• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2017

Lignocellulosic biomass represents a potentially large resource to supply the world's fuel and chemical feedstocks. Enzymatic bioconversion of this substrate offers a reliable strategy for accessing this material under mild reaction conditions. Owing to the complex nature of lignocellulose, many different enzymatic activities are required to function in concert to perform efficient transformation. In nature, large multienzyme complexes are known to effectively hydrolyze lignocellulose into constituent monomeric sugars. We created artificial complexes of enzymes, called rosettazymes, in order to hydrolyze glucuronoxylan, a common lignocellulose component, into its cognate sugar ${\small{D}}$-xylose and then further convert the ${\small{D}}$-xylose into ${\small{D}}$-xylonic acid, a Department of Energy top-30 platform chemical. Four different types of enzymes (endoxylanase, ${\alpha}$-glucuronidase, ${\beta}$-xylosidase, and xylose dehydrogenase) were incorporated into the artificial complexes. We demonstrated that tethering our enzymes in a complex resulted in significantly more activity (up to 71%) than the same amount of enzymes free in solution. We also determined that varying the enzyme composition affected the level of complex-related activity enhancement as well as overall yield.

• Mycobiology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.84-89
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• 2005

Five types of agricultural wastes were used for the production of xylanolytic enzyme by Aspergillus flavus K-03. All wastes materials supported high levels of xylanase and ${\beta}-xylosidase$ production. A high level of proteolytic activity was observed in barley and rice bran cultures, while only a weak proteolytic activity was detected in corn cob, barley and rice straw cultures. Maximum production of xylanase was achieved in basal liquid medium containing rice barn as carbon source for 5 days of culture at pH 6.5 and $25^{\circ}C$. The xylanolytic enzyme of A. flavus K-03 showed low thermostability. The times required for 50% reduction of the initial enzyme activity were 90 min at $40^{\circ}C$, 13 min at $50^{\circ}C$, and 3 min at $60^{\circ}C$. Xylanolytic activity showed the highest level at pH $5.5{\sim}10.5$ and more than 70% of the original activity was retained at pH 6.5 and 7.0. The higher stability of xylanolytic enzymes in the broad range of alkaline pH is useful for utilization of the enzymes in industrial process requiring in alkaline conditions. Moreover, the highest production of xylanolytic enzyme was obtained when 0.5% of rice bran was supplied in basal liquid medium. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed a single xylanase band of approximately 28.5 kDa from the culture filtrates.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.374-379
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• 2003

Four rumen fistulated Murrah buffaloes were used to study the effect of four diets differing in roughage to concentrate ratio on rumen biochemical changes, microbial enzyme profile and in sacco degradability of feed in a $4{\times}4$ Latin Square design. The animals were fed four diets consisting of 80:20, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50 ratios of wheat straw and concentrate mixtures, respectively. Wheat straw and concentrate mixture were mixed with water (0.6 l/kg feed) and complete feed mixture was offered to the animals at 8:00 h and 16:00 h in two equal parts. The variation in pH of rumen liquor (difference of maximum and minimum during 0-8 h post feeding) increased with increasing level of concentrate mixture in the diet. There was no effect of diet composition on volatile fatty acids, total nitrogen and trichloro-acetic acid precipitable nitrogen in the rumen liquor, but ammonia nitrogen increased with increasing level of concentrate mixture in the ration. Major portions of all fibre degrading enzymes were present in the particulate material (PM) of the rumen contents, but protease was absent in PM fraction. The activities of micro-crystalline cellulase, acetyl esterase and protease increased with increase in the level of concentrate mixture, but the activities of other enzymes (carboxymethylcellulase, filter paper degrading activity, xylanase, $\beta$-glucosidase and $\beta$-xylosidase) were not affected. The in sacco degradability and effective degradability of feeds increased with increasing level of concentrate mixture in the ration.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.284-292
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• 2011

An endocellulase-free multienzyme complex was produced by a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium, Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum strain NOI-1, when grown on xylan. The temperature and pH optima for growth were $60^{\circ}C$ and 6.0, respectively. The bacterial cells were found to adhere to insoluble xylan and Avicel. A scanning electron microscopy analysis showed the adhesion of xylan to the cells. An endocellulase-free multienzyme complex was isolated from the crude enzyme of strain NOI-1 by affinity purification on cellulose and Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration. The molecular mass of the multienzyme complex was estimated to be about 1,200 kDa. The multienzyme complex showed one protein on native PAGE, one xylanase on a native zymogram, 21 proteins on SDS-PAGE, and 5 xylanases on a SDS zymogram. The multienzyme complex consisted of xylanase, ${\beta}$-xylosidase, ${\alpha}$-L-arabinofuranosidase, ${\beta}$-glucosidase, and cellobiohydrolase. The multienzyme complex was effective in hydrolyzing xylan and corn hulls. This is the first report of an endocellulase-free multienzyme complex produced by a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium, T. thermosaccharolyticum strain NOI-1.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.306-314
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• 1994

The action mode of xylanase II from Trichoderma koningii ATCC 26113 on xylan and related oligosaccharides (xylotriose, xylotetraose, and arabinoxylotriose) indicated that xylanase II is an endo-enzyme and also has trans-xylosidase activity. The $^1HNMR$-NMR studies of the reaction products formed by xylanase II revealed that all the hydrolysis products of xylooligosaccharides by the enzyme have only ${\beta}$-1,4-xylosidic linkage(s). Chemical modification of the enzyme with iodoacetamide showed that two cysteine residues per molecule of the enzyme was essential for the activity. Modification of the enzyme with N-bromosuccinimide demonstrated that four of the eight tryptophan residues were involved in its active site.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.271-280
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• 2017

Background: Soil microorganisms play key roles in nutrient cycling and are distributed throughout the soil profile. Currently, there is little information about the characteristics of the microbial communities along the soil depth because most studies focus on microorganisms inhabiting the soil surface. To better understand the functions and composition of microbial communities and the biogeochemical factors that shape them at different soil depths, we analyzed microbial activities and bacterial and fungal community composition in soils up to a 120 cm depth at a fallow field located in central Korea. To examine the vertical difference of microbial activities and community composition, ${\beta}$-1,4-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, ${\beta}$-1,4-xylosidase, ${\beta}$-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase, and acid phosphatase activities were analyzed and barcoded pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes (bacteria) and internal transcribed spacer region (fungi) was conducted. Results: The activity of all the soil enzymes analyzed, along with soil C concentration, declined with soil depth. For example, acid phosphatase activity was $125.9({\pm}5.7({\pm}1SE))$, $30.9({\pm}0.9)$, $15.7({\pm}0.6)$, $6.7({\pm}0.9)$, and $3.3({\pm}0.3)nmol\;g^{-1}\;h^{-1}$ at 0-15, 15-30, 30-60, 60-90, and 90-120 cm soil depths, respectively. Among the bacterial groups, the abundance of Proteobacteria (38.5, 23.2, 23.3, 26.1, and 17.5% at 0-15, 15-30, 30-60, 60-90, and 90-120 cm soil depths, respectively) and Firmicutes (12.8, 11.3, 8.6, 4.3, and 0.4% at 0-15, 15-30, 30-60, 60-90, and 90-120 cm soil depths, respectively) decreased with soil depth. On the other hand, the abundance of Ascomycota (51.2, 48.6, 65.7, 46.1, and 45.7% at 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 cm depths, respectively), a dominant fungal group at this site, showed no clear trend along the soil profile. Conclusions: Our results show that soil C availability can determine soil enzyme activity at different soil depths and that bacterial communities have a clear trend along the soil depth at this study site. These metagenomics studies, along with other studies on microbial functions, are expected to enhance our understanding on the complexity of soil microbial communities and their relationship with biogeochemical factors.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.378-387
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• 1998

The DNA sequence immediately following the xynA gene of Bacillus stearothermophilus 236 ［about l-kb region downstream from the translational termination codon (TAA) of the xynA gene］was found to have an ability to enhance the xylanase activity of the upstream xynA gene. An 849-bp ORF was identified in the downstream region, and the ORF was confirmed to encode a novel protein of 283 amino acids designated as XaiF (xylanase-activity-increasing factor). From the nucleotide sequence of the xaiF gene, the molecular mass and pI of XaiF were deduced to be 32,006 Da and 4.46, respectively. XaiF was overproduced in the E. coli cells from the cloned xaiF gene by using the T7 expression system. The transcriptional initiation site was determined by primer extension analysis and the putative promoter and ribosome binding regions were also identified. Blast search showed that the xaiF and its protein product had no homology with any gene nor any protein reported so far. Also, in B. subtilis, the xaiF trans-activated the xylanase activity at the same rate as in E. coli. In contrast, xaiF had no activating effect on the co-expressed ${\beta}-xylosidase$ of the xylA gene derived from the same strain of B. stearothermophilus. In addition, the intracellular and extracellular fractions from the E. coli cells carrying the plasmid-borne xaiF gene did not increase the isolated xylanase activity, indicating that the protein-protein interaction between XynA and XaiF was not a causative event for the xylanase activating effect of the xaiF gene.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.344-349
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• 1997

A strain of Bacillus sp. DSNC 101, isolated from soil, produced up to 305.0 units/ml of xylanase when grown on te medium containing 2.0% xylan, 2.0% yeast extract and 0.4% K2HPO4. The strain produced xylanase in the presence of xylan, soluble starch, rice straw, Avicel, maltose, and lactose as a sole carbon source, but the enzyme was not synthesized in the presence of xylose, glucose or arabinose. The crude xylanase preparation did not show hydrolytic activity towards cellulosic substrates and PNPX, a chromogenic substrate for $\beta$-xylosidase. The temperature and pH optima for the xylanase production were 4$0^{\circ}C$ and 8.0, respectively. Xylanase synthesis was repressed by glucose, but not by xylose. The hydrolysis products of xylan catalyzed with the culture filtrate were xylooligosaccharides such as xylobiose and xylotriose but xylose was not detected by tin layer chromatography.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.1255-1261
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• 2006

An alkaliphilic bacterium, Bacillus sp. strain BK, was found to produce extracellular cellulase-free xylanolytic enzymes with xylan-binding activity. Since the pellet-bound xylanase is eluted with 2% TEA from the pellet of the culture, they contain a xylan-binding region that is stronger than the xylan-binding xylanase of the extracellular enzyme. The xylanases had a different molecular weight and xylan-binding ability. The enzyme activity of xylanase in the extracellular fraction was 6 times higher than in the pellet-bound enzyme. Among the enzymes, xylanase had the highest enzyme activity. When Bacillus sp. strain BK was grown in pH 10.5 alkaline medium containing xylan as the sole carbon source, the bacterium produced xylanase, arabinofuranosidase, acetyl esterase, and $\beta$-xylosidase with specific activities of 1.23, 0.11, 0.06, and 0.04 unit per mg of protein, respectively. However, there was no cellulase activity detected in the crude enzyme preparation. The hydrolysis of agricultural residues and kraft pulps by the xylanolytic enzymes was examined at 50$^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0. The rate of xylan hydrolysis in com hull was higher than those of sugarcane bagasse, rice straw, com cop, rice husk, and rice bran. In contrast, the rate of xylan hydrolysis in sugarcane pulp was 2.01 and 3.52 times higher than those of eucalyptus and pine pulp, respectively. In conclusion, this enzyme can be used to hydrolyze xylan in agricultural residues and kraft pulps to breach and regenerate paper from recycled environmental resources.