Lipases are versatile catalysts that hydrolyze ester bonds of water-insoluble glycerides or carry out reversible reactions at the water/lipid interface. The remarkable characteristics of lipases from the genus Rhizopus are their high sn-1,3-positional specificity, enantioselectivity and activity in nonaqueous media, which make them one of the most desirable enzymes for many applications, including lipid modification and biodiesel and chiral organic compound synthesis. sn-1,3-Position-specific Rhizopus lipases are particularly useful for the production of structured triacylglycerols. Significant progress has been made regarding lipases from the genus Rhizopus, including gene sequencing, elucidation of the protein structure and catalytic function, heterologous expression and redesigning Rhizopus lipases for valuable properties, which is receiving increasing academic and industrial attention. In this review, we present a comprehensive overview of Rhizopus lipases, focusing on (a) the characteristics of Rhizopus lipases, (b) Rhizopus lipase genes and structural features, (c) strategies for heterologous expression of Rhizopus lipase genes in yeast system, (d) progress in protein engineering for the improvement of the properties of Rhizopus lipases, and (e) development of biotechnological applications.

脂肪酶是通用的催化剂，其水解水不溶性甘油酯的酯键或在水/脂质界面上进行可逆反应。根霉属脂肪酶的显着特征是其在非水介质中的高sn -1,3-位置特异性，对映选择性和活性，这使其成为许多应用中最理想的酶之一，包括脂质修饰，生物柴油和手性有机化合物合成。sn -1,3-位置特有的根霉脂肪酶特别适用于结构化三酰基甘油的生产。关于根霉属的脂肪酶的研究取得了重大进展包括基因测序，蛋白质结构和催化功能的阐明，异源表达以及重新设计根霉脂肪酶以获取有价值的特性，这正受到越来越多的学术和工业关注。在这篇综述中，我们将对根霉脂肪酶进行全面概述，重点是（a）根霉脂肪酶的特征，（b）根霉脂肪酶基因和结构特征，（c）根霉脂肪酶基因在酵母系统中异源表达的策略，（ d）蛋白质工程技术在改善根霉脂肪酶特性方面的进展，以及（e）生物技术应用的发展。