• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.1235-1244
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• 2008

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is produced commonly by plants and many bacteria, however, little is known about the genetic basis involving the key enzymes of IAA biosynthetic pathways from Bacillus spp. IAA intermediates from the Gram-positive spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus polymyxa E681 were investigated, which showed the existence of only an indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) pathway for IAA biosynthesis from the bacterium. Four open reading frames (ORFs) encoding indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase-like proteins and putative indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase (IPDC), a key enzyme in the IPA synthetic pathway, were found on the genome sequence database of P. polymyxa and cloned in Escherichia coli DH5$\alpha$. One of the ORFs, PP2_01257, was assigned as probable indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase. The ORF consisted of 1,743 nucleotides encoding 581 amino acids with a deduced molecular mass of 63,380 Da. Alignment studies of the deduced amino acid sequence of the ORF with known IPDC sequences revealed conservation of several amino acids in PP2_01257, essential for substrate and cofactor binding. Recombinant protein, gene product of the ORF PP2_01257 from P. polymyxa E681, was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) as a glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fusion protein and purified to homogeneity using affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of the purified enzyme showed about 63 kDa, corresponding closely to the expected molecular mass of IPDC. The indole-3-pyruvate decarboxylase activity of the recombinant protein, detected by HPLC, using IPA substrate in the enzyme reaction confirmed the identity and functionality of the enzyme IPDC from the E681 strain.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.238-243
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• 2000

An exoinulinase (${\beta}-D-fructofuranosidase$) gene was cloned by chromosome walking along the upstream region of the endoinulinase gene of Pseudomonas mucidolens isolated from soil. the exoinulinase gene consisted of an ORF of 0,506 bp encoding a polypeptide of 501 amino acids with a deduced molecular weight of 55,000. The exoinulinase produced by the recombinant Escherichia coli $DH5{\alpha}$ strain was also purified to homogeneity as determined by SDS-PAGE and a zymogram. The molecular weight of the purified exoinulinase according to both SDS-PAGE and gel filtration matched the deduced molecular weight of the protein described above, thereby indicating that the native form of the exoinulinase was a monomer. The purified enzyme hydrolyzed activity value of 2.0. Furthermore, no inulo-oligomers were liberated from the inulin substrate in the enzymatic reaction mixtures incubated for 90 min at $55^{\circ}C$. Taken together, these results indicate that the purified ${\beta}-D-fructofuranosidase$ was an exoinulinase. The pH and temperature optima of the exoinulinase were pH 6.0 and $55^{\circ}C$, respectively. the enzymehad no apparent requirement for a cofactor, and its activity was completely inactivated by $Ag^{+},{\;}Hg^{2+},{\;}and{\;}Zn^{2+}$. Kinetic experiments gave $K_m,{\;}V_{max},{\;}and{\;}K_{cat}$ values for inulin of 11.5 mM, 18 nM/s, and $72{\;}s^{-1}$, respectively. the exoinulinase was fairly stable in broad pH conditions (pH 5-9), and at pH 6.0 it showed a residual activity of about 70% after 4 h incubation at $55^{\circ}C$.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.337-344
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• 2011

Integrase MJ1 from the bacteriophage ${\Phi}FC1$ carries out recombination between two DNA sequences (the phage attachment site, attP and the bacterial attachment site, attB) in NIH3T3 mouse cells. In this study, the integration vector containing attP, attB and the integrase gene MJ, was constructed. The integration mediated by integrase MJ1 in Escherichia coli led to excision of LacZ. Therefore, the frequency of integration was measured by the counting of the white colony, which is detectable on X-Gal plates. The extrachromosomal integration in NIH3T3 mouse cells was monitored by the expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter. To demonstrate integration mediated integrase MJ1 in NIH3T3 cells, vectors containing attP and attB were co-transfected into NIH3T3 cells. The integration was confirmed by fluorescent microscopy. The expression of GFP was induced in NIH3T3 cells expressing MJ1 without accessory factors. By contrast, the excision mediated by the MJ1 between attR and attL had no effect on the expression of GFP. These results suggest that integrase MJ1 may enable a variety of genomic modifications for research and therapeutic purposes in higher living cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1751-1757
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• 2007

Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) undergo a reversible inverse phase transition upon a change in temperature. This thermally triggered phase transition allows for a simple and rapid means of purifying a fusion protein. Recovery of ELPs-tagged fusion protein was easily achieved by aggregation, triggered either by raising temperature or by adding salt. In this study, levansucrase has been used as a model enzyme in the development of a simple one-step purification method using ELPs. The levansucrase gene cloned from Pseudomonas aurantiaca S-4380 was tagged with various sizes of ELPs to functionally express and optimize the purification of levansucrase. One of two ELPs, ELP[V-20] or ELP[V-40], was fused at the C-terminus of the levansucrase gene. A levansucrase-ELP fusion protein was expressed in Escherichia coli $DH5{\alpha}$ at $37^{\circ}C$ for 18 h. The molecular masses of levansucrase-ELP[V-20] and levansucrase-ELP[V-40] were determined as 56 kDa and 65 kDa, respectively. The phase transition of levansucrase-ELP[V-20] occurred at $20^{\circ}C$ in 50 mM Tris-Cl (pH 8) buffer with 3 M NaCl added, whereas the phase transition temperature ($T_t$) of levansucrase-ELP[V-40] was $17^{\circ}C$ with 2 M NaCl. Levansucrase was successfully purified using the phase transition characteristics of ELPs, with a recovery yield of higher than 80%, as verified by SDS-PAGE. The specific activity was measured spectrophotometrically to be 173 U/mg and 171 U/mg for levansucrase-ELP[V-20] and levansucrase-ELP[V-40], respectively, implying that the ELP-tagging system provides an efficient one-step separation method for protein purification.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.9 s.89
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• pp.1182-1190
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• 2007

The gene encoding for isoamylase of the Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Pcc) LY34 was cloned and expressed into Escherichia coli $DH5{\alpha}$. Isoamylase catalyzes the hydrolysis of ${\alpha}-1,6-glycosidic$ linkages specifically in amylopectin, glycogen, and derived oligosaccharides, while the enzyme did not hydrolyze ${\alpha}-1,4-glycosidic$ linkages of amylose. The isoamylase gene (glgX) had an open reading frame of 1,977 bp encoding 658 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular weight of 74,188 Da. The molecular weight of the enzyme was also estimated to be 74 kDa by activity staining of a SDS-PA gel. The mature GlgX had a calculated pI of 4.91. Isoamylase from Pcc LY34 had 70% amino acid identity with isoamylase from Pectobacterium chrysanthemi and contained the four regions conserved among all amylolytic enzymes. The isoamylase was optimally active at pH 7.0 and $40^{\circ}C$. GlgX was $Ca^{2+}-dependent$. The changes of Asp-335, Glu-370, and Asp-442 into Ala, respectively, using site-directed mutagenesis techniques showed that three residues are essential to isolamyalse (GlgX) activity. The sequences around those residues were highly conserved in isoamylase of different origins and GlgX of the glg operon in glycongen biosynthesis.