• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.570-583
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• 2021

Pyrococcus furiosus α-amylase can hydrolyze α-1,4 linkages in starch and related carbohydrates under hyperthermophilic condition (~ 100℃), showing great potential in a wide range of industrial applications, while its relatively low productivity from heterologous hosts has limited the industrial applications. Bacillus subtilis, a gram-positive bacterium, has been widely used in industrial production for its non-pathogenic and powerful secretory characteristics. This study was conducted to increase production of P. furiosus α-amylase in B. subtilis through three strategies. Initial experiments showed that co-expression of P. furiosus molecular chaperone peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase through genomic integration mode, using a CRISPR/Cas9 system, increased soluble amylase production. Therefore, considering that native P. furiosus α-amylase is produced within a hyperthermophilic environment and is highly thermostable, heat treatment of intact culture at 90℃ for 15 min was performed, thereby greatly increasing soluble amylase production. After optimization of the culture conditions (nitrogen source, carbon source, metal ion, temperature and pH), experiments in a 3-L fermenter yielded a soluble activity of 3,806.7 U/ml, which was 3.3- and 28.2-fold those of a control without heat treatment (1,155.1 U/ml) and an empty expression vector control (135.1 U/ml), respectively. This represents the highest P. furiosus α-amylase production reported to date and should promote innovation in the starch liquefaction process and related industrial productions. Meanwhile, heat treatment, which may promote folding of aggregated P. furiosus α-amylase into a soluble, active form through the transfer of kinetic energy, may be of general benefit when producing proteins from thermophilic archaea.

• 미생물학회지
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• 제51권1호
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• pp.68-74
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• 2015

Thermococcus pacificus P-4의 유전체 서열 분석을 통하여 예측되는 GH1 ${\beta}$-glucosidase를 암호화하는 유전자를 동정하였다. 그 유전자는 487 아미노산들을 암호화하는 1,464 bp 나타내었으며, 그 아미노산 서열은 Pyrococcus furiosus ${\beta}$-glucosidase와 77% 상동성을 나타내었다. 그 유전자는 Escherichia coli 시스템 내에서 복제 및 발현하였다. 재조합 된 단백질은 금속 친화크로마토그래피를 통하여 정제하고 특성을 분석하였다. 정제된 단백질(Tpa-Glu)은 pH 7.5와 $75^{\circ}C$에서 최적활성을 나타내었으며, 열안정성은 $90^{\circ}C$에서 약 6시간의 반감기를 보였다. Tpa-Glu는 pNP-${\beta}$-glucopyranoside, pNP-${\beta}$-galactopyranoside, pNP-${\beta}$-mannopyranoside, 그리고 pNP-${\beta}$-xylopyranoside 순으로 우수한 $k_{cat}/K_m$ 값을 나타내었다. 또한, Tpa-Glu는 ${\beta}$-1,3-linked polysaccharide (laminarin) 그리고 ${\beta}$-1,3-와 ${\beta}$-1,4-linked oligosaccharides에 대하여 exo-hydrolyzing 활성을 보였다. 본 연구는 초고온 고세균으로터 ${\beta}$-glucosidase가 exohydrolyzing 활성을 처음 확인한 것으로 이 효소는 laminarin의 당화공정에 ${\beta}$-1,3-endoglucanase와 함께 적용할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2010년도 춘계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.227.2-227.2
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• 2010

본 연구에서는 양극산화된 $TiO_2$ 전극(anodized tubular $TiO_2$ electrode, ATTE)을 수소제조용 PEC(Photoelectrochemical)시스템에서 광어노드와 기존의 백금전극을 대체하고 $H^+$ 환원능을 향상시키기 위하여 엔자임(Pyrococcus furiosus, Pfu)을 고정화한 후 캐소드로 동시에 활용하였으며, 엔자임 고정을 위한 crosslinker 종류 및 금속담지 여부, ATTE 길이를 통한 수소발생양에 미치는 영향을 연구하였다. ATTE 표면과 엔자임의 amine group의 연결을 위하여 heterobifunctional crosslinker로써 사슬 길이가 상대적으로 짧은 Sulfo-SDA가 유리하였으며, 금속담지의 경우 짧은 튜브의 경우 1% 내에서 효과가 증진되었으나 긴 튜브의 경우는 오히려 광전류 및 궁극적으로 수소발생속도에 불리하게 작용하였다. 또한, 튜브 길이가 긴 ATTE가 짧은 ATTE 보다 수소발생양에서 더욱 효율적임을 알 수 있었다. 텅스텐산화물 담지의 가시광감응에의 담지 효과는 예비 실험 결과로 나타나지 않아, 추가적인 연구가 필요한 것으로 판단된다.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.149-153
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• 2001

The electron transfer reaction is one of the most essential processes of life. Not only does it provide the means of transforming solar and chemical energy into a utilizable form for all living organisms, it also extends into a range of metabolic processes that support the life of a cell. Thus, it is of great interest to understand the physical basis of the rates and reduction potentials of these reactions. To identify the major determinants of reduction potentials in redox proteins, we have chosen the simplest electron transfer protein, rubredoxin, a small (52-54 residue) iron-sulfur protein family, widely distributed in bacteria and archaea. Rubredoxins can be grouped into two classes based on the correlation of their reduction potentials with the identity of residue 44; those with Ala44 (ex: Pyrococcus furiosus) have reduction potentials that are ∼50 mV higher than those with Va144 (ex: Clostridium pasteurianum). Based on the crystal structures of rubredoxins from C. pasteurianum and P. furiosus, we propose the identity of residue 44 alone determines the reduction potential by the orientation of the electric dipole moment of the peptide bond between 43 and 44. Based on 1.5 $\AA$ resolution crystal structures and molecular dynamics simulations of oxidized and reduced rubredoxins from C. pasteurianum, the structural rearrangements upon reduction suggest specific mechanisms by which electron transfer reactions of rubredoxin should be facilitated.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제33권5호
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• pp.507-514
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• 2022

There is growing interest in sustainable energy sources that can reduce fossil fuel dependence and environmental pollution while meeting rapidly growing energy demands. Hydrogen have been investigated as one of the ideal alternative energies because it has relatively high efficiency without emitting pollutants. The light-sensitized enzymatic (LSE) system, which uses hydrogenase-enzymes, is one of the methods towards economically feasible system configurations that enhance the rate of hydrogen generation. Hydrogenase is an enzyme that catalyzes a reversible reaction that oxidizes molecular hydrogen or produces molecular hydrogen from protons and electrons. In this paper, utilization of [NiFe]-hydrogenase (from Pyrococcus furiosus) in photoelectrochemical hydrogen production system such as handling, immobilization, physicochemical and electrochemical analysis, process parameters, etc. was introduced.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제17권8호
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• pp.1242-1248
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• 2007

Genomic analysis of a hyperthermophilic archaeon, Thermococcus onnurineus NA1 [1], revealed the presence of an open reading frame consisting of 1,377 bp similar to ${\alpha}$-amylases from Thermococcales, encoding a 458-residue polypeptide containing a putative 25-residue signal peptide. The mature form of the ${\alpha}$-amylase was cloned and the recombinant enzyme was characterized. The optimum activity of the enzyme occurred at $80^{\circ}C$ and pH 5.5. The enzyme showed a liquefying activity, hydrolyzing maltooligosaccharides, amylopectin, and starch to produce mainly maltose (G2) to maltoheptaose (G7), but not pullulan and cyclodextrin. Surprisingly, the enzyme was not highly thermostable, with half-life ($t_{1/2}$) values of 10 min at $90^{\circ}C$, despite the high similarity to ${\alpha}$-amylases from Pyrococcus. Factors affecting the thermostability were considered to enhance the thermo stability. The presence of $Ca^{2+}$ seemed to be critical, significantly changing $t_{1/2}$ at $90^{\circ}C$ to 153 min by the addition of 0.5 mM $Ca^{2+}$. On the other hand, the thermostability was not enhanced by the addition of $Zn^{2+}$ or other divalent metals, irrespective of the concentration. The mutagenetic study showed that the recovery of zinc-binding residues (His175 and Cys189) enhanced the thermo stability, indicating that the residues involved in metal binding is very critical for the thermostability.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제23권8호
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• pp.1060-1069
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• 2013

Genome organization near cyclomaltodextrinases (CDases) was analyzed and compared for four different hyperthermophilic archaea: Thermococcus, Pyrococcus, Staphylothermus, and Thermofilum. A gene (CL1_0884) encoding a putative CDase from Thermococcus sp. CL1 (tccd) was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. TcCD was confirmed to be highly thermostable, with optimal activity at $85^{\circ}C$. The melting temperature of TcCD was determined to be $93^{\circ}C$ by both differential scanning calorimetry and differential scanning fluorimetry. A size-exclusion chromatography experiment showed that TcCD exists as a monomer. TcCD preferentially hydrolyzed ${\alpha}$-cyclodextrin (${\alpha}$-CD), and at the initial stage catalyzed a ring-opening reaction by cleaving one ${\alpha}$-1,4-glycosidic linkage of the CD ring to produce the corresponding single maltooligosaccharide. Furthermore, TcCD could hydrolyze branched CDs (G1-${\alpha}$-CD, G1-${\beta}$-CD, and G2-${\beta}$-CD) to yield significant amounts (45%, 40%, and 46%) of isomaltooligosaccharides (panose and $6^2$-${\alpha}$-maltosylmaltose) in addition to glucose and maltose. This enzyme is one of the most thermostable maltogenic amylases reported, and might be of potential value in the production of isomaltooligosaccharides in the food industry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제28권11호
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• pp.1850-1858
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• 2018

Glucosamine (GlcN) is widely used in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. Currently, GlcN is mainly produced by traditional multistep chemical synthesis and acid hydrolysis, which can cause severe environmental pollution, require a long prodution period but a lower yield. The aim of this work was to develop a whole-cell biocatalytic process for the environment-friendly synthesis of glucosamine (GlcN) from N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). We constructed a recombinant Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis strains as efficient whole-cell biocatalysts via expression of diacetylchitobiose deacetylase ($Dac_{ph}$) from Pyrococcus furiosus. Although both strains were biocatalytically active, the performance of B. subtilis was better. To enhance GlcN production, optimal reaction conditions were found: B. subtilis whole-cell biocatalyst 18.6 g/l, temperature $40^{\circ}C$, pH 7.5, GlcNAc concentration 50 g/l and reaction time 3 h. Under the above conditions, the maximal titer of GlcN was 35.3 g/l, the molar conversion ratio was 86.8% in 3-L bioreactor. This paper shows an efficient biotransformation process for the biotechnological production of GlcN in B. subtilis that is more environmentally friendly than the traditional multistep chemical synthesis approach. The biocatalytic process described here has the advantage of less environmental pollution and thus has great potential for large-scale production of GlcN in an environment-friendly manner.

• 한국미생물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국미생물학회 2001년도 추계학술대회
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• pp.39-45
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• 2001

Extremophiles are unique microorganisms that are adapted to survive in ecological niches such as high or low temperatures, extremes of pH, high salt concentrations and high pressure. These unusual microorganisms have unique biochemical features which can be exploited for use in the biotechnological industries. Due to the high biodiversity of extremophilic archaea and bacteria and their existence in various biotopes a variety of biocatalysts with different physicochemical properties have been discovered. The extreme molecular stability of their enzymes, membranes and the synthesis of unique organic compounds and polymers make extremophiles interesting candidates for basic and applied research. Some of the enzymes from extremophiles, especially hyperthermophilic marine microorganisms (growth above $85^{\circ}C$), have already been purified in our laboratory. These include the enzyme systems from Pyrococcus, Pyrodictium, Thermococcus and Thermotoga sp. that are involved in polysacharide modification and protein bioconversion. Only recently, the genome of the thermoalkaliphilic strain. Anaerobranca gottschalkii has been completely sequenced providing a unique resource of novel biocatalysts that are active at high temperature and pH. The gene encoding the branching enzyme from this organism was cloned and expressed in a mesophilic host and finally characterized. A novel glucoamylase was purified from an aerobic archaeon which shows optimal activity at $90^{\circ}C$ and pH 2.0. This thermoacidophilic archaeon Picrophilus oshimae grows optimally at pH 0.7 and $60^{\circ}C$. Furthermore, we were able to detect thermoactive proteases from two anaerobic isolates which are able to hydrolyze feather keratin completely at $80^{\circ}C$ forming amino acids and peptides. In addition, new marine psychrophilic isolates will be presented that are able to secrete enzymes such as lipases, proteases and amylases possessing high activity below the freezing point of water.