AU2008200576A1 - Lipolytic enzyme variants and method for their production - Google Patents

Description

S&F Ref: 675753D1

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

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O In oo o i Name and Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Novozymes A/S, of Krogshojvej 36, DK-2880, Bagsvaerd, Denmark Luise Christiansen, Hans Peter Heldt-Hansen, Allan Svendsen, Jesper Vind Spruson Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) Lipolytic enzyme variants and method for their production The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 5845c(1120533_1) 00 LIPOLYTIC ENZYME VARIANTS AND METHOD FOR THEIR PRODUCTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a lipolytic enzyme variant and a method of producing such a variant. More particularly, the variant has a relatively high activity for one ester bond in an amphiphilic substrate with two lipophilic groups and a relatively low activity for the ester bond in an amphiphilic substrate with one lipophilic group, e.g. a relatively high phospholipase activity and a relatively low lysophospholipase activity.

SBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0 EP 870840, JP-A 10-42884, JP-A 4-135456 or JP-A 2-49593 describe the use of a phospholipase to hydrolyze a phospholipid to produce lysophospholipid.

JUS 4567046, WO 94/04035, EP 109244, EP 585988, WO 98/26057, IWO 98/45453, WO 99/53769, WO 00/32758, IhO 0139602 and EP 575133 describe the addition of various lipolytic enzymes to dough in the preparation of baked products and the preparation of lipolytic enzyme variants.

IWO 00/32758) discloses that the substrate specificity of a lipolytic enzyme can be modified by making alterations to the amino acid sequence.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The inventors have developed a method using protein engineering to produce lipolytic enzymes having a relatively high activity for one ester bond in an amphiphillc substrate with two lipophilic groups and a relatively low activity for the ester bond in an amphiphilic substrate with one lipophilic group, e.g. a relatively high phospholipase activity and a relatively low lysophospholipase activity.

Accordingly, the invention provides a method of producing a lipolytic enzyme variant comprising: a) selecting a parent fungal lipolytic enzyme, b) in the parent lipolytic enzyme altering at least one specified amino acid residue, c) optionally, altering one or more amino acid residues other than b), d) preparing the variant resulting from steps e) testing hydrolytic activities of the variant towards a first substrate and a second substrate, f) selecting a variant having a ratio of hydrolytic activities towards the first substrate and the second substrate which is lower than the parent lipolytic enzyme, and g) producing the selected variant.

O The first substrate is a molecule comprising one fatty acyl group linked through an N ester or thioester bond to a hydrophilic group. The second substrate is a molecule comprising Sa first lipophilic group which Is a fatty acyl group linked through an ester or thioester bond to a S hydrophilic group, and a second lipophilic group linked to the hydrophilic group, where the second lipolhilic group may be a second fatty acyl group linked through an ester, thioester or amide bond, or it may be a fatty alcohol linked through an ether or thioether bond.

IN Each amino acid alteration may be an amino acid substitution, deletion or insertion.

SThe amino acid residue to be altered may be determined from a three-dimensional model of a phospholipid docked with the parent lipolytic enzyme as a residue which comprises an atom cN (excluding H atoms) which lies within 10 A (particularly 7 A or 5 A) of an atom (excluding H 00 Satoms) of the lyso-phospholipid, or it may be the C-terminal amino acid.

SAlternatively, the amino acid residue to be altered may be determined by aligning the amino acid sequence of the parent lipolytic enzyme with the T. lanuginosus lipase and selecting a residue corresponding to any of residues 17-18, 20-23, 26, 37, 39, 62, 64, 80-96, 110- 113, 144-151, 171-177, 200-211, 213, 215, 227, 253-261 or 263-269.

The invention also provides a 1. lipolytic enzyme having an amino acid sequence derived from the T. lanuginosus lipase (SEQ ID NO: 14) comprising the following amino acid alterations: a) R84W +G91A +D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N, b) G91A +D96W +E99K +L227G +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N, c) R84W +G91A:D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266S +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S, d) SPPCGRRP(-E) +Y21K +E99N +N101S +E239C +Q249R, e) G91A +D96K +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N, f) Y21V +R84G +G91A:D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S, g) V60G +D62W +R84W +G91A +D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N, h) V60A +D62S +G91A +D96W +E99K +W221R +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S, i) R84A S85D E87A +G91A +D96G +K98E +E99D, j) G91A +D96W +E99K +P250N +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S, 00 k) (391A +D96W +E99K +P256N +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +1_269N +270A +271 G +272G +273F +274S, CI1) R84W +G9IA +D96W +E99K +Y261Q +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271 G +272G +273F +274S, M) G91A +D96W +E99K +P250L +P253Q +D254DEL ff2575 +G263Q r- +1-264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271 G +272G +273F +274S, n) R84Y G91A D96F E99K G263Q L264A 1265T G266D T267A L269N, or In R84S G91A D96F E99K E129A +V203i +1-206F G263Q L264A 1265T G266D T267A L269N.

The invention also provides a lipolytic enzyme having an amino acid sequence derived from a Fusariumn lipase comprising at least one amino acid alteration corresponding to C1 the following In the Fusarium oxysporumn lipase(phospholipase (SEQ ID NO: 7): a) H257W, b) S142A, c) V1571), d) S271P, e) S8OT, I) Al 27T, g) D263G, h) Y2I1W, i) D) R274A, k) 275YRSAESVDKR or 1) 275YRSAESVDKAATMTDAELEKKLNSWVQMDKEYVKNNQARS.

Further, the Invention provides a lipolytic enzyme which: a) has an amino acid sequence having at least 90 Identity to that of the Thermomyces Ianuginosus lipase or the Fusarium oxysporum lipase/phospholipase, b) has phospholipase activity, and c) has a lysophospholipase to phospholipase ratio below the limit Indicated below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Test substrates The invention uses two different polar lipids as test substrates. Both are amphiphilic (amphipolaric), having a hydrophilic part and one or two lipophilic groups, respectively.

First substrate 00 The first substrate has the general formula A-B-C where: S* A is an acyl group, particularly straight-chain and unsubstituted. It may be satu- Srated or may have one or more double bonds. It may have an even number of car- [T 5 bon atoms, e.g. from 12 to 24 B is O (oxygen) or S (sulfur) forming an ester or thioester bond between A and C.

C is a polyol having B attached to an OH group, optionally having other functional 0 groups and/or a hydrophilic group attached to an OH group. The polyol may be a sugar alcohol such as glycerol, e.g. having B attached in the snl or sn2 position of glycerol. The other functional groups may be one or more aldehyde, keto or carboxyl C groups; thus, the polyol may be a monosaccharide or a corresponding uronic acid.

SThe hydrophilic group linked to an OH group, e.g. in the sn3 position of glycerol, may be: o A phosphate group, optionally linked to an alcohol such as choline, ethanolamine, serine or inositol.

o Mono- or digalactosyl link to C through a glycosidic bond.

The first substrate may be a lysophospholipid such as lyso-lecithin or a lysogalactolipid such as digalactosyl monoglyceride (DGMG) or monogalactosyl monoglyceride (MGMG). The lyso-phospholipid may be a 1-lyso-phospholipid with an acyl group at the snlposition or a 2-lyso-phospholipid with an acyl group at the sn2-position.

The activity of interest is a hydrolytic activity towards the bond B-C.

Second substrate The second substrate has the general formula C where: A' is an acyl group defined as for A above.

B' is O (oxygen) or S (sulfur) forming an ester or thioester bond between A' and C.

A" is an acyl or alkyl group particularly straight-chain and unsubstituted. It may be saturated or may have one or more double bonds. It may have an even number of carbon atoms, e.g. from 12 to 24 B" is O (oxygen), S (sulfur) or NH forming an ester, thioester, amide, ether or thioether bond between A" and C.

C is the same as for the first substrate.

A" and B" of the second substrate may be chosen identical to A and B of the second substrate and attached in the same position of C, or they may be chosen independently.

The second substrate may be a phospholipid such as lecithin or a galactollpid such as digalactosyl diglyceride (DGDG) or monogalactosyl diglyceride (MGDG), or it may be pre- 00 pared synthetically by attaching a fatty alcohol through an ether bond or thioether bond to a lysophospholipid or a lyso-galactolipid.

SThe activity of interest Is a hydrolytic activity towards the B'-C bond.

SLipolytic enzyme activities The lipolytic enzyme of the invention has a low ratio of activity for the first substrate compared to activity for the second substrate. Thus, it has a relatively low hydrolytic activity O towards the B-C (thio)ester bond of the first substrate and a relatively high hydrolytic activity towards the B'-C (thio)ester bond of the second substrate. The activity towards the second substrate may be phospholipase Al (EC 3.1.1.32) or A2 (EC or it may be a galactolipase activity.

O The activity ratio may be found by contacting the lipolytic enzyme with each sub- S strate separately or by contacting it with a mixture including both substrates. The activity ratio may be measured by the PLARN assay, the RLPLA assay or a plate assay described below.

The lipolytic enzyme may have a ratio of lysophospholipase activity to phospholipase activity corresponding to PLARN below 1000 (particularly 500, below 200 or below 50) or RLPLA below 2 (particularly below 1 or below The lipolytic enzyme of the invention may have phospholipase (PL) activity with a relatively low lysophospholipase (LPL) activity. The lyso-phospholipid may be a 1-lysophospholipid with an acyl group at the snl-position or a 2-lyso-phospholipid with an acyl group at the sn2-position. The lipolytic enzyme may in particular have phospholipase Al activity with low 1-lysophospholipase activity.

The lipolytic enzyme of the invention may have hydrolytic activity towards a carboxylic ester bond In DGDG (digalactosyl diglyceride) with a relatively low hydrolytic activity towards the ester bond in DGMG (digalactosyl monoglyceride).

Optionally, the lipolytic enzyme may also have triacylglycerol lipase activity (EC i.e. hydrolytic activity for carboxylic ester bonds in triglycerides, e.g. 1,3-specific activity, particularly on long-chain triglycerides such as olive oil. The enzyme may have a substrate specificity for hydrolyzing long-chain fatty acyl groups rather than short-chain groups, e.g. expressed as a high ratio of activities on olive oil and tributyrin, e.g. a ratio SLU/LU>3 as described in WO 0032758.

LPL/PL ratio (PLARN) Phospholipase activity is determined at 30 *C using 4% lecithin (phosphatidyl choline) in 50 mM sodium acetate, 5 mM CaCI2, pH 5.0. One unit of phosphollpase activity is defined as 1 mmol free fatty acids released per minute per mg enzyme using the above conditions.

00 Lysophospholipase activity is determined at 30 °C using 1% lysolechitin in mM sodium acetate, 5 mM CaCI2, pH 5.0. One unit of lysophospholipase activity is defined N as 1 mmol free fatty acids released per minute per mg enzyme using the above conditions.

The lysolechitin may be an equilibrium mixture or pure 1- lysolechitin in the case of a phospholipase Al and pure 2- lysolechitin in the case of a phospholipase A2.

SThe PLARN ratio is defined as the lysophospholipase activity divided by the phospholipase activity, both determined by the above methods.

Relative activity on lysopholipids and phospholipids (RLPLA) This activity measurement expresses the relative activity on lysophosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl choline in an equimolar mixture.

00 More specifically the assay is carried out as follows: The activity at different concen- O trations of phospholipase is determined at 30'C blending 1:1 solutions of phosphatidyl choline and lysophosphatidyl choline (25mM) in 50mM NaOAc buffer (pH 50pl enzyme solution having 0.1 or 2.5 mg enzyme protein per ml) is added to the substrate solution and allowed to react for 30 minutes. 100pl of the sample is inactivated at 95'C for 5 minutes and dissolved in 900pl CHCI3/MeOH 50%/50%. The sample is centrifuged at 14000rpm for 2 minutes. The supernatant is analyzed by HPLC after filtering through a 0.45pm filter. Column: Microsorb-MV 100Si 250mm column (analytical instruments). Mobile phases: A: 80% CHCi3, 19.5% MeOH, 0.5% NH40H; B: 60% CHCI3, 34% MeOH, 0.5% NH40H, 5.5% H20. Gradient: 0-3 minutes 100% A, 3-23 minutes 100% B, 23-45 minutes 100% A. Injection volume Detector: Sedere, Sedex 75 light scattering, Temp 40°C, pressure 3.5 Bar. The RLPLA is then measured as the depletion of phosphatidyl choline relative to lysophosphatidyl choline.

A variant with a lower RLPLA value indicates a higher accumulation of lysophospholipid under the conditions of analysis.

The relative activity can be expressed as "RLPLA ratio" by measuring lysolecithin hydrolysis at an enzyme dosage of 0.1 mg/ml and lecithin hydrolysis at a dosage of mg/ml, and taking the ratio of the two.

Plate assay Plates including each of the substrates may be prepared in analogy with WO 0032758 using suitable pH and substrate concentration. Optionally, other ingredients such as flour may be included. A suitably diluted enzyme solution is applied to holes in the plates, and clearing zones are read after incubation for a suitable time at a suitable temperature.

Preparation of lipolytic enzyme The lipolytic enzyme may be obtained by preparing variants of a parent lipolytic enzyme by altering its amino acid sequence and screening for a variant with an improved activ- 00 ity ratio. The parent lipolytic enzyme may have phospholipase activity, DGDG hydrolytic activ- 8 ity and/or triacylglycerol lipase activity. Variants may be prepared from the parent lipolytic enzyme by known methods, e.g. by subjecting a DNA sequence encoding the parent lipolytic enzyme to site-directed mutagenesis, localized random mutagenesis or site-saturation mutagenesis, e.g. using methods described In WO 0032758. Resulting DNA sequences may be further modified by gene shuffling and directed evolution.

Parent lipolytic enzyme The lipolytic enzyme to be used in the present Invention is one that can hydrolyze Sester bonds. Such enzymes include, for example, lipases, such as triacylglycerol lipase (EC 00 10 lipoprotein lipase (EC 3.1.1.34), monoglyceride lipase (EC 3.1.1.23), phosphollpase SAl or A2 (EC 3.1.1.26, lysophospholipase (EC galactolipase (EC 3.1.1.26), ferulic acid esterase and esterase (EC 3.1.1.1, EC 3.1.1.2).

The parent lipolytic enzyme may be the Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase (Humicola lanuginosa lipase) (EP 305216) or it may have an amino acid sequence with at least 50 identity at least 90 identity). The amino acid sequence of the T. lanuginosus lipase is shown in US 5869438 and as seq14 in Fig. 2 of this application.

Thus, the parent lipolytic enzyme may be a naturally occurring enzyme as described at pages 5-6 of WO 0032758. Examples are the lipolytic enzymes from the following organisms. They are known in the prior art; and their amino acid sequences are given in the attached sequence listing.

1. Absidia reflexa 2. Absidia corymbefera 3. Rhizmucor miehei 4. Rhizopus delemar (oryzae) 5. Aspergillus niger 6. Aspergillus tubingensis 7. Fusarium oxysporum 8. Fusarium heterosporum 9. Aspergillus oryzae 10. Penicilium camembertii 11. Aspergillus foetidus 12. Aspergillus niger 13. Aspergillus oryzae 14. Thermomyces lanuginosus (Humicola lanuginosa) As indicated above, the amino acid to be altered may be determined on the basis of an alignment of the parent lipolytic enzyme with the T. lanuginosus lipase. Fig. 2 shows an 00 alignment of the amino acid sequences of the above fungal lipolytic enzymes, based on a Scomparison of the available 3-dimensional structures: SOther amino acid sequences may be aligned with those shown In Fig. 2 by using the SGAP alignment to the most homologous sequence found by the GAP program. GAP is provided in the GCG program package (Program Manual for the Wisconsin Package, Version 8, August 1994, Genetics Computer Group, 575 Science Drive, Madison, Wisconsin,

USA

53711) (Needleman, S.B. and Wunsch, (1970), Journal of Molecular Biology, 48, 443- The following settings are used for polypeptide sequence comparison: GAP creation penalty of 3.0 and GAP extension penalty of 0.1.

8 10 Alternatively, the parent lipolytic used in the present invention may be a variant of the oO above, e.g. a variant of the T. lanuginosus lipase (SEQ ID NO: 14) or the F. oxysporum li- Spase/phospholipase (SEQ ID NO: A variant with phospholipase activity or galactolipase Sactivity may be used, e.g. as described in Example 5, 6 or 13 of WO 0032758. Particular examples are variants of SEQ ID NO: 14 with the following amino acid alterations: L259S G266D G91A +D96W +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A+ 271G+ 272G+ 273F +274S G266E G263A +G266A E1SPCRPRP +E239C +Q249R +G266A E1SPCRPRP +E239C +Q249R +G266S D96S G266A D96S G266S D96S G266W E1SPPCGRRP +D96S +E239C +Q249R +G263D +L2641 +1265N +G266E +T267GS Three-dimensional model Fig. 1 gives the coordinates of a three-dimensional model of the T. lanuginosus lipase docked with a phospholipid as substrate: 1-palmetoyl-2-oleylglycero-sn-3phosphocholine (POPC). This may be used as a starting point for building a similar model for any given fungal lipolytic enzyme. Using this model, the following amino acid residues are found to be within 10 A, 7 A and 5 A of an atom of the substrate (LIP1 in the pdb structure shown in Fig. 1): 00 10 A: 17-18, 20-23, 26, 37, 39, 62, 64, 80-96, 110-113, 144-151, 171-177, 200-21.1, S213, 215, 227, 253-261, 263-269.

N 7 A: 21, 81-95, 110, 113, 145-148, 150, 172-175, 201-208, 213, 254-256, 258-259, S264-269.

5 A: 21, 82-86, 89-90, 92-93, 95, 110, 113, 145-147, 174, 202-203, 206-208, 255, S258-259, 265-268.

More particularly, amino acid alterations may be made at one or more positions corresponding to the following amino acids in the T. lanuginosus lipase (SEQ ID NO: 14): Y212, S R84, S85, E87, D96, V203, L206, L227, P253, D254, P256, P257 and/or Y261, particularly one or more alterations corresponding to Y21V/K, R84W/A/G/Y/S, S85D, E87A, D96F/KIG, 00 V2031, L206F, P253Q, D254*, P256N, P257S and/or Y261Q.

SFurther, amino acid alterations may be made at one or more positions corresponding to H257, S142, S80, D263 and/or Y21 of the F. oxysporum lipase/phospholipase (SEQ ID NO: particularly one or more corresponding to H257W, S142A, S80T, D263G and/or Y21W.

Also, amino acid alterations may be made at the C-terminal or at any position downstream of L269 of SEQ ID NO: 14. Such alteration may be addition or deletion of a peptide extension or deletion of a peptide extension of one or more amino acids 1-50 amino acids such as 2-15) at the C-terminal.

Amino acid alteration The amino acid alteration may be substitution with a larger amino acid. The amino acid residues are ranked by size as follows from smallest to largest: G, A, S, C, V, T, P, L, I, N, D, M, E, Q, K, H, R, F, Y, W An amino acid residue within 10 A (or 7 A or 5 A) of a C atom in the alkyl group R of R-COO attached to snl of the lyso-phospholipid may be substituted with an amino acid residue which is larger or more hydrophilic.

An amino acid residue within 10 A (or 7 A or 5 A) of an atom (other than H) of the phosphate group attached to sn3 the O atom at sn3 or any atom beyond that) may be substituted with an amino acid which is larger or more hydrophobic.

Amino acid residues are ranked as follows from most hydrophilic to most hydrophobic: R, K, E, D, N, Q, H, S, T, Y, C, M, G, A, V, P, L, I, F, W Lipolytic enzyme variant Starting from a variant having phospholipase activity derived from the T. lanuginosus lipase, and improvement regarding increased ratio of lecithin/lysolecithin(snl) activity and 00 lowered activity against lysolecithin (snl) of lysolecithin in general, or/and with improved sni Slecithase activity may be achieved by use of the following concepts.

One concept is to lower the binding energy of sni acyl chain and in this way increase the ratio of activity lecithln/lysolecithin(snl). Secondary to increase sn2 binding to favour lecithin rather than lysolecithin.

SThus, 206, 95, 203 and 93 may be made smaller and more hydrophillc. Also, positions 253, 255 and 256 may be made bigger. Some particular examples of such variants are: I L206V/S/T/A lrn V203T/S/A 0 10 F951/L/Y 00 L93V/I/A/T SA doped library 206/203 and 95/93. appr. 90% wt and appr 10% variant may be used.

A second concept is to make libraries in the contacts to both acyl chains found docked structures, and in the regions close to the substrate found by comparison of good and bad lysolecithase active homologous enzymes. The regions will be doped according to the homologous enzymes sequence.

Thus, region 265-269 is of interest, e.g. P253. Some particular examples of such variants are: A doped library 247-260 may be used, optionally together with doped 1202P and L206V. The doping may be appr. 90%wt and appr. 10% variants.

P253TG/L D254S/L 1255 P2561/A A257D/A L259 W260H Proline removal(s): P256X P253X together with 1202P L227D Library 247-260 and 206, 95, 203 and 93 may be combined.

00 Amino acid Identity The lipolytic enzyme of the invention and the parent lipolytic enzyme may have an Samino acid identity of at least 50 (particularly at least 90 e.g. more than 95 or more than 98 with the T lanuginosus lipase (SEQ ID NO: 14).

The degree of identity may be suitably determined by means of computer programs Sknown in the art, such as GAP provided in the GCG program package (Program Manual for the Wisconsin Package, Version 8, August 1994, Genetics Computer Group, 575 Science SDrive, Madison, Wisconsin, USA 53711) (Needleman, S.B. and Wunsch, (1970), Journal Sof Molecular Biology, 48, 443-45), using GAP with the following settings for polypeptide se- 8 10 quence comparison: GAP creation penalty of 3.0 and GAP extension penalty of 0.1.

00 SUse of lipolytic enzyme variant Hydrolysis of phospholiid A variant with phospholipase activity can be used to prepare lysophospholipid (e.g.

lyso-lecithin) by treating the corresponding phospholipld with the variant, e.g. as described in EP 870840, JP-A 10-42884, JP-A 4-135456 or JP-A 2-49593. The variant can also be used to make mayonnaise, e.g. as described in EP 628256, EP 398666 or EP 319064.

Advantageously, a low ratio of lysophospholipase/phospholipase activity can lead to a high degree of phospholipid hydrolysis with a low degree of lysophospholipid hydrolysis.

This may allow the use of long reaction time and the use of phospholipid with a high lysophospholipid content, e.g. from cereals such as oats.

Baking Lipolytic enzymes according to the invention have improved baking performance, e.g. a lower dough stickiness, a better dough extensibility and elasticity, a better dough stability, a better crumb structure of the baked product, a larger loaf volume and/or improved resistance to over-proofing or other abuse.

The invention provides a baking additive in the form of a granulate, an agglomerated powder or a stabilized liquid, comprising a lipolytic enzyme which: a) has phospholipase activity, and b) has a lysophospholipase to phospholipase ratio corresponding to PLARN below 500 or RLPLA .below The baking additive may have a narrow particle size distribution with more than 95 (by weight) of the particles in the range from 25 to 500 pm.

Granulates and agglomerated powders may be prepared by conventional methods, e.g. by spraying the lipolytic enzyme onto a carrier in a fluid-bed granulator. The carrier may consist of particulate cores having a suitable particle size. The carrier may be soluble or in- 00 0O 0O oo fc i^ soluble, e.g. a salt (such as NaCI or sodium sulfate), a sugar (such as sucrose or lactose), a sugar alcohol (such as sorbitol), starch, rice, corn grits, or soy. Liquid enzyme preparations may, for instance, be stabilized by adding a polyol such as propylene glycol, a sugar or sugar alcohol, lactic acid or boric acid according to established methods.

5 The invention further relates to a pre-mix comprising flour and the lipolytic enzyme described above. The pre-mix may contain other dough-improving and/or bread-improving additives, e.g. any of the additives, including enzymes, mentioned above.

The invention also provides a method of preparing a dough or a baked product prepared from dough. The method may comprise preparing a variant by the above method and adding it to the dough. Alternatively, the method may comprise: a) testing at least one lipolytic enzyme for its hydrolytic activities towards intact phospholipid (PL) and lyso-phospholipid

(LPL),

b) selecting a lipolytic enzyme having a hydrolytic activity ratio for LPL/PL corresponding to PLARN below 500, and c) adding the selected lipolytic enzyme to the dough.

Dough The dough generally comprises wheat meal or wheat flour and/or other types of meal, flour or starch such as corn flour, corn starch, rye meal, rye flour, oat flour, oat meal, soy flour, sorghum meal, sorghum flour, rice starch, rice flour, potato meal, potato flour or potato starch. The dough may be fresh, frozen or par-baked. It may particularly be a leavened dough.

The dough may also comprise other conventional dough ingredients, proteins, such as milk powder, gluten, and soy; eggs (either whole eggs, egg yolks or egg whites); an oxidant such as ascorbic acid, potassium bromate, potassium iodate, azodicarbonamide (ADA) or ammonium persulfate; an amino acid such as L-cysteine; a sugar; a salt such as sodium chloride, calcium acetate, sodium sulfate or calcium sulfate.

The dough may comprise fat (triglyceride) such as granulated fat or shortening, but the invention is particularly applicable to a dough where less than 1 by weight of fat (triglyceride) is added, and particularly to a dough which is made without addition of fat.

The dough may further comprise an emulsifier such as mono- or diglycerides, diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- or diglycerides, sugar esters of fatty acids, polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, lactic acid esters of monoglycerides, acetic acid esters of monoglycerides, polyoxyethylene stearates, or lysolecithin, but the invention is particularly applicable to a dough which is made without addition of emulsifiers (other than optionally phospholipid).

00 Baked product 0 The process of the invention may be used for any kind of baked product prepared from dough, either of a soft or a crisp character, either of a white, light or dark type. Examples are bread (In particular white, whole-meal or rye bread), typically in the form of loaves or rolls, S 5 -French baguette-type bread, pita bread, tortillas, cakes, pancakes, biscuits, cookies, muffins, pie crusts, crisp bread, steamed bread, pizza and the like.

Additional enzyme Optionally, an additional enzyme may be used together with the lipolytic enzyme.

The additional enzyme may be a second lipolytic enzyme as described in PCT/ DK01/00472), an amylase, particularly an anti-staling amylase, an amyloglucosidase, a 00 cyclodextrin glucanotransferase, or the additional enzyme may be a peptidase, in particular San exopeptidase, a transglutaminase, a cellulase, a hemicellulase, In particular a pentosanase such as xylanase, a protease, a protein disulfide isomerase, a protein disulfide isomerase as disclosed in WO 95/00636, a glycosyltransferase, a branching enzyme (1,4-aglucan branching enzyme), a 4-a-glucanotransferase (dextrin glycosyltransferase), a lactase (galactosidase), or an oxidoreductase, a peroxidase, a laccase, a glucose oxidase, a pyranose oxidase, a lipoxygenase, an L-amino acid oxidase or a carbohydrate oxidase.

The amylase may be a fungal or bacterial alpha-amylase, e.g. from Bacillus, particularly B. licheniformis or B. amyloliquefaciens, or from Aspergillus, particularly A. oryzae, a betaamylase, e.g. from plant soy bean) or from microbial sources Bacillus). The amylase may be an anti-staling amylase, as described in WO 99/53769, i.e. an amylase that is effective in retarding the staling (crumb firming) of baked products, particularly a maltogenic alpha-amylase, e.g. from Bacillus stearothermophilus strain NCIB 11837.

Other uses The lipolytic enzyme variant may also be used in the production of pasta and noodles in analogy with EP 1057415.

A lipolytic enzyme variant with phospholipase activity may be used in cheese production as described in WO 00/54601.

EXAMPLES

Example 1: Variants based on a T. lanuginosus llpase variant A prior-art variant of the T. lanuginosus lipase with phospholipase activity was chosen as the starting point (parent lipolytic enzyme), and variants were prepared by introducing further amino acid alterations into the prior-art variant.

Experiment A Activities of the new variants were determined with lecithin and lysolecithin (pure 1phosphatidyl choline, 1-lysolecithin) as substrates by the methods described above. More .C specifically, 1.7 mL of the reaction mixture was shaken for between 15 and 90 min in an Eppendorf tube shaken at 1300 rpm by an "Eppendorf Thermomixer comfort". The enzyme was inactivated at 95 C for 5 min, and centrifuged at 14000 rpm by Eppendorf centrifuge 5417R. The liberated fatty acids were determined (relative to a control sample where the N enzyme was inactivated before it was added to the substrate) by NEFA C test from Wako foll lowing the ACS-ACOD method described for the NEFA-C test.

Three variants were found to have phospholipase activity and a to have a lower ratio C of lysophospholipase to phospholipase than the prior-art variant.

S00R84W +G91A F +K Q A T 2 A SR84W +G91A +D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N G91A +D96W +E99K +L227G +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N R84W +G91A +D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266S +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S Experiment B Activities of further variants were determined with lecithin and lysolecithin (mixture of 1- and 2-lysolecithin) as substrates at 0.1 and 2.5 mg/ml by the RLPLA method described above. All variants were found to have a high activity on lysolecithin compared to lecithin.

Variants having the following amino acid alterations compared to SEQ ID NO: 14 were found to have phospholipase activity and a to have a lower ratio of lysophospholipase to phospholipase than the prior-art variant.

SPPCGRRP(-E) +Y21K +E99N +N101S +E239C +Q249R G91A +D96K +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N Y21V +R84G +G91A +D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S +D62W +R84W +G91A +D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +D62S +G91A +D96W +E99K +W221R +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S R84A S85D E87A +G91A +D96G +K98E +E99D G91A +D96W +E99K +P250N +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S 00 G91A +D96W +E99K +P256N +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271 G +272G +273F +274S R84W +G91A +096W +E99K *Y261Q +G263Q '-L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271 G +272G +273F +274S G91A +096W +E99K +P250L +P253Q +D254DEL +P257S +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271 G +272G +273 F +274 S IND R84Y G91A D96F E99K G263Q L264A 1265T G266D T267A L269N R84S G91A D96F E99K E129A +V203i +L206F G263Q L264A 1265T G266D T267A L269N 00 Example 2: Variants of F. oxysporum lpaselphospholipase Variants of the F. oxysporum lipase/phospholipase were prepared, having the follow- Ing amino acid alterations compared to SEQ ID NO: 7: H257W S142A V1 570 +S271 P +A1 27T D263G Y21W The following variants with modified C-terminal sequences were prepared by making the substitutions R274A and/or R284A to remove one or two cleavage points for the Kex-2 protease: R274A +275YRSAESVDKR R274A +275YRSAESVDKAATMTDAELEKKLNSYVQMDKEYVKNNQARS Activities of the variants and the parent enzyme were determined as in Example 2.

Compared to the parent enzyme, the variants were found to have lower activity on lysolecithin and a lower ratio of lysolecithin activity to lecithin activity.

Example 3: Preparation of dough Doughs were prepared from Meneba flour according to the European straight dough method (ABF-SP 1201 with 40 ppm Fungamyl Super MA (Novozymes), 40 ppm ascorbic acid, and different dosages of lipolytic enzyme.

The stickiness of the dough was evaluated an a 1-10 scale by the baker as the deoO O gree to which a dough adheres to ones hands or other surfaces, where 5 is identical to a con- Cl trol without addition of lipolytic enzyme, 1 is the lowest degree of stickiness and 10 is the highest degree of stickiness.

C 5 The extensibility of the dough was evaluated an a 1-10 scale by the baker as the degree to which a dough can be stretched without tearing where 5 is identical to a control without addition of lipolytic enzyme, 1 indicates the lowest (shortest) extensibility and 10 indicates the highest (longest) extensibility The elasticity of the dough was evaluated an a 1-10 scale by the baker as the degree to which a dough tends to recover its original shape after release from a deforming force, where 5 is identical to a control without addition of lipolytic enzyme, 1 indicates the 00 0lowest (weakest) elasticity and 10 indicates the highest (strongest) elasticity.

C A lipolytic enzymes prepared in Example 1 was tested, and the prior-art variant was tested for comparison. The results were as follows Experiment A

PLARN

Lipolytic en- Dosage Stickiness Extensibility Elasticity zyme ratio Invention 0.2 mg/kg dough 690 5 6 4 Prior art 250 LU/kg dough 5800 5 7 3 Experiment

B

Lipolytic en- RLPLA Lpolytic en- Dosage Stickiness Extensibility Elasticity zyme ratio Invention 0.2 mg/kg flour 1.06 4 4 6 Prior art 250 LU/kg dough 1.58 5 5 The results show that lipolytic enzymes with a lower ratio of lysolecithin activity to lecithin activity make doughs with a desirable combination of lower extensibility and higher elasticity than the prior-art lipolytic enzymes, and they furthermore tend to make a less sticky dough.

Claims (2)

1. 2. A method of producing a lipolytic enzyme variant comprising: a) selecting a parent fungal lipolytic enzyme, b) in the parent lipolytic enzyme selecting at least one amino acid residue corresponding to any of residues 17-18, 20-23, 26, 37, 39, 62, 64, 80-96, 110-113,
2. 144-151, 171-177, 200-211, 213, 215, 227, 253-261 and 263-269 of the T. lanuginosus lipase (SEQ ID NO: 14), c) altering the selected amino acid, d) optionally, altering one or more amino acids other than those selected, e) preparing the variant resulting from the preceding steps, f) testing hydrolytic activities of the variant towards the bond B-C of a first substrate having the general formula A-B-C and towards the bond B'-C of a second substrate having the general formula C where: i) A and A' are fatty acyl groups, ii) B and B' are oxygen or sulfur 00 iii) C is a polyol with B, B' and B" attached to OH groups, optionally hav- ing other functional groups, and optionally having a hydrophilic group at- 1 tached to an OH group, g) selecting a variant having a ratio of activity on the first substrate to activity on the C 5 second substrate which is lower than the parent lipolytic enzyme, and Sh) producing the selected variant. I 3. The method of either preceding claim wherein the first substrate is a lyso-phospholipid Sand the second substrate is a phospholipid. 4. The method of the preceding claim wherein the parent lipolytic enzyme has phospholi- pase activity, particularly phospholipase Al activity. The method of the preceding claim wherein the parent lipolytic enzyme also has digalac- tosyl diglyceride hydrolyzing activity and optionally triacylglycerol lipase activity. 6. The method of any preceding claim wherein the parent lipolytic enzyme has an amino acid sequence which is at least 50 (particularly at least 90 identical to that of the Ther- momyces lanuginosus lipase (SEQ ID NO: 14). 7. The method of the preceding claim wherein the alterations comprise substitution of at least one of L93, F95, V203 and L206 with an amino acid residue which Is smaller and/or more hydrophilic. 8. The method of the preceding claim wherein the alterations comprise at least one of the substitutions L206V/S/T/A, V203T/S/A, F9511L/Y and L93V/I/AT. 9. The method of claim 5 wherein the alterations comprise substitution of at least one of P253,1255 and P256 with an amino acid which is larger. The method of claim 5 wherein the alterations comprise an amino acid alteration in the region 247-260 or 265-269. 11. The method of the preceding claim wherein the alterations comprise substitution of at least one of P253 and P256 with a different amino acid residue. 12. The method of claim 5 wherein the alterations comprise a substitution L227D, P253T/G/L, D254S/L, 1255, P256L/A, A257D/A, L259 or W260H. 00 13. The method of claim 5 wherein the alterations comprise an amino acid alteration in the region 247-260 and an alteration of amino acid L93, F95, V203 and L206. 14. The method of any of claims 5-12 wherein the parent lipolytic enzyme compared to the T Ianugfnosus lipase (SEQ ID NO: 14) comprises an amino acid alteration at a position corre- sponding to R81, R84, S85, G263, L264, 1265, G266, T267 or L269 and/or a peptide exten- sion of 1-10 amino acids art the C-terminal. r- 15. A method of preparing a dough or a baked product made from dough, comprising prepar- ing a lipolytic enzyme variant by the method of any preceding claim and adding the lipolytic enzyme variant to the dough. 00 16. A variant of a parent fungal lipolytic enzyme which variant comprises an amino acid al- teration corresponding to R84GIAIYIS or L206F of SEQ ID NO: 14, has phospholipase activ- ity and has a lysophospholipase to phospholipase ratio corresponding to PLARN below 500 or RLPLA below 17. A lipolytic enzyme having an amino acid sequence derived from the T. lanuginosus lipase (SEQ ID NO: 14) comprising the following amino acid alterations: a) R84W +G91A +D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N, b) G91A +D96W +E99K +L227G +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N, c) R84W +G9IA:D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266S +T267A +L269N +270A +271 G +272G +273F +274S, d) SPPCGRRP(-E) +Y21K +E99N +N1OIS +E239C +Q249R, e) G9IA +D96K +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N, f) Y21V +RB4G +G91A:D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S, g) V60G +D62W +R84W +G91A +D96F +E99K +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N, h) V6OA +D62S +G9IA +D96W +E99K +W221R +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S, i) R84A S85D E87A +G91IA +D96G +K98E +E99D, J) G91A +D96W +E99K +P250N +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S, k) G91A +D96W +E99K +P256N +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S. 00 1) R84W +G91A +096W +E99K +Y261Q +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A -'L269N +270A +271 G +272G +273F +274S, m) G91A +096W +E99K +P250L +P253Q +0254DEL +P257S +G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A +L269N +270A +271G +272G +273F +274S, r- 5 n) R84Y +G91A +D96F +E99K G263Q +L264A +1265T +G266D +T267A L269N, or o) R84S G91A D96F E99K E129A +V2O3i +L206F G263Q L264A 1265T G266D T267A 1-269N. C) 18. A lipolytic enzyme having an amino acid sequence derived from a Fusarium lipase com- 00 10 prising at least one amino acid alteration corresponding to the following in the Fusarium ox- ysporum lipase(phosphollpase (SEQ ID NO: 7): C1a) H257W, b) S142A, c) VI157D, d) S271 P, e) S8OT, f) A127T, g) D263G, h) Y21W, i) S8OT, j) R274A, k) 275YRSAESVDKR or 1) 275YRSAESVDKAATMTDAELEKKLNSYVQMDKEYVKNNQARS 19. A lipolytic enzyme which: a) has an amino acid sequence having at least 90 identity to that of the Thermo- myces Ianuginosus lipase (SEQ ID NO: 14) or the Fusarium oxysporum li- pase/phospholipase (SEQ ID NO: 7), b) has phospholipase activity, and c) has a lysophospholipase to phospholipase ratio corresponding to PLARN below 500 or RLPLA below Dated 7 February, 2008 Novazymes A/S Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON