to wild-type enzymes
and may provide a superior source of biocatalysts for alkene reduction
for industrial applications.
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