An esterase on the outer membrane of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for the hydrolysis of long chain acyl esters.

A new esterase activity which hydrolyzes palmitoyl-CoA was found in the membrane fraction of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All the 11 strains of P. aeruginosa tested possessed this esterase activity. The esterase was constitutive and was fully active on the intact cell bodies toward substrates in the medium. It was located on the outer membrane of the cell envelope, and was not released into the culture medium. This activity was designated as OM (outer membrane) esterase. OM esterase was solubilized from the cell envelope with EDTA-Triton X-100 and purified 690-fold. It was a minor component of the outer membrane. Its molecular weight was approximately 55,000. The activity was rather stable to heat, a wide range of pH, and treatment with detergents and organic solvents. No cofactors were required. The pH optimum of the reaction was 8.5. Among various acyl-CoAs, only long chain (C12--C18) thioesters were hydrolyzed. OM esterase also hydrolyzed some kinds of oxy-esters such as p-nitrophenyl acyl esters, monoacyl esters of sucrose and Tween 80 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate). On the other hand, triglycerides, phospholipids, or hydrophobic monoesters were not hydrolyzed at all. Thus, this enzyme seems to have specificity for long chain acyl esters with hydrophilic groups, whether thio- or oxy-ester. Mutants deficient in this esterase activity were isolated. These mutants were unable to grow on Tween 80 as a sole carbon source. This suggests a possible role of OM esterase in the utilization of acyl esters as carbon sources.