• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.344-350
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• 2006

Thermoplasma acidophilum is a thermoacidophilic archaeon that grows optimally at $59^{\circ}C$ and pH 2. Along with another thermoacidophilic archaeon, Sulfolobus solfataricus, it is known to metabolize glucose by the non-phosphorylated Entner-Doudoroff (nED) pathway. In the course of these studies, the specific activities of glyceraldehyde dehydrogenase and glycerate kinase, two enzymes that are involved in the downstream part of the nED pathway, were found to be much higher in T. acidophilum than in S. solfataricus. To characterize glycerate kinase, the enzyme was purified to homogeneity from T. acidophilum cell extracts. The N-terminal sequence of the purified enzyme was in exact agreement with that of Ta0453m in the genome database, with the removal of the initiator methionine. Furthermore, the enzyme was a monomer with a molecular weight of 49kDa and followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with $K_m$ values of 0.56 and 0.32mM for DL-glycerate and ATP, respectively. The enzyme also exhibited excellent thermal stability at $70^{\circ}C$. Of the seven sugars and four phosphate donors tested, only DL-glycerate and ATP were utilized by glycerate kinase as substrates. In addition, a coupled enzyme assay indicated that 2-phosphoglycerate was produced as a product. When divalent metal ions, such as $Mn^{2+},\;CO^{2+},\;Ni^{2+},\;Zn^{2+},\;Ca^{2+},\;and\;Sr^{2+}$, were substituted for $Mg^{2+}$ the enzyme activities were less than 10% of that obtained in the presence of $Mg^{2+}$. The amino acid sequence of T. acidophilum glycerate kinase showed no similarity with E. coli glycerate kinases, which belong to the first glycerate kinase family. This is the first report on the biochemical characterization of an enzyme which belongs to a member of the second glycerate kinase family.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.844-855
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• 2017

Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) have the ability to dissolve insoluble phosphate and enhance soil fertility. However, the growth and mineral phosphate solubilization of PSB could be affected by exogenous soluble phosphate and the mechanism has not been fully understood. In the present study, the growth and mineral phosphate-solubilizing characteristics of PSB strain Burkholderia multivorans WS-FJ9 were investigated at six levels of exogenous soluble phosphate (0, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, and 20 mM). The WS-FJ9 strain showed better growth at high levels of soluble phosphate. The phosphate-solubilizing activity of WS-FJ9 was reduced as the soluble phosphate concentration increased, as well as the production of pyruvic acid. Transcriptome profiling of WS-FJ9 at three levels of exogenous soluble phosphate (0, 5, and 20 mM) identified 446 differentially expressed genes, among which 44 genes were continuously up-regulated when soluble phosphate concentration was increased and 81 genes were continuously down-regulated. Some genes related to cell growth were continuously up-regulated, which would account for the better growth of WS-FJ9 at high levels of soluble phosphate. Genes involved in glucose metabolism, including glycerate kinase, 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase, and sugar ABC-type transporter, were continuously down-regulated, which indicates that metabolic channeling of glucose towards the phosphorylative pathway was negatively regulated by soluble phosphate. These findings represent an important first step in understanding the molecular mechanisms of soluble phosphate effects on the growth and mineral phosphate solubilization of PSB.