High-level production of Bacillus cereus phospholipase C in Corynebacterium glutamicum

•A rapid genetic engineering platform was used to evaluate Sec and Tat systems for the secretion of B. Cereus PLC in C. glutamicum to obtain an efficient recombinant strain.•A fed-batch fermentation process was developed to obtain a final concentration of 5.5 g/L of recombinant PLC.•The recombinant BC-PLC shows a high efficiency for enzymatic oil degumming.

Enzymatic oil degumming (removal of phospholipids) using phospholipase C (PLC) is a well-established and environmentally friendly process for vegetable oil refining. In this work, we report the production of recombinant Bacillus cereus PLC in Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13869 in a high cell density fermentation process and its performance in soybean oil degumming. A final concentration of 5.5 g/L of the recombinant enzyme was achieved when the respective gene was expressed from the tac promoter in a semi-defined medium. After treatment with trypsin to cleave the propeptide, the mature enzyme completely hydrolyzed phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, which represent 70% of the phospholipids present in soybean oil. The results presented here show the feasibility of using B. cereus PLC for oil degumming and provide a manufacturing process for the cost effective production of this enzyme.