• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.215-220
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• 2013

Against environmental stresses, many bacteria utilize the alternate sigma factor RpoS that induces transcription of the specific set of genes helpful in promoting bacterial survival. Intracellular levels of RpoS are determined mainly by its turnover through proteolysis of ClpXP protease. Delivery of RpoS to ClpXP strictly requires the adaptor protein RssB. The two-component-type response regulator RssB constantly interacts with RpoS, but diverse environmental changes inhibit this interaction through modification of RssB activity, which increases RpoS levels in bacteria. This review discusses and summarizes recent findings on regulatory factors in RssB-RpoS interactions, including IraD, IraM, IraP anti-adaptor proteins of RssB and phosphorylation of N-terminal receiver domain of RssB. New information shows that the coordinated regulation of RssB activity in controlling RpoS turnover confers efficient bacterial defense against stresses.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.162-169
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• 2011

A dynamic model of lactic acid fermentation using Lactococcus lactis was constructed, and a metabolic flux analysis (MFA) and metabolic control analysis (MCA) were performed to reveal an intensive metabolic understanding of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The parameter estimation was conducted with COPASI software to construct a more accurate metabolic model. The experimental data used in the parameter estimation were obtained from an LC-MS/MS analysis and time-course simulation study. The MFA results were a reasonable explanation of the experimental data. Through the parameter estimation, the metabolic system of lactic acid bacteria can be thoroughly understood through comparisons with the original parameters. The coefficients derived from the MCA indicated that the reaction rate of L-lactate dehydrogenase was activated by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and pyruvate, and pyruvate appeared to be a stronger activator of L-lactate dehydrogenase than fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. Additionally, pyruvate acted as an inhibitor to pyruvate kinase and the phosphotransferase system. Glucose 6-phosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate showed activation effects on pyruvate kinase. Hexose transporter was the strongest effector on the flux through L-lactate dehydrogenase. The concentration control coefficient (CCC) showed similar results to the flux control coefficient (FCC).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1408-1415
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• 2008

To produce polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from inexpensive substrates by bacteria, vegetable-oil-degrading bacteria were isolated from a rice field using enrichment cultivation. The isolated Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 showed clear orange or red spots of accumulated PHA granules when grown on phosphate and nitrogen limited medium containing vegetable oil as the sole carbon source and stained with Nile blue A. Up to 37.34% (w/w) of intracellular PHA was produced from corn oil, which consisted of three major 3-hydroxyalkanoates; octanoic (C8:0, 37.75% of the total 3-hydroxyalkanoate content of PHA), decanoic (C10:0, 36.74%), and dodecanoic (C12:0, 11.36%). Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 accumulated up to 23.52% (w/w) of $PHA_{MCL}$ from waste vegetable oil. The proportion of 3-hydroxyalkanoate of the waste vegetable-oil-derived PHA [hexanoic (5.86%), octanoic (45.67%), decanoic (34.88%), tetradecanoic (8.35%), and hexadecanoic (5.24%)] showed a composition ratio different from that of the corn-oil-derived PHA. Strain DR2 used three major fatty acids in the same ratio, and linoleic acid was the major source of PHA production. Interestingly, the production of PHA in Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 could not occur in either acetate- or butyrate-amended media. Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 accumulated a greater amount of PHA than other well-studied strains (Chromobacterium violaceum and Ralstonia eutropha H16) when grown on vegetable oil. The data showed that Pseudomonas sp. strain DR2 was capable of producing PHA from waste vegetable oil.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.57-65
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• 2012

Phosphorous is an essential element for the synthesis of various biomolecules including phospholipids, carbohydrates and nucleic acids. Bacterial cells can uptake it as forms of phosphate and phosphate-containing nutrients from extracellular environments, and reserve extra phosphate to polyphosphate inside the cell. Among five phosphate transport systems, Pst plays central roles in phosphate transport, and its expression is coordinated by the regulation of PhoB-PhoR two component signal transduction system in response to extracellular levels of phosphate. Genomic studies on the response regulator PhoB reveal many genes independent of phosphate metabolism. Based on recent findings on phenotypes of bacteria lacking proper function of each phosphate transport system, this review discusses roles of phosphate transporters in maintaining optimum intracellular phosphate levels, and presents diverse phenotypes of phosphate transporters related with other environmental signals as well as phosphate, then finally points out functional redundancy among phosphate transport systems or their regulators, which emphasize importance of phosphate homeostasis in governing metabolism, adaptation, and virulence of bacteria.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 1992

Metallothionein is an essential and common protein to regulate the intracellular concentration of heavy metals, which exist in most organisms from bacteria to vertebrates. Although the detailed function of metallothianein has not been fully identified until yet, it may be involoved in the cellular protection against the heavy metal toxicity and in the global regulation of several other genes and the expression of metalloproteins. We have cloned the full cDNA clone of metallothionein gene in Channel Catfish by Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction(RT-PCR) starting from poly(A)-containing mRNAs. All PCR fragments have been subcloned into EcoRV site of pBluescript SK+ and dT-tailed at Smal site of pUC19, then PCR products are recovered by the double digestion of recombinant plasmids wiht EcoRI and HindIII, which are adjacent to EcoRV site in multicloning sites or by rapid PCR screening. The nucleotide sequence analysis of pMT150(one of the PCR clones) showed high homology with several other piscine metallothionein cDNA genes.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.435-448
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• 2003

This study was performed to observe the antibacterial effect of polyphosphate (polyP) with various chain lengths (P3~P75) on virulent. invasive strains of P. gingivalis A7A1-28 and W50, and multidrug resistant E. faecalis ATCC29212. P. gingivalis strains were grown in brain-heart infusion broth (BHI) containing hemin and vitamin K with or without polyP. PolyP was added at the very beginning of the culture or during the exponential growth phase of the culture. Inhibition of the growth of P. gingivalis was determined by measuring the absorbancy at 540nm of the grown cells. Viable cell counts of the culture and release of intracellular nucleotide from P. gingivalis were measured. E. faecalis was grown in plain BHI with antibiotics alone or in combination with polyP(calgon: 0.1~1.0%) and the bacterial absorbancy was measured. The overall results suggest that polyP has a strong antibacterial effect on the growth of the virulent strains of P. gingivalis and the antibacterial activity of polyP seems largely bactericidal. accompanying bacteriolysis in which chelation phenomenon is not involved. Although polyP does not exert antibacterial activity against E. faecalis, it appears to increase antibacterial effect of erythromycin and tetracycline on the bacterium. Therefore, polyP alone or in combination with antibiotics may be developed as a candidate for the agent controlling oral infections including endodontic infection.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.88.1-88.13
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• 2020

Background: Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive bacterium that causes listeriosis mainly in immunocompromised hosts. It can also cause foodborne outbreaks and has the ability to adapt to various environments. Peptide uptake in gram-positive bacteria is enabled by oligopeptide permeases (Opp) in a process that depends on ATP hydrolysis by OppD and F. Previously a putative protein Lmo2193 was predicted to be OppD, but little is known about the role of OppD in major processes of L. monocytogenes, such as growth, virulence, and biofilm formation. Objectives: To determine whether the virulence traits of L. monocytogenes are related to OppD. Methods: In this study, Lmo2193 gene deletion and complementation strains of L. monocytogenes were generated and compared with a wild-type strain for the following: adhesiveness, invasion ability, intracellular survival, proliferation, 50% lethal dose (LD₅₀) to mice, and the amount bacteria in the mouse liver, spleen, and brain. Results: The results showed that virulence of the deletion strain was 1.34 and 0.5 orders of magnitude higher than that of the wild-type and complementation strains, respectively. The function of Lmo2193 was predicted and verified as OppD from the ATPase superfamily. Deletion of lmo2193 affected the normal growth of L. monocytogenes, reduced its virulence in cells and mice, and affected its ability to form biofilms. Conclusions: Deletion of the oligopeptide transporter Lmo2193 decreases the virulence of L. monocytogenes. These effects may be related to OppD's function, which provides a new perspective on the regulation of oligopeptide transporters in L. monocytogenes.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.640-648
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the inhibitory effect of heavy metals [Cd(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II)] on the growth of Rhodobacter species (Rhodobacter blasticus, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, and Rhodobacter capsulatus) and their potential use for Cd(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) bioremoval from liquid media. The presence of toxic heavy metals prolonged the lag phase in growth and reduced biomass growth for all three Rhodobacter species at concentrations of Cd, Ni, and Zn above 10 mg/L. However, all three Rhodobacter species also had a relatively high specific growth rate against each toxic heavy metal stress test for concentrations below 20 mg/L and possessed a potential bioaccumulation ability. The removal efficiency by all strains was highest for Cd(II), followed by Ni(II), and lowest for Zn(II), with the removal efficiency of Cd(II) by Rhodobacter species being 66% or more. Among the three strains, R. blasticus showed a higher removal efficiency of Cd(II) and Ni(II) than R. capsulatus and R. sphaeroides. Results also suggest that the bio-removal processes of toxic heavy metal ions by Rhodobacter species involve both bioaccumulation (intracellular uptake) and biosorption (surface binding).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.693-699
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• 2001

An intracellular levansucrase gene, lscR from Rahnella aquatilis ATCC 15552, was cloned and its nucleotide sequence was determined. Nucleotide sequence analysis of this gene revealed a 1,238 bp open reading frame coding for a protein of 415 amino acids. The levansucrase was expressed by using a T7 promoter in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and the enzyme activity was detected in the cytoplasmic fraction. The optimum pH and temperature of this enzyme for levan formation was pH 6 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence of the lscR gene showed a high sequence similarity (59-89%) with Gram-negative levansucrses, while the level of similarity with Gram-positive enzymes was less than 42%. Multiple alignments of levansucrase sequences reported from Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria revealed seven conserved regions. A comparison of the catalytic properties and deduced amino acid sequence of lscR with those of other bacterial levansucrases strongly suggest that Gram-negative and Gram-positive levansucrases have an overall different structure, but they have a similar structure at the active site.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.265-272
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• 2016

Wolbachia is an obligatory intracellular endosymbiotic bacterium, present in over 20% of all insects altering insect reproductive capabilities and in a wide range of filarial worms which is essential for worm survival and reproduction. In Egypt, no available data were found about Wolbachia searching for it in either mosquitoes or filarial worms. Thus, we aimed to identify the possible concurrent presence of Wolbachia within different mosquitoes and filarial parasites, in Assiut Governorate, Egypt using multiplex PCR. Initially, 6 pools were detected positive for Wolbachia by single PCR. The simultaneous detection of Wolbachia and filarial parasites (Wuchereria bancrofti, Dirofilaria immitis, and Dirofilaria repens) by multiplex PCR was spotted in 5 out of 6 pools, with an overall estimated rate of infection (ERI) of 0.24%. Unexpectedly, the highest ERI (0.53%) was for Anopheles pharoensis with related Wolbachia and W. bancrofti, followed by Aedes (0.42%) and Culex (0.26%). We also observed that Wolbachia altered Culex spp. as a primary vector for W. bancrofti to be replaced by Anopheles sp. Wolbachia within filaria-infected mosquitoes in our locality gives a hope to use bacteria as a new control trend simultaneously targeting the vector and filarial parasites.