Recombinant Expression and Enzyme Activity of Chymotrypsin-like Protease from Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)

Abstract

Chymotrypsin serine protease is one of the main digestive proteases in the midgut of and is involved in various essential processes. In a previous study, a gene encoding a chymotrypsin-like protease, Hi-SP1, was cloned from the larvae of Hermetia illucens and characterized. In this study, we produced the recombinant chymotrypsin-like protease Hi-SP1 in Escherichia coli cells. The molecular weight of the recombinant Hi-SP1 was estimated to be approximately 26 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western-blotting. Chymotrypsin activity was detected when AAPF was used as the substrate. Examination of the effects of temperature and pH revealed that the proteolytic activity of recombinant Hi-SP1 decreased markedly at temperatures above <TEX>$30^{\circ}C$</TEX>, and the optimum pH was found to be 10.0.