Recombinant Lipases and Phospholipases and Their Use as Biocatalysts for Industrial Applications

Abstract

Lipases and phospholipases are interfacial enzymes that hydrolyze hydrophobic ester linkages of triacylglycerols and phospholipids, respectively. In addition to their role as esterases, these enzymes catalyze a plethora of other reactions; indeed, lipases also catalyze esterification, transesterification and interesterification reactions, and phospholipases also show acyltransferase, transacylase and transphosphatidylation activities. Thus, lipases and phospholipases represent versatile biocatalysts that are widely used in various industrial applications, such as for biodiesels, food, nutraceuticals, oil degumming and detergents; minor applications also include bioremediation, agriculture, cosmetics, leather and paper industries. These enzymes are ubiquitous in most living organisms, across animals, plants, yeasts, fungi and bacteria. For their greater availability and their ease of production, microbial lipases and phospholipases are preferred to those derived from animals and plants. Nevertheless, traditional purification strategies from microbe cultures have a number of disadvantages, which include non-reproducibility and low yields. Moreover, native microbial enzymes are not always suitable for biocatalytic processes. The development of molecular techniques for the production of recombinant heterologous proteins in a host system has overcome these constraints, as this allows high-level protein expression and production of new redesigned enzymes with improved catalytic properties. These can meet the requirements of specific industrial process better than the native enzymes. The purpose of this review is to give an overview of the structural and functional features of lipases and phospholipases, to describe the recent advances in optimization of the production of recombinant lipases and phospholipases, and to summarize the information available relating to their major applications in industrial processes.

Phospholipase Applications in Cheese Production

“…Fig. 1 Reactions catalyzed by the phospholipases [6]. DAG, diacylglycerol; FFA, free fatty acid; PA, phosphatidicacid; P-X, phosphorylated head-group; X, head-group.…”

“…PLA2 hydrolyzes of the ester bond at the sn-2 position of the phospholipid, thus producing a free fatty acid and 1-acyl lysophospholipid [6]. [5].…”

“…[5]. PLD cleaves the terminal phosphodiesteric bond of the phospholipid, thus releasing phosphatidic acid (PA) along with the head-group [6].…”

Applications of Microbial Enzymes in Food Industry

“…Phospholipases C (PLC) and D (PLD), which modify polar head group, are also known as phosphodiesterases, and they recognize the phosphodiester linkage (70). Phospholipases are widely used in food industry, most importantly in the production of oils, dairy industry and in the manufacture of several bakery items (71).…”

“…They can be divided into four major classes (A, B, C and D) based on their mechanism of action (70). Phospholipase A1 (PLA1), phospholipase A2 (PLA2), and phospholipase B act on the carboxylic ester bonds of phospholipids, thus displacing and replacing the acyl group chain through various chemical reactions like hydrolysis, esterification and transesterification.…”