Hyperthermophilic Enzyme Modification of Polysaccharide Biopolymers: Interrelationship Between Biocatalysis and Rheology

这一建议建立在一项正在进行的跨学科努力的基础上，以检查水溶性聚合物的酶促修饰与由此产生的流变学后果之间的相互关系。该项目的扩大范围有以下目标：(1)在多糖修饰方面，对有希望的野生型和突变型超高温半乳甘露聚糖酶和半乳糖苷酶进行生化和生物物理表征；(2)研究酶在酶修饰过程中酶在生物聚合物基质中的流动性和分布以及伴随着生物聚合物-酶系统聚集模式的变化；以及(3)酶活性与流变学和半乳甘露聚糖分子结构变化的关系。这项工作基于该研究团队的集体专业知识，即多糖系统、高温下的酶学以及凝胶和溶液的流变学，将使人们全面了解酶作用导致的聚合物改性的基本和技术问题。虽然这里的重点是半乳甘露聚糖，但这项工作的长期影响将延伸到战略性生物催化方法，以提高其他碳水化合物生物聚合物的有效性和用途。

This proposal builds on an ongoing interdisciplinary effort to examine the interrelationship between enzymatic modification of water-soluble polymers and the resulting rheological consequences. The expanded scope of this project has the following objectives: (1) biochemical and biophysical characterization of promising wild-type and mutated hyperthermophilic galactomannanases and galactosidases, with respect to polysaccharide modification; (2) investigation of the mobility and distribution of enzymes within the biopolymer matrix during enzymatic modification along with the concomitant changes in the aggregation pattern of the biopolymer-enzyme system; and (3) correlation of enzyme activity to changes in rheology and galactomannan molecular architecture. Such an effort, based on the collective expertise of this research team, i.e., polysaccharide systems, enzymology at elevated temperatures, and the rheology of gels and solutions, will provide a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental and technological issues governing polymer modification resulting from enzyme action. While the focus here is on galactomannans, the long-term impact of this work will extend to strategic biocatalytic approaches to enhance the efficacy and use of other carbohydrate biopolymers.