METHOD FOR THE ENZYME-CATALYSED HYDROLYSIS OF POLYACRYLIC ACID ESTERS, AND ESTERASES USED THEREFOR

摘要

The invention relates to a method for the enzyme-catalysed hydrolysis of polyacrylic acid esters. According to the method, at least one polyacrylic acid ester is provided and incubated with at least one enzyme selected from enzymes (EC 3.1) acting on ester bindings, until the ester groups contained in the polyacrylic acid ester are partially or fully hydrolytically split, and optionally the modified polymer obtained thereby is isolated. The invention also relates to the enzymes used and mutants thereof, nucleic acids coding for the enzymes, vectors comprising the nucleic acids, micro-organisms comprising the vectors, and the use of the enzymes, the vectors or the micro-organisms for carrying out a method for the enzyme-catalysed hydrolysis of polyacrylic acid esters. The present application also relates to polymer reaction products that can be obtained by the method, and methods for producing esterases.

主权项

1. A functional esterase mutant of the esterase of SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein said functional esterase mutant has:
i) comparable or increased activity with respect to the hydrolysis of polyacrylic acid esters relative to the esterase of SEQ ID NO: 1; ii) increased stability relative to SEQ ID NO: 1; and/or iii) increased hydrolytic activity against at least one of polyacrylic acid methyl esters or polyacrylic acid butyl relative to the esterase of SEQ ID NO: 1; and wherein said functional esterase mutant is: a) a mutant of the esterase of SEQ ID NO: 1 and comprises a mutation in one or more of the amino acid residues selected from Ser17, Gly132, Trp134, Arg155, Glu251, Ala311 and Glu316; b) a mutant of the esterase of SEQ ID NO: 1 and comprises at least one of the mutations selected from Ser17Leu, Gly132Ser, Glu251Gly, Ala311Val and Glu316Lys, c) a mutant of the esterase of SEQ ID NO: 1 and comprises at least one of the mutations selected from Pro8Leu, Gly132Ser, Trp134Arg, Arg155Cys, Glu251Gly, Ala311Val and Glu316Lys; or d) a mutant of the esterase of SEQ ID NO: 1 and comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 38.