Publication: Heterologous Expression of Algal Fucosyltransferases and Sulfotransferases in Escherichia coli

The latest publication of BioVT together with the Tanta University (Egypt) and other partners appears in the Biochemical Engineering Journal and is entitled "Heterologous Expression of Algal Fucosyltransferases and Sulfotransferases in Escherichia coli".

Alternative to classical production of fucoidans, enzymatic synthesis has been proposed especially following to genomic and bioinformatic investigations in Ectocarpus siliculosus and Saccharina sp. The present research aimed to assess the activity of four putative algal enzymes, including fucosyltransferases (FucTs_21 and FucTs_50) and carbohydrate sulfotransferases (STs_32 and STs_283) expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3). A specific activity of 0.47 pmol.min^-1.µg^-1 was observed for FucTs_50 in the Glycosyltransferase activity assay, while multiplexed capillary electrophoresis (MP-CE) revealed that almost 32% of GDP-L-fucose was affected. Additionally, the Universal Sulfotransferase Activity Kit was used to evaluate STs, and the results indicated that STs_283 and STs_32 exhibited specific activities at 2.29 and 2.38 pmol.min^-1.µg^-1, respectively. The results indicated correctly folded active enzymes with binding sites specific to their corresponding substrates. 

A. Zayed, B. Ledermann, T. Fischöder, L. Elling, N. Frankenberg-Dinkel, R. Ulber; Heterologous Expression of Algal Fucosyltransferases and Sulfotransferases in Escherichia coli; Biochemical Engineering Journal (2025) in press