Discovery and characterization of a novel α-L-fucosidase from the marine-derived Flavobacterium algicola and its application in 2′-fucosyllactose production

2 '-Fucosyllactose (2 '-FL) is one of the nutrient ingredients in human milk, which has various beneficial health effects. alpha-L-fucosidase is a biotechnological tool for 2 '-FL preparation. Here, a novel and efficient alpha-L-fucosidase OUC-Jdch16 from the fucoidan-digesting strain Flavobacterium algicola 12076 was heterologously expressed and applied to produce 2 '-FL in vitro. OUC-Jdch16 belongs to glycoside hydrolases (GH) family 29 and exhibits the highest 4-nitrophenyl-alpha-L-fucopyranoside-hydrolyzing activity at 25 degrees C and pH 6.0. OUC-Jdch16 could catalyze the synthesis of 2 '-FL via transferring the fucosyl residue from pNP-alpha-fucose to lactose. Under the optimal transfucosylation conditions, the yield of the transfucosylation product reached 84.82% and 92.15% (mol/mol) from pNP-alpha-fucose within 48 h and 120 h, respectively. Moreover, OUC-Jdch16 was capable of transferring the fucosyl residue to other glycosyl receptors with the generation of novel fucosylated compounds. This study demonstrated that OUC-Jdch16 could be a promising tool to prepare 2 '-FL and other novel glycosides.