• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.576-583
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• 2004

GERI-155 is a macrolide antibiotic containing two deoxyhexose molecules and shows antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive bacteria. Deoxysugar biosynthetic gene cluster of GERI-155 from Streptomyces sp. GERI-l55 genome was cloned. Four orfs were identified and a putative orf presumed to be the dTDP g]ucose-4,6-dehydratase gene was designated as gerE. GerE was expressed in E. coli by using a recombinant expression vector pHJ1. The expressed protein was purified from E. coli cell lysate by using ammonium sulfate fractionation, and DEAE-sepharose CL-6B and hydroxylapatite column chromatography. The molecular mass of the expressed protein correlated with the predicted mass that was deduced from the cloned gene sequence data. The recombinant protein was a homodimer with a subunit relative molecular weight of 39,000 Dalton. It was found to have dTDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase activity and also found to be highly specific for dTDP-glucose as a substrate. The values of $K_{m} and V_{max}$ for dTDP-g]ucose were $32\mu$M and 335 nmol $min^{-1}$ (mg protein)^{-1}$, respectively. dTTP and dTDP were strong inhibitors of the protein. $NAD^+$, the coenzyme for dTDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase, was tightly bound to the expressed protein.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.221-225
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• 2004

Novel cytochrome P450 hydroxylase (CYP) genes were isolated and characterized from P. autotrophica cosmid DNA library using an actinomycete CYP-specific PCR product as a screening probe. The cosmids containing four unique CYP genes (pESK601, 602, 603, 604, 605) were identified, and the four CYP genes were completely sequenced to be homologous to other known Actinomycetes CYP genes involved in various secondary metabolic pathways. Among all novel actinomycete CYP genes found in P. autotrophica, the CYP genes present in pESK601 were revealed to be highly homologous to the CYP genes involved in polyene-type amphotericin and nystatin antibiotic biosynthesis. The nucleotide sequences of the CYP flanking region in pESK601 also revealed the polyene-type biosynthetic genes, implying the presence of a cryptic polyene-type antifungal biosynthetic gene cluster in P. autotrophica.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.601-609
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• 2021

Erythrobacter species are extensively studied marine bacteria that produce various carotenoids. Due to their photoheterotrophic ability, it has been suggested that they play a crucial role in marine ecosystems. It is essential to identify the genome sequence and the genes of the species to predict their role in the marine ecosystem. In this study, we report the complete genome sequence of the marine bacterium Erythrobacter sp. 3-20A1M. The genome size was 3.1 Mbp and its GC content was 64.8%. In total, 2998 genetic features were annotated, of which 2882 were annotated as functional coding genes. Using the genetic information of Erythrobacter sp. 3-20A1M, we performed pan-genome analysis with other Erythrobacter species. This revealed highly conserved secondary metabolite biosynthesis-related COG functions across Erythrobacter species. Through subsequent secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene cluster prediction and KEGG analysis, the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway was proven conserved in all Erythrobacter species, except for the spheroidene and spirilloxanthin pathways, which are only found in photosynthetic Erythrobacter species. The presence of virulence genes, especially the plant-algae cell wall degrading genes, revealed that Erythrobacter sp. 3-20A1M is a potential marine plant-algae scavenger.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.326-329
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• 2015

Fusaric acid is a mycotoxin produced by species of the fungus Fusarium and can act synergistically with other Fusarium toxins. In order to develop a specific detection method for fusaric acid-producing fungus, PCR primers were designed to amplify FUB10, a transcription factor gene in fusaric acid biosynthetic gene cluster. When PCR with Fub10-f and Fub10-r was performed, a single band (~550 bp) was amplified from F. oxysporum, F. proliferatum, F. verticillioides, F. anthophilum, F. bulbicola, F. circinatum, F. fujikuroi, F. redolens, F. sacchari, F. subglutinans, and F. thapsinum, all of which were known for fusaric acid production. Whereas the FUB10 specific band was not amplified from Fusarium species known to be trichothecene producer. Because production of fusaric acid can co-occur in species that also produce fumonisin mycotoxins, we developed a multiplex PCR assay using the FUB10 primers as well as primers for the fumonisin biosynthetic gene FUM1. The assay yielded amplicons from fumonisin producers such as F. proliferatum and F. verticillioides, allowing for the simultaneous detection of species with the genetic potential to produce both types of mycotoxins.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.110-118
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• 2003

Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae strains, which cause canker disease in kiwifruit, were collected from kiwifruit orchards in Korea and identified using biochemical and physiological tests. The nucleotide sequences of the 16s rDNA and 16s-23s internally transcribed spacer of the isolates were found to be Identical to those of' the pathotype strain, Kwl 1, of P syringae pv. actinidiae. Remarkably, no coding sequence for phaseolotoxin biosynthesis or phaseolotoxin- resistant ornithine carbamoyltransferase was found by PCR amplification in any of the new Korean isolates of pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae, although this was clearly identified in the control pathotype Kwl 1 reference strain. In contrast, three primer sets derived from the coronatine biosynthetic gene cluster and DNA from the Korean strains yielded amplified DNA fragments of the expected size. A sequence analysis of the PCR products revealed that P. syringae pv. actinidiae and the Korean strains of pv. actinidiae contain coronafncate ligase genes (cfl)with identical sequences, whereas their. corR genes exhibited 91% sequence similarity. The production of coronatine, instead of phaseolotoxin, by the Korean strains of P. syringae pv. actinidiae was confirmed by a bioassay using reference pathovars known to produce coronatine and phaseolotoxin. The genes for coronatine biosynthesis in the Korean strains of P. syringae pv. actinidiae were found to be present on plasmids.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.623-629
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• 2013

Gibberellins (GAs) are a group of phytohormones that control many developmental processes in higher plants. We report the cloning and expression pattern of gibberellin biosynthesis genes from a new GA-producing fungus, Fusarium proliferatum (strain KGL0401). These genes sequences are deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) under accession numbers EF119831, EF119832, DQ313173, DQ313174, DQ313175, DQ313176, and DQ313177. The expression level of these genes was maximal at a 0.5 M : 0.17 M carbon : nitrogen ratio, and minimal at a 0.25 M : 0.47 M carbon : nitrogen ratio.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.974-978
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• 2006

The cytochrome P450 monooxygenase from the pikromycin biosynthetic gene cluster in Streptomyces venezuelae, known as PikC, was observed to hydroxylate the unnatural substrate indole to indigo. Furthermore, the site-directed mutagenesis of PikC monooxygenase led to the mutant enzyme F171Q, in which Phe171 was altered to Gln, with enhanced activity for the hydroxylation of indole. From enzyme kinetic studies, F171Q showed an approximately five-fold higher catalytic efficiency compared with the wild-type PikC. Therefore, these results demonstrate the promising application of P450s originating from Streptomyces, normally involved in polyketide biosynthesis, to generate a diverse array of other industrially useful compounds.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1722-1731
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• 2021

The genus Streptomyces is intensively studied due to its excellent ability to produce secondary metabolites with diverse bioactivities. In particular, adequate precursors of secondary metabolites as well as sophisticated post modification systems make some high-yield industrial strains of Streptomyces the promising chassis for the heterologous production of natural products. However, lack of efficient genetic tools for the manipulation of industrial strains, especially the episomal vector independent tools suitable for large DNA fragment deletion, makes it difficult to remold the metabolic pathways and streamline the genomes in these strains. In this respect, we developed an efficient deletion system independent of the episomal vector for large DNA fragment deletion. Based on this system, four large segments of DNA, ranging in length from 10 kb to 200 kb, were knocked out successfully from three industrial Streptomyces strains without any marker left. Notably, compared to the classical deletion system used in Streptomyces, this deletion system takes about 25% less time in our cases. This work provides a very effective tool for further genetic engineering of the industrial Streptomyces.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 2018

Advances in bacterial and fungal genome mining uncover a plethora of cryptic secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters. Guided by the genome information, targeted transcriptional derepression could be employed to determine the product of a cryptic gene cluster and to explore its biological role. Monascus spp. are food grade filamentous fungi popular in eastern Asia and several genome data belong to them are now available. We achieved transcription activation of a cryptic fungal polyketide synthase-nonribosomal peptide synthase gene Mpfus1 in Monascus purpureus ${\Delta}MpPKS5$ by inserting Aspergillus gpdA promoter at the upstream of Mpfus1 through double crossover gene replacement. The gene cluster with Mpfus1 show a high similarity to those for the biosynthesis of conjugated polyene derivatives with 2-pyrrolidone ring and the mycotoxin fusarin is the representative member of this group. The ${\Delta}MpPKS5$ is incapable of producing azaphilone pigment, providing an excellent background to identify chromogenic and UV-absorbing compounds. Activation of Mpfus1 resulted in a yellow hue on mycelia and its methanol extract exhibit a maximum absorption at 365 nm. HPLC analysis of the organic extracts indicated the presence of a variety of yellow compounds in the extract. This implies that the product of MpFus1 is metabolically or chemically unstable. LC-MS analysis guided us to predict the MpFus1 product and to propose that the Mpfus1-containing gene cluster encode the biosynthesis of a desmethyl analogue of fusarin. This study showcases the genome mining in Monascus and the possibility to unveil new biological activities embedded in it.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2019

Lactobacillus rhamnosus BFE5264, isolated from a Maasai fermented milk product ("kule naoto"), was previously shown to exhibit bile acid resistance, cholesterol assimilation, and adhesion to HT29-MTX cells in vitro. In this study, we re-annotated and analyzed the previously reported complete genome sequence of strain BFE5264. The genome consists of a circular chromosome of 3,086,152 bp and a putative plasmid, which is the largest one identified among L. rhamnosus strains. Among the 2,883 predicted protein-coding genes, those with carbohydrate-related functions were the most abundant. Genome analysis of strain BFE5264 revealed two consecutive CRISPR regions and no known virulence factors or antimicrobial resistance genes. In addition, previously known highly variable regions in the genomes of L. rhamnosus strains were also evident in strain BFE5264. Pairwise comparison with the most studied probiotic strain L. rhamnosus GG revealed strain BFE5264-specific deletions, probably due to insertion sequence-mediated recombination. The latter was associated with loss of the spaCBA pilin gene cluster and exopolysaccharide biosynthetic genes. Comparative genomic analysis of the sequences from all available L. rhamnosus strains revealed that they were clustered into two groups, being within the same species boundary based on the average nucleotide identities. Strain BFE5264 had a sister group relationship with the group that contained strain GG, but neither ANI-based hierarchical clustering nor core-gene-based phylogenetic tree construction showed a clear distinctive pattern associated with the isolation source, implying that the genotype alone cannot account for their ecological niches. These results provide insights into the probiotic mechanisms of strain BFE5264 at the genomic level.