• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.1054-1063
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• 2022

Trehalose is a non-conventional sugar with potent applications in the food, healthcare and biopharma industries. In this study, trehalose was synthesized from maltose using whole-cell Pseudomonas monteilii TBRC 1196 producing trehalose synthase (TreS) as the biocatalyst. The reaction condition was optimized using 1% Triton X-100 permeabilized cells. According to our central composite design (CCD) experiment, the optimal process was achieved at 35℃ and pH 8.0 for 24 h, resulting in the maximum trehalose yield of 51.60 g/g after 12 h using an initial cell loading of 94 g/l. Scale-up production in a lab-scale bioreactor led to the final trehalose concentration of 51.91 g/l with a yield of 51.60 g/g and productivity of 4.37 g/l/h together with 8.24 g/l glucose as a byproduct. A one-pot process integrating trehalose production and byproduct bioremoval showed 53.35% trehalose yield from 107.4 g/l after 15 h by permeabilized P. moteilii cells. The residual maltose and glucose were subsequently removed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae TBRC 12153, resulting in trehalose recovery of 99.23% with 24.85 g/l ethanol obtained as a co-product. The present work provides an integrated alternative process for trehalose production from maltose syrup in bio-industry.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.201-213
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• 2024

Cells first emerged 4 billion years ago and have evolved over a long period into an excellent system. Bottom-up synthetic biology is a research field that aims to develop "artificial cells" by returning to 4 billion years ago and redesigning cells from scratch. Although these artificial cells are not perfect, they are artificial cell mimicry systems that possess important characteristics of living cells. By designing the artificial cells, researchers in this field aim to explore the organization and the origins of cells from a different approach than traditional cell biology and ultimately seek to replace the use of living cells. This review aims to introduce the concepts and recent research in capsule and biocatalyst-based artificial cells, which have been actively studied recently.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.1867-1875
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• 2024

Identification of the biochemical metabolic pathway for lignin decomposition and the responsible degradative enzymes is needed for the effective biotechnological valorization of lignin to renewable chemical products. In this study, we investigated the decomposition of kraft lignin by the soil bacterium Pseudomonas kribbensis CHA-19, a strain that can utilize kraft lignin and its main degradation metabolite, vanillic acid, as growth substrates. Gel permeation chromatography revealed that CHA-19 decomposed polymeric lignin and degraded dehydrodivanillin (a representative lignin model compound); however, the degradative enzyme(s) and mechanism were not identified. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction with mRNAs from CHA-19 cells induced in the presence of lignin showed that the putative genes coding for two laccase-like multicopper oxidases (LMCOs) and three dye-decolorizing peroxidases (DyPs) were upregulated by 2.0- to 7.9-fold compared with glucose-induced cells, which indicates possible cooperation with multiple enzymes for lignin decomposition. Computational homology analysis of the protein sequences of LMCOs and DyPs also predicted their roles in lignin decomposition. Based on the above data, CHA-19 appears to initiate oxidative lignin decomposition using multifunctional LMCOs and DyPs, producing smaller metabolites such as vanillic acid, which is further degraded via ortho- and meta-ring cleavage pathways. This study not only helps to better understand the role of bacteria in lignin decomposition and thus in terrestrial ecosystems, but also expands the biocatalytic toolbox with new bacterial cells and their degradative enzymes for lignin valorization.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.98-102
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• 1996

A thermostable tyrosine phenol-lyase gene of a thermophilic Symbiobacterium species was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli in order to produce the biocatalyst for the synthesis of 3, 4-dihy-droxyphenyl-L-alanine (L-DOPA). The substrates used for the synthetic reaction were pyrocatechol, so-dium pyruvate, and ammonium chloride. The enzyme was stable up to $60^{\circ}C$, and the optimal temperature for the synthesis of L-DOPA was $37^{\circ}C$ . The optimal pH of the reaction was about 8.3. Enzyme activity was highly dependent on the amount of ammonium chloride and the optimal concentration was estimated to be 0.6 M. In the case of pyrocatechol, an inactivation of enzyme activity was observed at con-centrations higher than 0.1 M. Enzyme activity was increased by the presence of ethanol. Under op-timized conditions, L-DOPA production was carried out adding pyrocatechol and sodium pyruvate to the reaction solution intermittently to avoid substrate depletion during the reaction. The concentration of L-DOPA reached 29.8 g/l after 6 h, but the concentration didn t increase further because of the formation of byproducts by a non-enzymatic reaction between L-DOPA and pyruvate.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.279-283
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• 2007

Epoxide hydrolase (EH) gene of Caulobacter crescentus was cloned by PCR and expressed in Escherichia coli. The C. crescentus EH (CcEH) primarily attacked at the benzylic carbon of (S)-styrene oxide, while the CcEH preferentially attacked at the terminal carbon of (R)-styrene oxide, thus leading to the formation of (R)-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol as the main product. (R)-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol was obtained with 85% enantiomeric excess and yield of 69% from racemic styrene oxide via enantioconvergent hydrolysis by using recombinant CcEH as the single biocatalyst.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.552-559
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• 2008

Ethyl (S)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyrate is an intermediate for the synthesis of Atorvastatin, a chiral drug used for hypercholesterolemia. A Rhodococcus erythropolisstrain (No.7) able to convert 4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyronitrile into 4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyric acid has recently been isolated from soil. This activity has been regarded as having been caused by the successive actions of the nitrile hydratase and amidase. In this instance, the corresponding amidase gene was cloned from the R. erythropolis strain and expressed in Escherichia coli cells. A soluble active form of amidase enzyme was obtained at $18^{\circ}C$. The Ni column-purified recombinant amidase was found to have a specific activity of 3.89 U/mg toward the substrate isobutyramide. The amidase was found to exhibit a higher degree of activity when used with mid-chain substrates than with short-chain ones. Put differently, amongst the various amides tested, isobutyramide and butyramide were found to be hydrolyzed the most rapidly. In addition to amidase activity, the enzyme was found to exhibit acyltransferase activity when hydroxyl amine was present. This dual activity has also been observed in other enzymes belonging to the same amidase group (E.C. 3.5.1.4). Moreover, the purified enzyme was proven to be able to enantioselectively hydrolyze 4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyramide into the corresponding acid. The e.e. value was measured to be 52% when the conversion yield was 57%. Although this e.e. value is low for direct commercial use, molecular evolution could eventually result in this amidase being used as a biocatalyst for the production of ethyl (S)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutyrate.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.445-448
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• 2008

Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB) is an efficient biocatalyst for many organic synthesis reactions. To make full use of CalB, we need effective expression system. Previously recombinant CalB was successfully expressed in the methylotropic yeast Pichia pastoris. In addition, we succeed in the functional expression of CalB in the Escherichia coli cytoplasm. This CalB expression system in E.coli has many considerable advantages in comparison with other expression systems and enables high-throughput screening of gene libraries as those derived from directed evolution experiments. To optimize E.coli system, we investigate comparing between OrigamiB (DE3) and BL21 (DE3) and observing effect of IPTG amount.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.603-607
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• 2016

A crude extracellular lipase from solvent-tolerant bacterium Pseudomonas sp. BCNU 106 was highly stable in the broad pH range of 4-10 and at temperature of 37℃. Crude lipase of BCNU 106 exhibited enhanced stability in 25% organic solvents such as xylene (121.85%), hexane (120.35%), octane (120.41 %), toluene (118.14%), chloroform (103.66%) and dodecane (102.94%) and showed excellent stability comparable with the commercial immobilized enzyme. In addition, the stability of BCNU 106 lipase retained above 110% of its enzyme activity in the presence of Cu²⁺, Hg²⁺, Zn²⁺ and Mn²⁺, whereas Fe²⁺ strongly inhibited its stability. The detergents including tween 80, triton X-100 and SDS were positive signals for lipase stability. Because of its stability in multiple organic solvents, cations and surfactants, the Pseudomonas sp. BCNU 106 lipase could be considered as a potential biocatalyst in the industrial chemical processes without using immobilization.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.659-665
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• 2010

A cis-epoxysuccinate hydrolase (CESH) from Bordetella sp. BK-52 was purified 51.4-fold with a yield of 27.1% using ammonium sulfate precipitation, ionic exchange, hydrophobic interaction, molecular sieve chromatography and an additional anion-exchange chromatography. The CESH was stable in a broad range of temperature (up to $50^{\circ}C$) and pH (4.0-10.0) with optima of $40^{\circ}C$ and pH 6.5, respectively. It could be partially inhibited by EDTA-$Na_2$, $Ag^+$, SDS, and DTT, and slightly enhanced by $Ba^{2+}$ and $Ca^{2+}$. The enzyme exhibited high stereospecificity in D(-)-tartaric acid (enantiomeric excess value higher than 99%) with $K_m$ and $V_max$ values of 18.67 mM and $94.34\;{\mu}M$/min/mg for disodium cis-epoxysuccinate, respectively. The Bordetella sp. BK-52 CESH gene, which contained 885 nucleotides (open reading frame) encoding 294 amino acids with a molecular mass of about 32 kDa, was successfully overexpressed in Escherichia coli using a T7/lac promoter vector and the enzyme activity was increased 42-times compared with the original strain. It may be an industrial biocatalyst for the preparation of D(-)-tartaric acid.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.47-51
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• 2015

Biocatalytic degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) in contaminated soil by hemoglobin and hydrogen peroxide is an effective soil remediation method. This study used a laboratory soil reactor experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of a nonspecific biocatalytic reaction with hemoglobin and H₂O₂ for treating TPH-contaminated soil. We also quantified changes in the soil microbial community using real-time PCR analysis during the experimental treatment. The results show that the measured rate constant for the reaction with added hemoglobin was 0.051/day, about 3.5 times higher than the constant for the reaction with only H₂O₂ (0.014/day). After four weeks of treatment, 76% of the initial soil TPH concentration was removed with hemoglobin and hydrogen peroxide treatment. The removal of initial soil TPH concentration was 26% when only hydrogen peroxide was used. The soil microbial community, based on 16S rRNA gene copy number, was higher (7.1 × 10⁶ copy number/g of bacteria, and 7.4 × 10⁵ copy number/g of Archaea, respectively) in the hemoglobin catalyzed treatment. Our results show that TPH treatment in contaminated soil using hemoglobin catalyzed oxidation led to the enhanced removal effectiveness and was non-toxic to the native soil microbial community in the initial soil.