Over expression of beta-1, 4-xylanase by auto-induction in E. coli

Catalytic domain of β-1, 4-xylanase gene, (xynZ.CD) of Clostridium thermocellum was cloned in pET28a expression vector and over-expressed in Escherichia colt BL21 CodonPlus (RIL). The production of XynZ.CD in E. colt was optimized using different concentrations of lactose and induction of the enzyme at different stages of growth. The maximum growth of the cells and the enzyme activity were observed when the cells were induced with 10mM lactose after 8 hours of incubation. The enzyme was found to constitute >40% of the total cell proteins in the supernatant of the lysed cells transformed with recombinant pET28a/xynZ.CD. It was purified by heating the cell lysate at 65 degree C for 30 m followed by fractionation through FPLC. Molecular weight of XynZ.CD was found to be approximately 38,524 D by MALDI-TOF analysis. The enzyme variant was quite stable within broad pH range of 5.5 - 8.0 and it retained >85% of xylanase activity after 2 h incubation at 70 degre C. (author)