• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.251-259
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• 2013

An endoxylanase gene (PoxynA) that belongs to the glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 11 was cloned from a xylanolytic strain, Penicillium oxalicum B3-11(2). PoxynA was overexpressed in Trichoderma reesei QM9414 by using a constitutive strong promoter of the encoding pyruvate decarboxylase (pdc). The high extracellular xylanase activities in the fermentation liquid of the transformants were maintained 29~35-fold higher compared with the wild strain. The recombinant POXYNA was purified to homogeneity, and its characters were analyzed. Its optimal temperature and pH value were $50^{\circ}C$ and 5.0, respectively. The enzyme was stable at a pH range of 2.0 to 7.0. Using beechwood as the substrate, POXYNA had a high specific activity of $1,856{\pm}53.5$ IU/mg. In the presence of metal ions, such as $Cu^{2+}$, and $Mg^{2+}$, the activity of the enzyme increased. However, strong inhibition of the enzyme activity was observed in the presence of $Mn^{2+}$ and $Fe^{2+}$. The recombinant POXYNA hydrolyzed birchwood xylan, beechwood xylan, and oat spelt xylan to produce short-chain xylooligosaccharides, xylopentaose, xylotriose, and xylobiose as the main products. This is the first report on the expression properties of a recombinant endoxylanase gene from Penicillium oxalicum. The properties of this endoxylanase make it promising for applications in the food and feed industries.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.795-802
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• 2011

To determine the deacidification factor during carbonic maceration (CM), different temperature conditions were studied. The pH was higher in CM-$35^{\circ}C$ and CM-$25^{\circ}C$ and was lower in CM-$45^{\circ}C$. The total acid was inversely related to the pH. The malic-acid level decreased much more in CM-$35^{\circ}C$ than in CM-$45^{\circ}C$ while the lactic-acid level increased much more in CM-$35^{\circ}C$. The activity of the NADP-malic enzyme, which catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation of L-malate into pyruvate, $CO_2$, and NADPH, was higher in CM-$25^{\circ}C$ and CM-$35^{\circ}C$ while CM-$45^{\circ}C$ showed no NADP-malic enzyme activity. The malic-dehydrogenase (MDH) activity was higher in CM-$25^{\circ}C$ and CM-$35^{\circ}C$ while CM-$45^{\circ}C$ showed no MDH activity. The oxalacetate decarboxylase activity was similar to the NADP-malic-enzyme and MDH activities. Pyruvate decarboxylase activity was shown in all the CM treatments. The L-lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was not explored in the fermentation of pyruvate to lactate via LDH in the grapes during CM. In this study, it was confirmed that carbonic maceration reduced the malic acid during fermentation and was affected by the temperature. Moreover, it was assumed that the deacidification during the carbonic maceration of the grapes was probably correlated with the degradation enzyme activity of malic acid.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1049-1052
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• 2011

In this study, we demonstrated the asymmetric synthesis of L-tert-leucine from trimethylpyruvate using branched-chain aminotransferase (BCAT) from Escherichia coli in the presence of L-glutamate as an amino donor. Since BCAT was severely inhibited by 2-ketoglutarate, in order to overcome this here, we developed a BCAT/aspartate aminotransferase (AspAT) and BCAT/AspAT/pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) coupling reaction. In the BCAT/AspAT/PDC coupling reaction, 89.2 mM L-tert-leucine (ee>99%) was asymmetrically synthesized from 100 mM trimethylpyruvate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.571-577
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• 2003

The intracellular metabolic fluxes can be calculated by metabolic flux analysis, which uses a stoichiometric model for the intracellulal reactions along with mass balances around the intracellular metabolites. In this study, metabolic flux analyses were carried out to estimate flux distributions for the maximum in silico yields of various metabolites in Escherichia coli. The maximum in silico yields of acetic acid and lactic acid were identical to their theoretical yields. On the other hand, the in silico yields of succinic acid and ethanol were only 83% and 6.5% of their theoretical yields, respectively. The lower in silico yield of succinic acid was found to be due to the insufficient reducing power. but this lower yield could be increased to its theoretical yield by supplying more reducing power. The maximum theoretical yield of ethanol could be achieved, when a reaction catalyzed by pyruvate decarboxylase was added in the metabolic network. Futhermore, optimal metabolic pathways for the production of various metabolites could be proposed, based on the results of metabolic flux analyses. In the case of succinic acid production, it was found that the pyruvate carboxylation pathway should be used for its optimal production in E. coli rather than the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylation pathway.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1156-1162
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• 2010

During ethanol fermentation, bacterial strains may encounter various stresses, such as ethanol and acid shock, which adversely affect cell viability and the production of ethanol. Therefore, ethanologenic strains that tolerate abiotic stresses are highly desirable. Bacteria of the genus Deinococcus are extremely resistant to ionizing radiation, ultraviolet light, and desiccation, and therefore constitute an important pool of extreme resistance genes. The irrE gene encodes a general switch responsible for the extreme radioresistance of D. radiodurans. Here, we present evidence that IrrE, acting as a global regulator, confers high stress tolerance to a Zymomonas mobilis strain. Expression of the gene protected Z. mobilis cells against ethanol, acid, osmotic, and thermal shocks. It also markedly improved cell viability, the expression levels and enzyme activities of pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase, and the production of ethanol under both ethanol and acid stresses. These data suggest that irrE is a potentially promising gene for improving the abiotic stress tolerance of ethanologenic bacterial strains.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.281-288
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• 2007

Photoperiod sensitive genetic male sterile (PGMS) rice is sterile mutant controlled by photoperiod. A PGMS mutant 920S was sterile grown under long-day (LD) photoperiod (14 h light/10 h dark) but fertile grown under short-day (SD) photoperiod (10 h light/14 h dark). Proteome analysis revealed that 12 protein spots were differentially expressed in the spikelets of 920S plants either treated with LD or SD photoperiod. Among these proteins, three proteins including chlorophyll a/b binding protein, vacuolar ATPase ${\beta}-subunit,\;{\alpha}-tubulin$ and an unknown protein were more than three-fold abundant in the spikelet of the SD-treated plants than those of the LD-treated plants. On the other hand, eight proteins including acetyl transferase, 2, 3- biphosphoglycerate, aminopeptidase N, pyruvate decarboxylase, 60S acidic ribosomal protein and three unknown protein spots were more abundant in the spikelets of the LD-treated plants than those of the SD-treated plants. The results suggest that the observed proteins may be involved in sterile or fertile pollen development under LD or SD photoperiod respectively in the PGMS mutant rice.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.394-408
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• 2007

Several genes/QTLs governing resistance/tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses have been reported and mapped in rice. A QTL for submergence tolerance was found to be co-located with a major QTL for broad-spectrum bacterial leaf blight (bs-blb) resistance on the long arm of chromosome 5 in indica cultivars FR13A and IET8585. Using the Nipponbare (japonica) and 93-11 (indica) genome sequences, we identified, in silico, candidate genes in the chromosomal region [Kottapalli et al. (2006)]. Transcriptional profiling of FR13A and IET8585 using a rice 22K oligo array validated the above findings. Based on in silico analysis and arraying we observed that both cultivars respond to the above stresses through a common signaling system involving protein kinases, adenosine mono phosphate kinase, leucine rich repeat, PDZ/DHR/GLGF, and response regulator receiver protein. The combined approaches suggest that transcription factor EREBP on long arm of chromosome 5 regulates both submergence tolerance and blb resistance. Pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase, co-located in the same region, are candidate downstream genes for submergence tolerance at the seedling stage, and t-snare for bs-blb resistance. We also detected up-regulation of novel defense/stress-related genes including those encoding fumaryl aceto acetate (FAA) hydrolase, scramblase, and galactose oxidase, in response to the imposed stresses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.81-81
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• 2017

The origin of wild corn (teosinte) is distributed in the Northwest coastal pacific area of Central America, including Mexico, which is a wetland area of 5 to 6 months per year. Depending on these climate characteristics, wild corn is genetically resistant to flooding condition. In order to evaluate the availability of flooding resistant genes of these wild corns, we examined the physiological responses after the flooding treatment in the early stages of the growth of various wild corns. The difference of chlorophyll content between flooding untreatment and flooding treatments (untreated chlorophyll content - humidified chlorophyll content) was the highest in chlorophyll content in the case of B73, the common corn. In the middle leaf, $\underline{Zea}$ mays subsp. Parviglumis, Zea mays subsp. Mexicana, Zea mays subsp., Zea perennis decreased significantly. In the lower leaves, Zea mays sub and Zea nicaraguensis showed the lowest content compared to B73. PCR analysis was performed using 34 primers divided into two groups, top and bottom. In the wild corn, pyruvate decarboxylase 2 in root and alcohol dehydrogenase 1 in shoot showed the difference in the reaction.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2002

Eight cDNAs corresponding to fruit-specific genes were isolated from ripened melon through differential screening. Sequence comparison indicated that six of these cDNAs encoded proteins were previously characterized into aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) oxidase, abscisic acid, stress and ripening inducible (ASR) gene, RINC-H2 zinc finger protein, pyruvate decarboxylase, or polyubiquitin. RFS2 and RFS5 were the same clone encoding polyubiquitin. The other cDNAs showed no significant homology with known protein sequences. The ASR homologue (Asr1) gene was further characterized on the cDNA and genomic structure. The deduced amino acid sequence had similar characteristics to other plant ASR. The Asr1 genomic DNA consisted of 2 exons and 1 intron, which is similar to the structure of other plants ASR genes. The promoter region of the Asr1 gene contained several putative functional cis-elements such as an abscisic acid responsive element (ABRE), an ethylene responsive element (ERE), a C-box or DPBf-1 and 2, Myb binding sites, a low temperature responsive element (LTRE) and a metal responsive element (MRE). The findings imply that these elements may play important roles in the response to plant hormones and environmental stresses in the process of fruit development. The results of this study suggest that the expressions of fruit specific and ripening-related cDNAs are closely associated with the stress response.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.272-277
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• 2007

The physiological responses of microorganisms to specific nutrient limitation can be regulated at the transcriptional levels. In this study, in order to develop the Pichia pastoris-derived promoter inducible by nutrient-limited condition, we constructed cDNA libraries using RT-PCR of total RNA from P. pastoris in steady-states of phosphate-limited chemostat with different dilution rates. Various genes were detected from cDNA library. Among these genes, the gene encoding putative sodium/phosphate ($Na^+$/Pi) symporter (NPS), high affinity transporter of phosphate, was detected. It was observed that expression of NPS increased in a manner specific to phosphate-limited condition through Northern blot. Therefore, it is thought that the promoter from NPS gene may have the potential as auto-inducible promoter by phosphate-limited culture condition without inducer.