Molecular cloning, heterologous expression, and enzymatic characterization of lysoplasmalogen‐specific phospholipase D from Thermocrispum sp.

Lysoplasmalogen (LyPls)‐specific phospholipase D (LyPls‐PLD) is an enzyme that catalyses the hydrolytic cleavage of the phosphoester bond of LyPls, releasing ethanolamine or choline, and 1‐(1‐alkenyl)‐sn‐glycero‐3‐phosphate (lysoplasmenic acid). Little is known about LyPls‐PLD and metabolic pathways of plasmalogen (Pls). Reportedly, Pls levels in human serum/plasma correlate with several diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and arteriosclerosis as well as a variety of biological processes including apoptosis and cell signaling. We identified a LyPls‐PLD from Thermocrispum sp. strain RD004668, and the enzyme was purified, characterized, cloned, and expressed using pET24a(+)/Escherichia coli with a His tag. The enzyme's preferred substrate was choline LyPls (LyPlsCho), with only modest activity toward ethanolamine LyPls. Under optimum conditions (pH 8.0 and 50 °C), steady‐state kinetic analysis for LyPlsCho yielded K (m) and k (cat) values of 13.2 μm and 70.6 s(−1), respectively. The ORF of LyPls‐PLD gene consisted of 1005 bp coding a 334‐amino‐acid (aa) protein. The deduced aa sequence of LyPls‐PLD showed high similarity to those of glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterases (GDPDs); however, the substrate specificity differed completely from those of GDPDs and general phospholipase Ds (PLDs). Structural homology modeling showed that two putative catalytic residues (His46, His88) of LyPls‐PLD were highly conserved to GDPDs. Mutational and kinetic analyses suggested that Ala55, Asn56, and Phe211 in the active site of LyPls‐PLD may participate in the substrate recognition. These findings will help to elucidate differences among LyPls‐PLD, PLD, and GDPD with regard to function, substrate recognition mechanism, and biochemical roles. DATA ACCESSIBILITY: Thermocrispum sp. strain RD004668 and its 16S rDNA sequence were deposited in the NITE Patent Microorganisms Depositary (NPMD; Chiba, Japan) as NITE BP‐01628 and in the DDBJ database under the accession number AB873024. The nucleotide sequences of the 16S rDNA of strain RD004668 and the LyPls‐PLD gene were deposited in the DDBJ database under the accession numbers AB873024 and AB874601, respectively. ENZYME: EC number EC 3.1.4.4