• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.94.2-95
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• 2003

E. intermedium 60-2G possessing a strong ability to solubilize insoluble phosphate, has plant growth-promoting activity, induced systemic resistance activity against scab pathogen in cucumber, and antifungal activity against various phytopathogenic fungi. The phosphate solubilizing activity of 60-2G may be mainly accomplished by production of gluconic acid through a direct extracellular oxidation of glucose by glucose dehydrogenase that required a PQQ cofactor for its activation. A pqq gene cluster conferred Phosphate-solubilizing activity in E. coli DH5${\alpha}$ was cloned and sequenced. The 6,783 bP pqq sequence had six open reading frames (from A to F) and showed 50-95％ homology to pqq genes from other bacteria. The E. coli strain expressing the pqq genes solubilized phosphate from hydroxyapatite after a pH drop to 4.0, which paralleled in time the secretion of gluconic acid. To study the role of PQQ in biocontrol traits of E. intermedium, PQQ mutants of 60-2G were constructed by marker exchangee mutagenesis. The PQQ mutants of E. intermedium were lost activities of solubilizing phosphate, growth inhibition of phytopathogenic fungi, and plant growth promotion. These findings suggest that PQQ plays an important role, possibly activation of certain enzymes, in several beneficial bacterial traits of E. intermedium by as yet an unknown mechanism.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.95-98
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• 2000

An immunochemical method has been develooped as the most sensitive tool for studying the expression of quinoproteins containing pyrroloquinoline qinone(PQQ) in E. coli. The PQQ was conjugated to bovine serum albumin (BSA), and the conjugant was purified by using a $KwikSep^{TM}$ dextran desalting column chromatography. The PQQ-BSA conjugant was immunized to rabbits, and the IgG fractions of the antisera were purified. The most sensitive antibody against PQQ-BSA conjugant recognized some nanogram quantity of the antigen on the blot, but had little cross reactivity with BSA. Using this batch of the antibody, all the immunochemical assays of quinoproteins in E. coli were preformed. Some six different PQQ-specfic spots were detected by Western blot analysis of the soluble proteins in E. coli were performed. Some six different PQQ-specific spots were detected by Western blot analysis of the soluble proteins in E. coli after two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Their molecular weights on the blot were estimated to be about 100-, 90-, 72-, 58-, 52-, and 50kDa. Their pI values fell in the range from 4.8 to 5.5. These results stronly suggest that quinoproteins are present in E. coli, and that the protein moieties were covalently bound to PQQ.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.329-336
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• 2005

We examined the effect of PQQ, as a scavenger of superoxide, on osteoclast-like cell formation and on mature osteoclast function. To determine whether PQQ scavenges the superoxide, nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) staining, which is a method to detect superoxide, was performed on HD-11 cells which are a chick myelomonocytic cell line having tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity in response to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin $D_3\;[1,25(OH)_2D_3]$. Histochemical study of TRAP was also performed on HD-11 cells. PQQ inhibited the TRAP-positive multinucleated cell formation of chicken bone marrow cells was also examined. The addition of 20 ${\mu}M$ PQQ inhibited the formation of TRAP-positive multinucleated cell. When chicken osteoclasts were cultured on dentin slices, treatment of 20 ${\mu}M$ PQQ resulted in a significant decrease in dentin resorption by osteoclasts in terms of total resorption area and number of resorption pits. The present data suggest that PQQ, possibly as a scavenger of superoxide ion, inhibits the osteoclastic differentiation and bone resorption.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.955-959
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• 2003

Rhizobium tropici CIAT 899 is capable of synthesizing inactive apo-glucose dehydrogenase (GDH). To become an active holo enzyme, the GDH requires a cofactor, PQQ. When R. tropici CIAT 899 was grown in a broth culture medium containing hydroxyapatite and pyrrolo quinoline quinone (PQQ), pH decreased while the concentration of soluble P increased. The solubilization of hydroxyapatite was associated with the production of gluconic acid and 2-ketogluconic acids. The organic acid production and P solubilization were greatly enhanced when the bacterium was grown with air supply. Effect of R. tropici CIAT 899 with (CI＋PQQ) and without PQQ (CI) on the common bean growth was examined. Shoot and root weight, and N and P contents in CI＋PQQ treatment, were significantly higher than those in control and CI treatment. Nodule weight and acetylene reducing activities were also significantly higher in CI＋PQQ treatment than in other treatments.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.1349-1360
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• 2015

The rhizospheric zone abutting plant roots usually clutches a wealth of microbes. In the recent past, enormous genetic resources have been excavated with potential applications in host plant interaction and ancillary aspects. Two Pseudomonas strains were isolated and identified through 16S rRNA and rpoD sequence analyses as P. fluorescens QAU67 and P. putida QAU90. Initial biochemical characterization and their root-colonizing traits indicated their potential role in plant growth promotion. Such aerobic systems, involved in gluconic acid production and phosphate solubilization, essentially require the pyrroloquinoline quinine (PQQ)-dependent glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) in the genome. The PCR screening and amplification of GDH and PQQ and subsequent induction of mutagenesis characterized their possible role as antioxidants as well as in growth promotion, as probed in vitro in lettuce and in vivo in rice, bean, and tomato plants. The results showed significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in parameters of plant height, fresh weight, and dry weight, etc., deciphering a clear and in fact complementary role of GDH and PQQ in plant growth promotion. Our study not only provides direct evidence of the in vivo role of GDH and PQQ in host plants but also reveals their functional inadequacy in the event of mutation at either of these loci.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.323-328
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• 2006

Serratia marcescens W1, isolated from cucumber-cultivated soil in Suwon, Korea, evidenced profound antifungal activity and produced the extracellular hydrolytic enzymes, chitinase and protease. In order to isolate the antifungal genes from S. marcescens W1, a cosmid genomic library was constructed and expressed in Escherichia coli. Transformants exhibiting chitinase and protease expression were selected, as well as those transformants evidencing antifungal effects against the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea, and the cucumber leaf spot fungus, Cercospora citrullina. Cosmid clones expressing chitinase or protease exerted no inhibitory effects against the growth of fungal pathogens. However, two cosmid clones evidencing profound antifungal activities were selected for further characterization. An 8.2 kb HindIII fragment from these clones conditioned the expression of antagonistic activity, and harbored seven predicted complete open reading frames(ORFs) and two incomplete ORFs. The deduced amino acid sequences indicated that six ORFs were highly homologous with genes from S. marcescens generating pyrroloquinoline quinone(PQQ). Only subclones harboring the full set of pqq genes were shown to solubilize insoluble phosphate and inhibit fungal pathogen growth. The results of this study indicate that the functional expression of the pqq genes of S. marcescens W1 in E. coli may be involved in antifungal activity, via as-yet unknown mechanisms.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.27-30
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• 1999

Self-Assembled monolayers of carboxyl-terminated alkanethiols, which is negatively charged in pH 7.0, were usually used to facilitate the electron transfer between the positively charged protein and the electrode. In case of L-cysteine, as it has both positive and negative group, it can be a candidate for a new modifier to facilitate positively charged protein or negatively charged protein. Our investigation of L-cysteine shows that the electron transfer occurs successfully to both cytochrome c (cyt. c) and pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ). By using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dime-thlyaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC), we made a covalent bond between cyt. c and monolayer. Then PQQ was electrostatically adsorbed to the same monolayer. Cyclic voltammograms show that both molecules do not interfere each other and electron transfer is appreciable.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1711-1714
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• 2010

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2002

A phosphate solubilizing bacterium. strain 60-2G, possessing a strong ability to solubilize insoluble phosphate was isolated from the rhizosphere of grass. On the basis of GC-FAME profile, carbon utilization pattern, and the DNA sequence of a conserved partial 16S rRNA gene, the 60-2G was identified as Enterobacter intermedium. The analysis by HPLC revealed that the strain 60-2G produced mainly gluconic and 2-ketogluconic acids with small amounts of lactic acid in broth culture medium containing hydroxyapatite. During the incubation period of the strain 60-2G in broth culture, pH of the medium decreased upto 3.8 while the soluble phosphate concentration increased. The reversed correlation between pH and soluble phosphate concentration indicated that the solubility of P was due to the produced organic acids. The sequence homology of the deduced amino acids suggested that E. intermedium 60-2G synthesized PQQ which is essential for the oxidation of glucose by glucose dehydrogenase.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.1908-1917
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• 2016

Wild strain L-6 was subjected to combined mutagenesis, including UV irradiation, atmospheric and room temperature plasma, and ion beam implantation, to increase the yield of 1,3-dihydroxyacetone (DHA). With application of a high-throughput screening method, mutant Gluconobacter oxydans I-2-239 with a DHA productivity of 103.5 g/l in flask-shake fermentation was finally obtained with the starting glycerol concentration of 120 g/l, which was 115.7% higher than the wild strain. The cultivation time also decreased from 54 h to 36 h. Compared with the wild strain, a dramatic increase in enzyme activity was observed for the mutant strain, although the increase in biomass was limited. DNA and amino acid sequence alignment revealed 11 nucleotide substitutions and 10 amino acid substitutions between the sldAB of strains L-6 and I-2-239. Simulation of the 3-D structure and prediction of active site residues and PQQ binding site residues suggested that these mutations were mainly related to PQQ binding, which was speculated to be favorable for the catalyzing capacity of glycerol dehydrogenase. RT-qPCR assay indicated that the transcription levels of sldA and sldB in the mutant strain were respectively 4.8-fold and 5.4-fold higher than that in the wild strain, suggesting another possible reason for the increased DHA productivity of the mutant strain.