New lipolytic enzymes identified by screening two metagenomic libraries derived from the soil of a winter wheat field

Abstract

Description of the subject. Lipolytic enzymes are widely distributed and fulfil important physiological functions in the microorganisms inhabiting diverse environments. Soils are rich, diversified environments containing microbial communities that remain largely unknown. Objectives. This work aimed to discover new lipolytic enzymes. Method. New enzymes were found by functional screening of two seasonal metagenomic libraries (a winter and a spring library) constructed from an agricultural soil. Screens were performed on 2xYT medium supplemented with 3% lipase reagent. Results. Nineteen positive clones were isolated. Analysis of the corresponding inserts led to identifying 23 putative lipolytic enzymes (13 for the winter library and 10 for the spring library) displaying between 31% and 62% identity to known enzymes and belonging to seven different families. Conclusions. As enzymes show low identity to known enzymes, the encoded enzymes may display novel biochemical features.

Keywords

• Screening
• lipolytic enzyme
• esterase
• agricultural soils
• Belgium