The sucrose isomerase (SIase) gene from an efficient strain of Erwinia rhapontici NX-5 for isomaltulose hyperproduction was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Protein sequence alignment revealed that SIase was a member of the glycoside hydrolase 13 family. The molecular mass of the purified recombinant protein was estimated at 66 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The SIase had an optimal pH and temperature of 5.0 and 30 °C, respectively, with a K (m) of 257 mmol/l and V (max) of 48.09 μmol/l/s for sucrose. To the best of our knowledge, the recombinant SIase has the most acidic optimum pH for isomaltulose synthesis. When the recombinant E. coli (pET22b- palI) cells were used for isomaltulose synthesis, almost complete conversion of sucrose (550 g/l solution) to isomaltulose was achieved in 1.5 h with high isomaltulose yields (87%). The immobilized E. coli cells remained stable for more than 30 days in a "batch"-type enzyme reactor. This indicated that the recombinant SIase could continuously and efficiently produce isomaltulose.

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A highly selective sucrose isomerase (SIase) was purified to homogeneity from the cell-free extract of Erwinia rhapontici NX-5 with a recovery of 27.7% and a fold purification of 213.6. The purified SIase showed a high specific activity of 427.1 U mg(-1) with molecular weight of 65.6 kDa. The K (m) for sucrose was 222 mM while V (max) was 546 U mg(-1). The optimum pH and temperature for SIase activity were 6.0 and 30 °C, respectively. The purified SIase was stable in the temperature range of 10-40 °C and retained 65% of the enzyme activity after 2 weeks' storage at 30 °C. The SIase activity was enhanced by Mg(2+) and Mn(2+), inhibited by Ca(2+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+), and Co(2+), completely inhibited by Hg(2+) and Ag(2+). The purified SIase was strongly inhibited by SDS, while partially inhibited by dimethylformamide, tetrahydrofuran, and PMSF. Additionally, glucose and fructose acted as competitive inhibitors for purified SIase.