A novel thermostable TP-84 capsule depolymerase: a method for rapid polyethyleneimine processing of a bacteriophage-expressed proteins

BACKGROUND: In spite of the fact that recombinant enzymes are preferably biotechnologically obtained using recombinant clones, the purification of proteins from native microorganisms, including those encoded by bacteriophages, continues. The native bacteriophage protein isolation is often troubled by large volumes of the infected bacterial cell lysates needed to be processed, which is highly undesired in scaled-up industrial processing. A well-known ammonium sulphate fractionation is often a method of choice during purification of the native bacteriophage protein. However, this method is time-consuming and cumbersome, and requires large amounts of the relatively expensive reagent. Thus, other effective and inexpensive methods of reversible protein precipitation are highly desirable. We have previously characterized thermophilic TP-84 bacteriophage, defined a new genus TP84virus within Siphoviridae family, conducted the TP-84 genome annotation and proteomic analysis. The longest Open Reading Frame (ORF) identified in the genome is TP84_26. We have previously annotated this ORF as a hydrolytic enzyme depolymerizing the thick polysaccharides host’s capsule. RESULTS: The TP84_26 ‘capsule depolymerase’ (depolymerase) is a large, 112 kDa protein, biosynthesized by the infected Geobacillus stearothermophilus 10 (G. stearothermophilus 10) cells. The TP84_26 protein biosynthesis was confirmed by three approaches: (i) purification of the protein of the expected size; (ii) mass spectrometry (LC–MS) analysis and (iii) detection of the enzymatic activity toward G. stearothermophilus polysaccharide capsules. Streptomycin-resistant mutant of the host was generated and microbiological aspects of both the TP-84 and G. stearothermophilus 10 were determined. A new variant of polyethyleneimine (PEI)-mediated purification method was developed, using the novel TP-84 depolymerase as a model. The enzyme was characterized. Three depolymerase forms were detected: soluble, unbound proteins in the bacteriophage/cells lysate and another integrated into the TP-84 virion. CONCLUSIONS: The novel TP-84 depolymerase was purified and characterized. The enzyme exists in three forms. The soluble, unbound forms are probably responsible for the weakening of the capsules of the uninfected bacterial cells. The form integrated into virion particles may generate a local passage for the invading TP-84. The developed PEI purification method appears well suited for the scaled-up or industrial production of bacteriophage proteins. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-023-02086-2.