• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.248-254
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• 2016

A soil metagenome contains the genomes of all microbes included in a soil sample, including those that cannot be cultured. In this study, soil metagenome libraries were searched for microbial genes exhibiting lipolytic activity and those involved in potential lipid metabolism that could yield valuable products in microorganisms. One of the subclones derived from the original fosmid clone, pELP120, was selected for further analysis. A subclone spanning a 3.3 kb DNA fragment was found to encode for lipase/esterase and contained an additional partial open reading frame encoding a wax ester synthase (WES) motif. Consequently, both pELP120 and the full length of the gene potentially encoding WES were sequenced. To determine if the wes gene encoded a functioning WES protein that produced wax esters, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy was conducted using ethyl acetate extract from an Escherichia coli strain that expressed the wes gene and was grown with hexadecanol. The ethyl acetate extract from this E. coli strain did indeed produce wax ester compounds of various carbon-chain lengths. DNA sequence analysis of the full-length gene revealed that the gene cluster may be derived from a member of Proteobacteria, whereas the clone does not contain any clear phylogenetic markers. These results suggest that the wes gene discovered in this study encodes a functional protein in E. coli and produces wax esters through a heterologous expression system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.397-404
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• 2013

Paenibacillus xylanilyticus KJ-03 was isolated from soil samples obtained from a field with Amorphophallus konjac plants. A gene encoding xylanase was isolated from KJ-03 and cloned using a fosmid library. The xynA gene encodes xylanase; it consists of 1,035 bp and encodes 345 amino acids. The amino acid sequence deduced from the P. xylanilyticus KJ-03 xylanase showed 81% and 69% identities with those deduced from the P. polymyxa E681 and Paenibacillus sp. HPL-001 xylanases, respectively. The xynA gene comprises a single domain, consisting of a catalytic domain of the glycosyl hydrolase (GH) 10 family. The xynA gene was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (trxB), and the recombinant xylanase was purified by Niaffinity chromatography. The purified xylanase showed optimum activity with birchwood xylan as a substrate at $40^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.4. Treatment with $Mg^{2+}$ and $Li^+$ showed a slight decrease in XynA activity; however, treatment with 5 mM $Cu^{2+}$ completely inhibited its activity. The results of the thin layer chromatography analysis indicated that the major hydrolysis product was xylobiose and small amounts of xylose and xylotriose. XynA showed increased activity with oat spelt xylan and birchwood xylan, but showed only slight activity with locust bean gum.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제45권1호
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• pp.63-70
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• 2017

독도 해저 2,000 미터 퇴적토를 이용한 메타게놈 유전자 은행의 60,672 클론을 기름 성분 tributyrin이 첨가된 배지에서 스크리닝 하였다. 활성을 가진 클론에서 EstES1 유전자를 선발하였다. EstES1은 553개 아미노산으로 구성된 분자량 59.4 kDa 단백질로, 가장 높은 유사성은 Haliangium ochraceum의 carboxylesterase와 44%이었다. EstES1 서열 내부에는 carboxylesterase의 전형적인 penta-peptide motif, catalytic triad 및 N-terminal 부위 37개의 leader sequence가 존재했다. 서열기반 계통분석 결과, EstES1은 신규한 esterase 임을 보여주었다. EstES1 효소의 leader 서열을 제거한 재조합 수용성 RLES1 효소는 탄소 2-12까지 포함된 long acyl ethyl ester 기질을 모두 이용할 수 있지만, p-Nitrophenyl butyrate (C4)에 가장 높은 활성과 turn-over 값을 보였다. 최적 활성은 $45^{\circ}C$, pH 9.0이다(specific activity 255.4 U/mg). 또한 강알칼리 상태인 pH 10.5까지 80% 이상의 활성이 유지되었다. EstES1의 활성은 $60^{\circ}C$에서 내열성을 보여, 1시간 동안 활성을 100% 유지할 수 있다. 효소 활성은 여러 종류의 유기용매 하에서도 안정하게 유지되었다. 따라서, EstES1은 배양이 불가능한 난배양 미생물로부터 유래된 신종 효소 유전자로서, 고온의 지방산 가수분해, 알칼리 상태나유기용매가 존재하는 여러 공정분야에 활용될 수 있다.