Trehalase is widely used in industrial fermentation, food, medicine and other fields. There is a lack of industrial varieties of trehalase with excellent performance in China. Moreover, the applied research on trehalase was not well conducted. In this study, a strain of Pectobacterium cypripedii was screened from nature, and the gene PCTre encoding an acidic trehalase was cloned and expressed in E. coli BL21(DE3). The highest enzyme activity reached 4130 U/mL after fermenting in a 5 L fermenter for 28 h. The enzymatic properties study showed that PCTre hydrolyzed trehalose specifically. The optimum pH and temperature were 5.5 and 35 ℃, respectively. 80% of the enzyme activity was retained after being treated at pH 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0 for 8 h, showing good acid tolerance. Moreover, it has good tolerance to organic solvents, 60% enzyme activity was retained after being treated with 20% (V/V) ethanol solution for 24 h. Furthermore, trehalose could be completely hydrolyzed within 16 h in a simulated fermentation system containing 20% (V/V) ethanol and 7.5% trehalose, with 500 U/L PCTre added. This indicated a good application potential for industrial ethanol fermentation.
Trehalase/metabolism* ; Trehalose/metabolism* ; Escherichia coli/metabolism* ; Ethanol/metabolism* ; Cloning, Molecular