• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.24 no.10
• /
• pp.1413-1420
• /
• 2014

Phytate is an antinutritional factor that impacts the bioavailability of essential minerals such as $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, and $Fe^{2+}$ by forming insoluble mineral-phytate salts. These insoluble mineral-phytate salts are hydrolyzed rarely by monogastric animals, because they lack the hydrolyzing phytases and thus excrete the majority of them. The ${\beta}$-propeller phytases (BPPs) hydrolyze these insoluble mineral-phytate salts efficiently. In this study, we cloned a novel BPP gene from a marine Pseudomonas sp. This Pseudomonas BPP gene (PsBPP) had low sequence identity with other known phytases and contained an extra internal repeat domain (residues 24-279) and a typical BPP domain (residues 280-634) at the C-terminus. Structure-based sequence alignment suggested that the N-terminal repeat domain did not possess the active-site residues, whereas the C-terminal BPP domain contained multiple calcium-binding sites, which provide a favorable electrostatic environment for substrate binding and catalytic activity. Thus, we overexpressed the BPP domain from Pseudomonas sp. to potentially hydrolyze insoluble mineral-phytate salts. Purified recombinant PsBPP required $Ca^{2+}$ or $Fe^{2+}$ for phytase activity, indicating that PsBPP hydrolyzes insoluble $Fe^{2+}$-phytate or $Ca^{2+}$-phytate salts. The optimal temperature and pH for the hydrolysis of $Ca^{2+}$-phytate by PsBPP were $50^{\circ}C$ and 6.0, respectively. Biochemical and kinetic studies clearly showed that PsBPP efficiently hydrolyzed $Ca^{2+}$-phytate salts and yielded myo-inositol 2,4,6-trisphosphate and three phosphate groups as final products. Finally, we showed that PsBPP was highly effective for hydrolyzing rice bran with high phytate content. Taken together, our results suggest that PsBPP has great potential in the animal feed industry for reducing phytates.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2011

The anti-phytoplasma activities of surfactin (derived from Iranian native Bacillus subtilis isolates) and tetracycline towards Candidatus "Phytoplasma aurantifolia", the agent of lime Witches' broom disease, were investigated. HPLC was used to quantify the surfactin production in four previously characterized native surfactin-producing strains, and the one producing the highest amount of surfactin (about 1,500 mg/l) was selected and cultivated following optimized production and extraction protocols. Different combinations of purified surfactin and commercial tetracycline were injected into artificially phytoplasmainfected Mexican lime seedlings using a syringe injection system. An absolute quantitative real-time PCR system was developed to monitor the phytoplasma population shifts in the lime phloem during 3 months following the injections. The results revealed that the injections of surfactin or tetracycline had a significant inhibitory effect on Candidatus "P. aurantifolia". However, the combined treatment with both surfactin and tetracycline (1:1) resulted in the highest inhibition due to a synergic effect, which suppressed the phytoplasma population from about $2{\times}10^5$ to less than 10 phytoplasma units/g plant tissue.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.921-928
• /
• 2002

Microorganism producing extracellular CFTase was isolated from soil and designated as Bacillus polymyxa MGL21. The gene encoding the CFTase (cft) from B. polymyxa MGL21 was cloned and sequenced. The ORF of the cf gene was composed of 3,999 nucleotides, encoding a protein (1,333 amino acids) with a predicted molecular mass of 149,375 Da. Sequence analysis indicated that CFTase was divided into five distinct regions. CFTase contained three regions of repeat sequences at the N-terminus and C-terminus. The endo-inulinase region of homology (ERH) of CFTase was similar to that of Pseudomonas mucidolens endo-inulinase ($50\%$ identity, 259 amino acids). Furthermore, CFTase possessed a highly conserved core region, which is considered to be functional for the hydrolysis reaction of inulin. The cft gene was expressed in a His-tagged form in Escherichia coli cells, and the His-tagged CFTase was purified to homogeneity. The optimal temperature and pH for CFTase activity were found to be $50^{\circ}C$ and 9.0, respectively. The enzyme activity was completely inhibited by 10 mM $Ag^+\;and\;Cu^2+$. Thin-layer chromatography analyses indicated that CFTase catalyzed not only the cyclization reaction ut also disproportionation and hydrolysis reactions as well.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.38 no.5
• /
• pp.624-631
• /
• 2005

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, continues to be one of the main diseases to mankind. It is urgent to discover novel drug targets for appropriate antimicrobial agents against this human pathogen. The shikimate pathway is onsidered as an attractive target for the discovery of novel antibiotics for its essentiality in bacteria and absence in mammalian cells. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis aroE-encoded shikimate dehydrogenase was cloned, expressed and purified. Sequence alignment analysis shows that shikimate dehydrogenase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis exhibit the pattern of G-X-(N/S)-V-(T/S)-X-PX-K, which is highly conserved within the shikimate dehydrogenase family. The recombinant shikimate dehydrogenase spectrum determined by CD spectroscopy showed that the percentages for $\alpha$-helix, $\beta$-sheet, $\beta$-turn, and random coil were 29.2%, 9.3%, 32.7%, and 28.8%, respectively. The enzymatic characterization demonstrates that it appears to be fully active at pH from 9.0 to 12, and temperature $63^{\circ}C$. The apparent Michaelis constant for shikimic acid and $NADP^+$ were calculated to be about $29.5\;{\mu}M$ and $63\;{\mu}M$. The recombinant shikimate dehydrogenase catalyzes the substrate in the presence of $NADP^+$ with an enzyme turnover number of $399\;s^{-1}$. Zymological studies suggest that the cloned shikimate dehydrogenase from M. tuberculosis has a pretty activity, and the work should help in the discovery of enzyme inhibitors and further of possible antimicrobial agents against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.21 no.7
• /
• pp.734-738
• /
• 2011

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of invasive infection in young infants and older adults. There are currently 90 capsular serotypes identified and 23 serotypes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6B, 7F, 8, 9N, 9V, 10A, 11A, 12F, 14, 15B, 17F, 18C, 19F, 19A, 20, 22F, 23F, and 33F) are responsible for about 90% of invasive disease. Among the more than 90 different S. pneumoniae serotypes, serotype 19A is globally very prevalent. A simplified purification procedure including adjustment of cell lysate pH to 4.5, fractionation with 50. 80% ethanol, and dialysis rendered capsular polysaccharide (CPS) in a yield of $31.32{\pm}3.11$ mg from 1 l culture (75% recovery after lyses). The product contained only 69.6 ${\mu}g$ of protein (99.78% purity) and 0.8mg (sum of the precipitants from 50~60%, 60~70%, and 70~80%) of nucleic acid (97.45% purity). The purified CPS was conjugated with bovine serum albumin; the product size ranged from 100 to 180 kDa.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.555-563
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study was to confirm the quality characteristics of distilled soju with different rice pretreatment processes. The non-steamed fermentation method is a technology that uses starch to produce saccharification and alcohol without going through the steaming of raw materials. It has advantages such as reduction of manpower and cost, prevention of nutrient loss, and minimization of waste water. In this study, rice used were non-steamed and pulverized 'Baromi2', nonsteamed and steamed 'Samgwang', and puffed rice. As the fermenting agent, koji, modified nuruk, N9 yeast, and purified enzyme were used, and lactic acid was added to prevent contamination during fermentation. The amount of water was 300% in total, and after the first watering, 5 days after fermentation, the second watering was carried out. As a result of the study, it was confirmed that the non-steamed fermentation method using 'Baromi' was superior to the existing fermentation method in terms of temperature during fermentation, final alcohol content, soluble solids, and pH. By expanding the stability of the production technology of non-steamed fermentation technology, product quality improvement can be expected.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
• /
• 1995.06b
• /
• pp.77-96
• /
• 1995

To obtain basic informations for the improvement of seed potato production in Korea, some etiological properties of potato virus Y(PVY) distributed in the major seed potato production area(Daekwanryeong) were characterized, and the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the coat protein gene of the PVY strains isolated were analyzed. PVY strains in Daekwonryeong, an alpine area, were identified to be two strains, PVYo and PVYN by symptoms of indicator plants, and their distribution in potato fields was similar. Major symptom on potato varieties by PVY was grouped as either mosaic alone or mosaic accompanied with veinal necrosis in the lower leaves. The symptom occurrence of the two symptoms was similar with Irish Cobbler, but Superior showed a higher rate of mosaic symptom than the other. The PVY strain which was isolated from potato cv. Superior showing typical mosaic symptoms produced symptoms of PVY-O on the indicator plants of Chenopodium amaranticolor, Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi nc and Physalis floridana, but no symptom o Capsicum annum cv. Ace. Moreover, results from the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies showed that the isolated PVY reacts strongly with PYV-O antibodies but does not react specifically with PVY-T antibodies. The purified virus particles were flexious with a size of 730$\times$11nm. On the basis of the above characteristics, the strain was identified to be a PVY-O and named as of PVY-K strain. The flight of vector aphids was observed in late May, however, the first occurrence of infected plants was in mid June with the bait plants surrounded with PVY-infected potato plants and early July with the bait plants surrounded with PVY-free potato plants. PVY infection rates by counting symptoms on bait plants (White Burley) were 1.1% with the field surrounded with PVY-free potato plants and 13.7% the fields surrounded with PVY-infected potato plants, showing the effect of infection pressure. The propagated PVY-K strain on tobacco(N. sylvestris) was purified, and the RNA of the virus was extracted by the method of phenol extraction. The size of PVY-K RNA was measured to be 9, 500 nucleotides on agarose gel electrophoresis. The double-stranded cDNAs of PVY-K coat protein(CP) gene derived by the method of polymerase chain reaction were transformed into the competent cells of E. coli JM 109, and 2 clones(pYK6 and pYK17) among 11 clones were confirmed to contain the full-length cDNA. Purified plasmids from pYK17 were cut with Sph I and Xba I were deleted with exonuclease III and were used for sequencing analysis. The PVY-K CP gene was comprised of 801 nucleotides when counted from the clevage site of CAG(Gln)-GCA(Ala) to the stop codon of TGA and encoded 267 amino acids. The molecular weight of the encoded polypeptides was calculated to be 34, 630 daltons. The base composition of the CP gene was 33.3% of adenine, 25.2% of guanine, 20.1% of cytosine and 21.4% of uracil. The polypeptide encoded by PVY-K CP gene was comprised of 22 alanines, 20 threonines, 19 glutamic acids and 18 glycines in order. The homology of nucleotide sequence of PVY-K CP gene with those of PVY-O(Japan), PVY-T(Japan), PVY-TH(Japan), PVYN(the Netherlands), and PVYN(France) was represented as 97.3%, 88.9%, 89.3%, 89.6% and 98.5%, respectively. The amino acid sequence homology of the polypeptide encoded by PVY-K CP gene with those encoded by viruses was represented as 97.4%, 92.5%, 92.9%, 92.9%, and 98.5%, respectively.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.136-150
• /
• 2015

Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tabaci is a plant pathogenic bacterium that causes wildfire disease in tobacco plants. In P. syringae pv. tabaci, PsyI, a LuxI-type protein, acts as an AHL synthase, while primary and secondary sequence analysis of PsyR has revealed that it is a homolog of the LuxR-type transcriptional regulator that responds to AHL molecules. In this study, using phenotypic and genetic analyses in P. syringae pv. tabaci, we show the effect of PsyR protein as a quorum-sensing (QS) transcriptional regulator. Regulatory effects of PsyR on swarming motility and production of siderophores, tabtoxin, and N-acyl homoserine lactones were examined via phenotypic assays, and confirmed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Further qRT-PCR showed that PsyR regulates expression of these virulence genes in response to environmental signals. However, an upstream region of the gene was not bound with purified MBP-PsyR protein; rather, PsyR was only able to shift the upstream region of psyI. These results suggested that PsyR may be indirectly controlled via intermediate-regulatory systems and that auto-regulation by PsyR does not occur.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.58-66
• /
• 2007

Isolation, expression, and characterization of a novel $endo-{\beta}-1,3(4)-D-glucanase$ with high specific activity and homology to Bacillus lichenases is described. One clone was screened from a genomic library of Paenibacillus sp. F-40, using lichenan-containing plates. The nucleotide sequence of the clone contains an ORF consisting of 717 nucleotides, encoding a ${\beta}-glucanase$ protein of 238 amino acids and 26 residues of a putative signal peptide at its N-terminus. The amino acid sequence showed the highest similarity of 87% to other ${\beta}-1,3-1,4-glucanases$ of Bacillus. The gene fragment Bg1 containing the mature glucanase protein was expressed in Pichia pastoris at high expression level in a 3-1 high-cell-density fermenter. The purified recombinant enzyme Bg1 showed activity against barley ${\beta}-glucan$, lichenan, and laminarin. The gene encodes an $endo-{\beta}-1,3(4)-D-glucanase$ (E. C. 3.2.1.6). When lichenan was used as substrate, the optimal pH was 6.5, and the optimal temperature was $60^{\circ}C$. The $K_m,\;V_{max},\;and\;k_{cat}$ values for lichenan are 2.96mg/ml, $6,951{\mu}mol/min{\cdot}mg,\;and\;3,131s^{-1}$, respectively. For barley ${\beta}-glucan$ the values are 3.73mg/ml, $8,939{\mu}mol/min{\cdot}mg,\;and\;4,026s^{-1}$, respectively. The recombinant Bg1 had resistance to pepsin and trypsin. Other features of recombinant Bg1 including temperature and pH stability, and sensitivity to some metal ions and chemical reagents were also characterized.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.707-717
• /
• 2018

Leukocytes are reportedly the first line of the innate immune defense and essential for the control of common bacterial infections. Therefore, in this work, the antibacterial activity of crocodile leukocyte extract against Propionibacterium acnes was evaluated, and we also characterized the related activity of skin infection. The leukocyte extract showed the minimum inhibitory concentration to be $100{\mu}g/ml$ to P. acnes. SEM imaging demonstrated that the leukocyte extract adversely affected P. acnes cell permeability in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, the crocodile leukocyte extract could significantly reduce proinflammatory markers and decrease inflammatory signs in infected mouse ears. The crude leukocyte extract was further purified using FPLC and RP-HPLC. The resulting fraction F5 was indicated as the anti-acne peptide-containing fraction. The molecular mass of the peptide contained in F5 was calculated to be 4,790.5 Da. N-Terminal sequencing revealed the amino acid sequence as GPEPVPAIYQ, which displays similarities to immunoglobulin A and leucine-rich repeat neuronal protein. This is the first reported amino acid sequence of a crocodile leukocyte extract that possesses anti-acne activity. To attempt to use it in a prototype cosmetic, an anti-acne gel containing crude crocodile leukocyte extract was formulated, resulting in seven gel formulations (G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, and G7). The formulations G5, G6, and G7 exhibited 2-fold higher anti-acne activity than G1-G4. Investigation of accelerating stability studies of anti-acne gel formulations G5, G6, and G7 demonstrated that a low storage temperature ($4^{\circ}C$) is suitable for maintaining the physical properties and biological activity of the anti-acne gel products.