title: Lipases from the genus Rhizopus: Characteristics, expression, protein engineering and application.
abstract: Lipases are versatile catalysts that hydrolyze ester bonds of water-insoluble glycerides or carry out reversible reactions at the water/lipid interface. The remarkable characteristics of lipases from the genus Rhizopus are their high sn-1,3-positional specificity, enantioselectivity and activity in nonaqueous media, which make them one of the most desirable enzymes for many applications, including lipid modification and biodiesel and chiral organic compound synthesis. sn-1,3-Position-specific Rhizopus lipases are particularly useful for the production of structured triacylglycerols. Significant progress has been made regarding lipases from the genus Rhizopus, including gene sequencing, elucidation of the protein structure and catalytic function, heterologous expression and redesigning Rhizopus lipases for valuable properties, which is receiving increasing academic and industrial attention. In this review, we present a comprehensive overview of Rhizopus lipases, focusing on (a) the characteristics of Rhizopus lipases, (b) Rhizopus lipase genes and structural features, (c) strategies for heterologous expression of Rhizopus lipase genes in yeast system, (d) progress in protein engineering for the improvement of the properties of Rhizopus lipases, and (e) development of biotechnological applications.
authors: The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China. Electronic address: yuxw@jiangnan.edu.cn.
authors: Xiao-Wei
authors: XW
authors: Yu
authors: The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China. Electronic address: yxu@jiangnan.edu.cn.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Xu
authors: Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
authors: Rong
authors: R
authors: Xiao
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D008049:Lipase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016296:Mutagenesis; D010843:Pichia / Q000378:metabolism; D015202:Protein Engineering; D012233:Rhizopus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D014280:Triglycerides; D008049:Lipase
keywords: Biodiesel; Bioengineering; Characterization; Enantioselectivity; Heterologous expression; Lipase; Rhizopus species; sn-1,3-Position specificity