Mycobacterium tuberculosis rv1400c encodes functional lipase/esterase

•LipI is a novel esterase cloned and purified in Escherichia coli.•This esterase is highly robust enzymes and strongly inhibited by Zn2+.•Ser165 and His291 were shown to be important for the catalysis activity of LipI.

Lipases catalyze the hydrolysis of triglycerides (TAG). Open reading frames (ORF) predicted to encode enzymes involved in fatty acids breakdown are abundant in Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome. To define the function of M. tuberculosis rv1400c (LipI), a putative Hormone Sensitive Lipase (HSL) subfamily ORF, the rv1400c was cloned, expressed and purified in Escherichia coli as fusion protein. The purified LipI preferred short carbon chain substrates with an optimal activity at 37 °C/pH 8.0 and stable between pH 6.0 to 9.0. Its specific activity was calculated to 35.71 U/mg with pNP-butyrate as a preferred substrate. SDS, CTAB and Zn2+ can inhibit this enzyme. The conserved residues Ser165 and His291 were shown to be important for the catalysis activity of Rv1400c by site-directed mutagenesis. The biochemical and genetical data showed M. tuberculosis LipI might be a good candidate catalyst for polyunsaturated fatty acids.