• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.315-323
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• 2011

Soybean plants infected with Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) develop acute symptoms that usually decrease in severity over time. In other plant-virus interactions, this type of symptom recovery has been associated with degradation of viral RNAs by RNA silencing, which is accompanied by the accumulation of virus-derived small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). In this study, changes in the accumulation of BPMV siRNAs were investigated in soybean plants infected with BPMV alone, or infected with both BPMV and Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) and in transgenic soybean plants expressing SMV helper component-protease (HC-Pro). In many potyviruses, HC-Pro is a potent suppressor of RNA silencing. In plants infected with BPMV alone, accumulation of siRNAs was positively correlated with symptom severity and accumulation of BPMV genomic RNAs. Plants infected with both BPMV and SMV and BPMV-infected transgenic soybean plants expressing SMV HC-Pro exhibited severe symptoms characteristic of BPMVSMV synergism, and showed enhanced accumulation of BPMV RNAs and siRNAs compared to plants infected with BPMV alone and nontransgenic plants. Likewise, SMV HC-Pro enhanced the accumulation of siRNAs produced from a silenced green fluorescent protein gene in transient expression assays, while the P19 silencing suppressor of Tomato bushy stunt virus did not. Consistent with the modes of action of HC-Pro in other systems, which have shown that HC-Pro suppresses RNA silencing by preventing the unwinding of duplex siRNAs and inhibiting siRNA methylation, these studies showed that SMV HC-Pro interfered with the activities of RNA-induced silencing complexes, but not the activities of Dicer-like enzymes in antiviral defenses.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.62-69
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• 2009

In this study, we characterized the bacterial strain KJ2C12 in relation with its biocontrol activity against Phytophthora capsici on pepper, and identified this strain using morphological, physiological, biochemical, fatty acid methyl ester, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. Strain KJ2C12 significantly (P=0.05) reduced both final disease severity and areas under the disease progress curves of 5-week-old pepper plants inoculated with P. capsici compared to buffer-treated controls. As for the production of antibiotics, biofilms, biosurfactant, extracellular enzyme, HCN, and swarming activity, strain KJ2C12 produced an extracellular enzyme with protease activity, but no other productions or swarming activity. However, Escherichia coli produced weak biofilm only. Strain KJ2C12 could colonize pepper roots more effectively in a gnotobiotic system using sterile quartz sand compared to E. coli over 4 weeks after treatments. However, no bacterial populations were detected in 10 mM $MgSO_4$ buffer-treated controls. Strain KJ2C12 produced significantly higher microbial activity than the $MgSO_4$-treated control or E. coli over 4 weeks after treatments. Bacterial strain KJ2C12 was identified as Bacillus luciferensis based on morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics as well as FAME and 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. In addition, these results suggested that B. luciferensis strain KJ2C12 could reduce Phytophthora blight of pepper by protecting infection courts through enhanced effective root colonization with protease production and an increase of soil microbial activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.974-983
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• 2013

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens CB1 was isolated from cheonggukjang, a Korean fermented soy food. B. amyloliquefaciens CB1 secretes proteases with fibrinolytic activities. A gene homologous to aprE of Bacillus subtilis, aprECB1, was cloned from B. amyloliquefaciens CB1, and DNA sequencing showed that aprECB1 can encode a prepro-type serine protease consisting of 382 amino acids. When aprECB1 was introduced into B. subtilis WB600 using an E. coli-Bacillus shuttle vector, pHY300PLK, transformants showed fibrinolytic activity and produced a 28 kDa protein, the size expected for the mature enzyme. The 28 kDa fibrinolytic enzyme was purified from the culture supernatant of B. subtilis WB600 transformant. AprECB1 was completely inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and almost completely inhibited by EDTA and EGTA, indicating that it is a serine metalloprotease. AprECB1 exhibited the highest specificity for N-succinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-p-nitroanilide, a known substrate for ${\alpha}$-chymotrypsin. $A{\alpha}$ and $B{\beta}$ chains of fibrinogen were quickly degraded by AprECB1, but the ${\gamma}$-chain was resistant.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.833-839
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• 2021

Bacillus subtilis CH3-5 isolated from cheonggukjang secretes a 28 kDa protease with a strong fibrinolytic activity. Its gene, aprE3-5, was cloned and expressed in a heterologous host (Jeong et al., 2007). In this study, the promoter of aprE3-5 was replaced with other stronger promoters (P_cry3A, P₁₀, P_SG1, P_srfA) of Bacillus spp. using PCR. The constructed chimeric genes were cloned into pHY300PLK vector, and then introduced into B. subtilis WB600. The P10 promoter conferred the highest fibrinolytic activity, i.e., 1.7-fold higher than that conferred by the original promoter. Overproduction of the 28 kDa protease was confirmed using SDS-PAGE and fibrin zymography. RT-qPCR analysis showed that aprE3-5 expression was 2.0-fold higher with the P10 promoter than with the original promoter. Change of the initiation codon from GTG to ATG further increased the fibrinolytic activity. The highest aprE3-5 expression was observed when two copies of the P₁₀ promoter were placed in tandem upstream of the ATG initiation codon. The construct with P10 promoter and ATG and the construct with two copies of P10 promoter in tandem and ATG exhibited 117% and 148% higher fibrinolytic activity, respectively, than that exhibited by the construct containing P10 promoter and GTG. These results confirmed that significant overproduction of a fibrinolytic enzyme can be achieved by suitable promoter modification, and this approach may have applications in the industrial production of AprE3-5 and related fibrinolytic enzymes.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.35.1-35.12
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• 2023

The Bacillus cereus group, also known as B. cereus sensu lato (B. cereus s.l.), is composed of various Bacillus species, some of which can cause diarrheal or emetic food poisoning. Several emerging highly heat-resistant Bacillus species have been identified, these include B. thermoamylovorans, B. sporothermodurans, and B. cytotoxicus NVH 391-98. Herein, we performed whole genome analysis of two thermotolerant Bacillus sp. isolates, Bacillus sp. B48 and Bacillus sp. B140, from an omelet with acacia leaves and fried rice, respectively. Phylogenomic analysis suggested that Bacillus sp. B48 and Bacillus sp. B140 are closely related to B. cereus and B. thuringiensis, respectively. Whole genome alignment of Bacillus sp. B48, Bacillus sp. B140, mesophilic strain B. cereus ATCC14579, and thermophilic strain B. cytotoxicus NVH 391-98 using the Mauve program revealed the presence of numerous homologous regions including genes responsible for heat shock in the dnaK gene cluster. However, the presence of a DUF4253 domain-containing protein was observed only in the genome of B. cereus ATCC14579 while the intracellular protease PfpI family was present only in the chromosome of B. cytotoxicus NVH 391-98. In addition, prophage Clp protease-like proteins were found in the genomes of both Bacillus sp. B48 and Bacillus sp. B140 but not in the genome of B. cereus ATCC14579. The genomic profiles of Bacillus sp. isolates were identified by using whole genome analysis especially those relating to heat-responsive gene clusters. The findings presented in this study lay the foundations for subsequent studies to reveal further insights into the molecular mechanisms of Bacillus species in terms of heat resistance mechanisms.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.205-212
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• 2004

The tumor suppressor protein p53 is stabilized by the herpes-virus-associated ubiquitin-specific protease (HAUSP), a deubiquitinating enzyme. We previously isolated and characterized a mouse orthologue of HAUSP, mHAUSP. mHAUSP cDNA consisted of 3,312 bp encodes 1,103 amino acids with a molecular weight of approximately 135 kDa containing highly conserved Cys, Asp (I), His, and Asn/Asp (II) domains. In this study, we carried out site-directed mutagenesis of 6 conserved amino acids (Cys224, Gln231, Asp296, His457, His465, and Asp482) in Cys box, QQD box, and His box. Interestingly, the conserved Gln 231 was not essential for the catalytic activity of mHAUSP. However, the other conserved amino acids were required for deubiquitinating activity of mHAUSP. We performed isopeptidase assay and confirmed that mHAUSP is able to remove ubiquitin from ubiquitinated substrates. In addition, we observed that mHAUSP induces apoptosis in HeLa cells.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1018-1023
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• 2007

Bacillus subtilis CH3-5 was isolated from cheonggukjang prepared according to traditional methods. CH3-5 secreted at least four different fibrinolytic proteases (63, 47, 29, and 20 kDa) into the culture medium. A fibrinolytic enzyme gene, aprE2, encoding a 29kDa enzyme was cloned from the genomic DNA of CH3-5, and the DNA sequence determined. aprE2 was overexpressed in heterologous B. subtilis strains deficient in extracellular proteases using a E. coli-Bacillus shuttle vector. A 29 kDa AprE2 band was observed and AprE2 seemed to exhibit higher activities towards fibrin rather than casein.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1908-1915
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• 2018

Upon viral infection, the host cell recognizes the invasion through a number of pattern recognition receptors. Melanoma differentiation associated gene 5 (MDA5) and retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I) recognize RNA molecules derived from invading viruses, activating down-stream signaling cascades, culminating in the induction of the type I interferon. On the other hand, viruses have evolved to evade type I interferon-mediated inhibition. Hepatitis E virus has been shown to encode a few antagonists of type I interferon and it is not surprising that viruses encode multiple mechanisms of viral evasion. In the present study, we demonstrated that HEV PCP strongly down-regulates MDA5-mediated activation of interferon ${\beta}$ induction in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, MDA5 protein expression was almost completely abolished. In addition, polyinosinic polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C))- and Sendai virus-mediated activation of type I interferon responses were similarly abrogated in the presence of HEV PCP. Furthermore, HEV PCP down-regulates several molecules that play critical roles in the induction of type I IFN expression. Taken together, these data collectively suggest that HEV-encoded PCP is a strong antagonist of type I interferon.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 2000

FtsH is a membrane-bound, ATP-dependent metalloprotease that is involved in a variety of cellular functions including the regulation of responses to heat and stress shock. Previously, we had cloned and sequenced pneumococcal ftsH gene whose deduced amino acid sequence was very similar to those of several gram-positive bacteria and Escherichia coli, except for the N-terminal domain that was responsible for membrane anchoring. In order to better understand the role of Streptococcus pneumoniae FtsH, we expressed pneumococcal ftsH gene in Escherichia coli. When it was expressed from a strong promoter, $P_{tac}$, a considerable amount of the recombinant FtsH was produced, although the prolonged induction resulted in not only accumulation of breakdown products but also ceasing of the further growth of E. coli host. This indicated that the expression of the exogenous ftsH gene was tightly regulated since the excessive FtsH appeared detrimental to bacterial cells. In Western blotting, the pneumococcal FtsH protein, whether native or recombinant, was reactive to anti-E. coli FtsH serum. The observation that FtsH proteins were well conserved throughout the bacterial kingdom and its expression level was fine-tuned suggests an important role for this protein in the stress adaptation which may be related to infecting process by pneumococci.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2001

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely used for various food fermentation. With the recent advances in modern biotechnology, a variety of bio-products with the high economic values have been produced using microorganisms. For molecular cloning and expression studies on the gene of interest, E. coli has been widely used mainly because vector systems are fully developed. Most plasmid vectors currently used for E, coli carry antibiotic-resistant markers. As it is generally believed that the antibiotic resistance markers are potentially transferred to other bacteria, application of the plasmid vectors carrying antibiotic resistance genes as selection markers should be avoided, especially for human consump-tion. By contrast, as LAB have some desirable traits such that the they are GRAS(generally recognized as safe), able to secrete gene products out of cell, and their low protease activities, they are regarded as an ideal organism for the genetic manipulation, including cloning and expression of homologous and heterologous genes. However, the vec-tor systems established for LAB are stil insufficient to over-produce gene products, stably, limiting the use of these organisms for industrial applications. For a past decade, the two popular plasmid vectors, pAM$\beta$1 of Streptococcus faecalis and pGK12 theB. subtilis-E. coli shuttle vector derived from pWV01 of Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris wg 2, were most widely used to construct efficient chimeric vectors to be stably maintained in many industrial strains of LAB. Currently, non-antibiotic markers such as nisin resistance($Nis^{r}$ ) are explored for selecting recombi-nant clone. In addition, a gene encoding S-layer protein, slp/A, on bacterial cell wall was successfully recombined with the proper LAB vectors LAB vectors for excretion of the heterologous gene product from LAB Many food-grade host vec-tor systems were successfully developed, which allowed stable integration of multiple plasmid copies in the vec-mosome of LAB. More recently, an integration vector system based on the site-specific integration apparatus of temperate lactococcal bacteriophage, containing the integrase gene(int) and phage attachment site(attP), was pub-lished. In conclusion, when various vector system, which are maintain stably and expressed strongly in LAB, are developed, lost of such food products as enzymes, pharmaceuticals, bioactive food ingredients for human consump-tion would be produced at a full scale in LAB.