A rational approach to improve the activity of a β-glucosidase enzyme

Chanda, Pinaki (2021) A rational approach to improve the activity of a β-glucosidase enzyme. Masters thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

Text (MS Dissertation of Pinaki Chanda (16MS199)) 16MS199_Thesis_file.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (1MB)

Abstract

β-Glucosidases are a class of cellulases that are required for the last step of cellulose degradation. It breaks down cellobiose into two glucose molecules such that the glucose can be used to produce chemicals and biofuels. The problem with the β-glucosidase enzyme is, its product glucose inhibits it. This study aims to disrupt glucose binding to the active site pocket of the H0HC94 β-Glucosidase to increase glucose tolerance by the enzyme through the engineering of residues to which the glucose molecule interacts most. This study includes both computational studies used to identify the residues that interact with the glucose molecule and wet-lab experiments to create mutants and study the effect of the mutations. The results indicate a beneficial effect on glucose tolerance and an improvement of activity compared to the wild type.

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