• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.804-807
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• 2006

Bacterial serine proteases, especially those from Bacillus, have been extensively studied. Intracellular serine protease 1 (Isp1) is responsible for most of the proteolytic activity in B. subtilis. To identify Isp1 substrates and study its physiological functions, a mutant of Isp1, which has lost the enzymatic activity, was constructed. Through a GST affinity chromatographic method, several Bacillus proteins that specifically interacted with S246A mutant Isp1 protein were isolated and then identified by MALDI-TOF analysis. ClpC and elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) were among those proteins specifically bound to mutant Isp1. In addition, several proteins involved in stationary phase adaptive response (such as RNA polymerase sigma factor, spoIIIE) were also identified. These findings led us to suggest that the major function of this serine protease, whose expression is greatly increased during the stationary phase, is to mediate transition of the cell into the stationary phase in a proper and timely manner.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1015-1025
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• 2015

The development of diverse polymyxin derivatives is needed to solve the toxicity and resistance problems of polymyxins. However, no platform has generated polymyxin derivatives by genetically engineering a polymyxin synthetase, which is a nonribosomal peptide synthetase. In this study, we present a two-step approach for the construction of engineered polymyxin synthetases by substituting the adenylation (A) domains of polymyxin A synthetase, which is encoded by the pmxABCDE gene cluster of Paenibacillus polymyxa E681. First, the seventh L-threonine-specific A-domain region in pmxA was substituted with the L-leucine-specific A-domain region obtained from P. polymyxa ATCC21830 to make polymyxin E synthetase, and then the sixth D-leucine-specific A-domain region (A_6-D-Leu-domain) was substituted with the D-phenylalanine-specific A-domain region (A_6-D-Phe-domain) obtained from P. polymyxa F4 to make polymyxin B synthetase. This step was performed in Escherichia coli on a pmxA-containing fosmid, using the lambda Red recombination system and the sacB gene as a counter-selectable marker. Next, the modified pmxA gene was fused to pmxBCDE on the chromosome of Bacillus subtilis BSK4dA, and the resulting recombinant strains BSK4-PB and BSK4-PE were confirmed to produce polymyxins B and E, respectively. We also succeeded in constructing the B. subtilis BSK4-PP strain, which produces polymyxin P, by singly substituting the A_6-D-Leu-domain with the A_6-D-Phe-domain. This is the first report in which polymyxin derivatives were generated by genetically engineering polymyxin synthetases. The two recombinant B. subtilis strains will be useful for improving the commercial production of polymyxins B and E, and they will facilitate the generation of novel polymyxin derivatives.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.2090-2099
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• 2015

Recently, the cardiovascular disease has been widely problematic in humans probably due to fibrin formation via the unbalanced Western style diet. Although direct (human plasmin) and indirect methods (plasminogen activators) have been available, bacterial enzyme methods have been studied because of their cheap and mass production. To detect a novel bacterial fibrinolytic enzyme, 111 bacterial strains with fibrinolytic activity were selected from kimchi. Among them, 14 strains were selected because of their stronger activity than 0.02 U of plasmin. Their 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed that they belong to Bacillus, Leuconostoc, Propionibacterium, Weissella, Staphylococcus, and Bifidobacterium. The strain B. subtilis ZA400, with the highest fibrinolytic activity, was selected and the gene encoding fibrinolytic enzyme (bsfA) was cloned and expressed in the E. coli overexpression system. The purified enzyme was analyzed with SDS-PAGE, western blot, and MALDI-TOF analyses, showing to be 28.4 kDa. Subsequently, the BsfA was characterized to be stable under various stress conditions such as temperature (4-40oC), metal ions (Mn²⁺, Ca²⁺, K²⁺, and Mg²⁺), and inhibitors (EDTA and SDS), suggesting that BsfA could be a good candidate for development of a novel fibrinolytic enzyme for thrombosis treatment and may even be useful as a new bacterial starter for manufacturing functional fermented foods.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.298-304
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• 2002

A family shuffling associating PCR-based and in vitro recombination and expression in Escherichia coli cdd mutant was carried out. Two cdd genes encoding cytidine deaminases (CDase) from thermophilic Bacillus caldolyticus and B. stearothermophilus were shuffled. Around 150 viable mutant colonies screened on AB minimal medium without uracil by E. coli cdd complementation were selected for cytidine deaminase assay and 4 candidates (SH1067, SH1077, SH1086, and SH1118) were chosen for the detailed study. The nucleotide sequence analyses of 4 selected mutants revealed that they have several point mutations and recombinations. Surprisingly, the SH 1067 showed 770 fold more specific CDase activity at $80^{\circ}C$ than that of T101 from parental B. stearothermophilus.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.146-155
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• 1993

A DNA fragment from an alkali-tolerent Bacillus sp., conferring strong promoter activity, was subcloned into the promoter probe plasmid pPL703 and the nucleotide sequence of this promoter region was determined. The sequence analysis suggested that this highly efficient promoter region containing the complex clustered promoters comprised three kinds of promoters (P1, P2 and P3), which are transcribed by $\sigma^B (formerly \sigma^{37}), \sigma^E(formerly \sigma^{29}) and \sigma^A (formerly \sigma^{43})$ RNA polymerase holoenzymes which play major rules at the onset of endospore formation, during sporulation and at the vegetative phase of growth, respectively. S1 nuclease mapping experiments showed that all three promoters had staggered transcription initiation points. The results of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase assay after the subcloning experiments also indicated that the expression of these clustered promoters was correlated with the programs of growth and endospore development. Promoter P1, P2 and P3 were preceded by 75% AT, 79% AT and 81% AT regions, respectively, and a partial deletion of AT-rich region prevented transcription from promoter P1 in vivo. Two sets of 5 -AGTGTT-3 sequences and inverted repeat sequences located around the promoter P1 were speculated as the possible cis acting sites for the catabolite repression in B. subtilis. In vivo transcripts from these sequence regions may be able to form a secondary structure, however, the possibility that a regulatory protein induced by the excess amount of glucose could be bound to such a domain for crucial action remains to be determined.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.293-298
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• 2001

Tryptic activation of the 130-kDa Bacillus thuringiensis Cry4B $\delta$-endotoxin produced protease-resistant products of ca. 47 kDa and ca. 21 kDa. The 21-kDa fragment was identified as the N-terminal five-helix bundle (${\alpha}1-{\alpha}5$,) which is a potential candidate for membrane insertion and pore formation. In this study, we constructed the recombinant clone over-expressing this putative pore-forming (PPF) fragment as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli. The partially purified inclusions were composed of a 23-kDa protein, which cross-reacted with Cry4B antibodies, and whose N-terminus was identical to that of the 130-kDa protein. Dissimilar to protoxin inclusions, the PPF inclusions were only soluble when the carbonate buffer, pH 9.0, was supplemented with 6 M urea. After renaturation via a stepwise dialysis, the refolded PPF protein appeared to exist as an oligomer and was structurally stable upon trypsin treatment. Unlike the 130kDa protoxin, the refolded protein was able to release entrapped glucose from liposomes, and showed comparable activity to the full-length activated toxin, although it lacks larvicidal activity These results, therefore, support the notion that the PPF fragment that consists of ${\alpha}1-{\alpha}5$ of the activated Cry4B toxin is involved in membrane pore-formation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.116-120
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• 1991

The transformant Bacillus subtilis ED213 carrying the pSO100 which cloned the cdd gene encoding cytidine deaminase (cytidine /2'-deoxycytidine aminohydrolase, EC 3.5.4.5, CDase) originated from wild type B. subtilis was cultivated in Spizizen minimal medium (SMM). To overcome poor expression of the cdd gene in SMM medium, the medium compositions and growth conditions were optimized. The optimized medium compositions and growth conditions were cytidine concentration of 80 mg/l, glycerol of 25 g/l, and $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ of 10 g/l, along with $37^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0. The intracellular CDase production was increased 3 times from 1,000 unit/ml to 3,200 unit/ml, and extracellular CDase also increased from nearly undetectable amounts to 1,500 unit/ml. The cytidine concentration was signified as the most critical compositional factor for overproduction of CDase by increasing the cell density mainly in culture broth. The plasmids were more stable in cells that were grown in original SMM medium with stability of 90% compared to those grown in optimized SMM medium with stability of 80% after 48 hours cultivation. The most active amplification of plasmid was occurred in the logarithmic phase, which showed a value around four times higher than the initial copy number. In the exponential phase, the CDase production was closely related to the plasmid copy number along with the cell density. However, it was not accorded with cell density at the stationary phase.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.51-54
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• 2000

In the 5'-flanking region of the D-AAT, AspAT and AlaDH gene, I found three or two pairs of sequences(designated as Pl, P2, P3) which show significant similarity to the E.coli consensus sequences of -35 and -10 for promoters. The spacing between -35 and -10 is 16 to 18bp in all the three putative promoters Pl, P2 and P3 which is in good agreement with the preferred spacer length in E.coli and in B.subtilis. Therefore, the putative promoters may also function to increase the efficiency of transcriptional initiation. The most stable, double-helical“Shine-Dalgarno”pairing is formed with a free energy change(ΔG) of -13.0 kcal/mol, -9.6 kcal/mol, -15.8 kcal/mol.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.331-338
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• 2012

A novel gene coding for an endo-${\beta}$-1,4-mannanase (manA) from Bacillus subtilis strain G1 was cloned and overexpressed in P. pastoris GS115, and the enzyme was purified and characterized. The manA gene consisted of an open reading frame of 1,092 nucleotides, encoding a 364-aa protein, with a predicted molecular mass of 41 kDa. The ${\beta}$-mannanase showed an identity of 90.2-92.9% ${\leq}95%$) with the corresponding amino acid sequences from B. subtilis strains deposited in GenBank. The purified ${\beta}$-mannanase was a monomeric protein on SDS-PAGE with a specific activity of 2,718 U/mg and identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The recombinant ${\beta}$-mannanase had an optimum temperature of $45^{\circ}C$ and optimum pH of 6.5. The enzyme was stable at temperatures up to $50^{\circ}C$ (for 8 h) and in the pH range of 5-9. EDTA and most tested metal ions showed a slightly to an obviously inhibitory effect on enzyme activity, whereas metal ions ($Hg^{2+}$, $Pb^{2+}$, and $Co^{2+}$) substantially inhibited the recombinant ${\beta}$-mannanase. The chemical additives including detergents (Triton X-100, Tween 20, and SDS) and organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, n-butanol, and acetone) decreased the enzyme activity, and especially no enzyme activity was observed by addition of SDS at the concentrations of 0.25-1.0% (w/v) or n-butanol at the concentrations of 20-30% (v/v). These results suggested that the ${\beta}$-mannanase expressed in P. pastoris could potentially be used as an additive in the feed for monogastric animals.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1551-1558
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• 2014

The esterase gene Est8 from the thermophilic bacterium Bacillus sp. K91 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The monomeric enzyme exhibited a theoretical molecular mass of 24.5 kDa and an optimal activity around $50^{\circ}C$ at pH 9.0. A model of Est8 was constructed using a hypothetical YxiM precursor structure (2O14_A) from Bacillus subtilis as template. The structure showed an ${\alpha}/{\beta}$-hydrolase fold and indicated the presence of a typical catalytic triad consisting of Ser-11, Asp-182, and His-185, which were investigated by site-directed replacements coupled with kinetic characterization. Asp-182 and His-185 residues were more critical than the Ser-11 residue in the catalytic activity of Est8. A comparison of the amino acid sequence showed that Est8 could be grouped into the GDSL family and further classified as an SGNH hydrolase. Est8 is a new member of the SGNH hydrolase subfamily and may employ a different catalytic mechanism.