A novel recombinant chlorophyllase from cyanobacterium Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142 for the production of bacteriochlorophyllide a

Bacteriopheophorbide a (BPheid a) is used as a precursor for bacteriochlorin a (BCA), which can be used for photodynamic therapy in both in vitro and in vivo biochemical applications. This study successfully isolated and expressed a photosynthetic bacterium (Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142) chlorophyllase called CyanoCLH, which can be used as a biocatalyst for the production of a BCA precursor by degrading bacteriochlorophyll a (BChl a). Substrate specificity and enzyme kinetic analyses were performed and the results verified that the recombinant CyanoCLH preferred hydrolyzing BChl a to produce bacteriochlorophyllide a (BChlide a), which can be converted to BPheid a by removing magnesium ion. The recombinant CyanoCLH was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL-21 (DE3), and its molecular weight was 54.7kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of the recombinant CyanoCLH comprised a unique lipase-motif GHSLG, which differs from the GHSRG sequence of other plants and lacks a histidine of the typical and conserved catalytic triad Ser-Asp-His. The recombinant CyanoCLH was subjected to biochemical analyses, and the results indicated that its optimal pH and temperature were 7.0 and 60 degrees C, respectively.