• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.274-282
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• 2019

Mercury-resistant ($Hg^R$) bacteria were isolated from heavy metal polluted wastewater and soil collected near to tanneries of district Kasur, Pakistan. Bacterial isolates AZ-1, AZ-2 and AZ-3 showed resistance up to $40{\mu}g/ml$ against mercuric chloride ($HgCl_2$). 16S rDNA ribotyping and phylogenetic analysis were performed for the characterization of selected isolates as Bacillus sp. AZ-1 (KT270477), Bacillus cereus AZ-2 (KT270478) and Bacillus cereus AZ-3 (KT270479). Phylogenetic relationship on the basis of merA nucleotide sequence confirmed 51-100% homology with the corresponding region of the merA gene of already reported mercury-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. The merE gene involved in the transportation of elemental mercury ($Hg^0$) via cell membrane was cloned for the first time into pHLV vector and transformed in overexpressed C43(DE3) E. coli cells. The recombinant plasmid (pHLMerE) was expressed and the native MerE protein was obtained after thrombin cleavage by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The purification of fusion/recombinant and native protein MerE by Ni-NTA column, dialysis and fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC/SEC) involved unfolding/refolding techniques. A small-scale reservoir of wastewater containing $30{\mu}g/ml$ of $HgCl_2$ was designed to check the detoxification ability of selected strains. It resulted in 83% detoxification of mercury by B. cereus AZ-2 and B. cereus AZ-3, and 76% detoxification by Bacillus sp. AZ-1 respectively (p < 0.05).

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.510-518
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• 2021

Bacteriophages are considered excellent sensing elements for platforms detecting bacteria. However, their lytic cycle has restricted their efficacy. Here, we used the minor coat protein pIII domain (N1N2) of phage CTXφ to construct a novel surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor that could detect Vibrio cholerae. N1N2 harboring the domains required for phage adsorption and entry was obtained from Escherichia coli using recombinant protein expression and purification. SDS-PAGE revealed an approximate size of 30 kDa for N1N2. Dot blot and transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed that the protein bound to the host V. cholerae but not to non-host E. coli K-12 cells. Next, we used amine-coupling to develop a novel recombinant N1N2 (rN1N2)-functionalized SPR biosensor by immobilizing rN1N2 proteins on gold substrates and using SPR to monitor the binding kinetics of the proteins with target bacteria. We observed rapid detection of V. cholerae in the range of approximately 10³ to 10⁹ CFU/ml but not of E. coli at any tested concentration, thereby confirming that the biosensor exhibited differential recognition and binding. The results indicate that the novel biosensor can rapidly monitor a target pathogenic microorganism in the environment and is very useful for monitoring food safety and facilitating early disease prevention.

• 한국미생물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국미생물학회 2007년도 International Meeting of the Microbiological Society of Korea
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• pp.83-85
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• 2007

Deep-sea bacteria are adapted to extreme environments, such as high pressures and cold temperatures. We have isolated many piezophiles which grow well even under high pressures from deep-sea sediment. Shewanella violacea DSS12 and Moritella japonica DSK1 have the ability to grow at up to 70 MPa, and those bacteria have unique mechanisms of gene expression in response to high pressure conditions. The combination of gene expression systems in piezophiles, like the high pressure-dependent promoters and GFP reporter gene, may reveal highly fluorescent cells when exposed to high hydrostatic pressure conditions. It is predicted that a novel bio-sensing system can be made to probe high pressure environments using living bacteria. First, gene transformation into our piezophiles, strains DSS12 and DSK1, were examined. Eschericha coli S17-1 was used for bacterial conjugation with those piezophiles. As a result, the broad host range vector, pKT231, and the shuttle vector, pTH10, were successfully introduced to DSS12 and DSK1, respectively. Next, The pressure regulated promoters from DSS12 and DSK1 were cloned into proper vectors and combined with GFP as a reporter gene downstream of each promoter. The transformants of DSK1 and DSS12 with the recombinant pTH10 and pKT231 plasmid, which has cadA and glnA promoters (each of them is a pressure regulated promoter from DSK1 and DSS12, respectively) and GFP, were grown under high pressure and gene expression of GFP promoted by 50 MPa pressure was confirmed. This is a critical point to create a pressure-sensing bacteria, as the "High Pressure Glow Cells", which will indicate the level of environmental pressure using fluorescence of GFP as a reporter gene.

• BMB Reports
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• 제40권5호
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• pp.656-661
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• 2007

In this report, we describe an optimized method for generation of ephA8 BAC transgenic mice expressing the lacZ reporter gene under ephA8 regulatory sequences. First, we constructed a targeting vector that carries a 1.2 kb ephA8 DNA upstream of its first exon, a lacZ expression cassette, a kanamycin cassette, and a 0.7 kb ephA8 DNA downstream of its first exon. Second, the targeting vector was electroporated into cells containing the ephA8 BAC and pKOBEGA, in which recombinases induce a homologous recombination between the ephA8 BAC DNA and the targeting vector. Third, the FLP plasmid expressing the Flipase was electroporated into these bacteria to eliminate a kanamycin cassette from the recombinant BAC DNA. The appropriate structures of the modified ephA8 BAC DNA were confirmed by Southern analysis. Finally, BAC transgenic mouse embryos were generated by pronuclear injection of the recombinant BAC DNA. Whole mount X-gal staining revealed that the lacZ reporter expression is restricted to the anterior region of the developing midbrain in each transgenic embryo. These results indicate that the ephA8 BAC DNA contains most, if not all, regulatory sequences to direct temporal and spatial expression of the lacZ gene in vivo.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.322-328
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• 2005

Acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) are known to be the triggering molecules in the quorum sensing mechanism of many gram-negative bacteria. In order to detect AHL inhibitors that are potential biofilm inhibitors, a convenient and sensitive bioassay was developed based on the $\beta$-galactosidase activity ($\beta$-GAL) of a recombinant Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain. A series of commercially available AHLs were tested for inducing $\beta$-GAL at varying concentrations in agar-plate and liquid cultures of the reporter strain. All AHLs tested exhibited a concentration­dependent induction, and octanoyl homoserine lactone (OHL) showed the highest sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.1 nM in the liquid culture assay. When fimbrolide, a known quorum sensing inhibitor, was added, induction of $\beta$-GAL by OHL was repressed. The repression at a constant OHL concentration was dependent on the fimbrolide concentration with the detection limit below 1 ppm, indicating that this assay is a sensitive method for screening AHL inhibitors.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.56-62
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• 1998

Mutagenicity of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) was examined in the reverse mutation test on bacteria, in the chromosomal aberration test on cultured mammalian cells and in the micronucleus test on mice. The reverse mutation test was performed by a plate incorporation method with or wothout a metabolic activation system (59 Mix) using Salmonella typhimurium strain TA100, TA1535, TA98 and TA 1537. The rhEPO did not significantly increase revertant colonies in any of the test strains under any conditions at dose levels ranging from 1000 H/ml to 62.5 lu/plate, compared with the vehicle control. In the chromosomal aberration test using cultured Chinese Hamster Lung (CHL) cells, the number of aberrant cells was not increased in the presence or absence of 59 Mix at concentrations of 1000 lU/ml to 250 lU/ml, compared with the vehicle control. In the micronucleus test, male ICR mice were given rhEPO intraperitoneally at a dose level of 25000, 12500 and 6250 lU/kg. The incidence of bone marrow micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes was not different from that of the vehicle control. From these results, rhEPO is considered to be non-mutagenic under the present test conditions.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제29권4호
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• pp.201-205
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• 2001

자연계로부터 locust bean gum이 들어 있는 선택배지에서 투명환을 형성하는 mannan 분해능을 갖는 미생물을 스크링 하였고 이를 Aeromonas sp. 로 동정하였다. Aero monas sp. 로부터 염색체 DNA를 분리하여 EcoRI으로 절단하여 대장균에 형질전환한 후 대장균 콜로니 주위에서 locust bean gum을 분해하여 투명환을 형성하는 대장균을 찾아냈다. 형질전환된 대장균으로부터 플라스미드를 분리하여 동일한 제한효소를 처리하여 확인한 결과 10 kd의 Aeromonas sp. 염섹체 DNA에 $\beta$-mannanase 유전자 존재하였다. 대장균에서 발현된 $\beta$-mannanase 의최적 반응 pH와 최적 반응온도는 각각 6.0과 $50^{\circ}C$로서 모균인 Aeromonas sp. 와 동일하였다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권9호
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• pp.972-981
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• 2009

In this paper, a fed-batch cultivation process in recombinant Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) bacteria, for the production of human soluble catechol-O-methyltransferase (hSCOMT), is presented. For the first time, a straightforward model is applied in a recombinant hSCOMT expression system and distinguishes an initial cell growth phase from a protein production phase upon induction. Specifically, the kinetic model predicts biomass, substrate, and product concentrations in the culture over time and was identified from a series of fed-batch experiments designed by testing several feed profiles. The main advantage of this model is that its parameters can be identified more reliably from distinct fed-batch strategies, such as glycerol pulses and exponential followed by constant substrate additions. Interestingly, with the limited amount of data available, the proposed model accomplishes satisfactorily the experimental results obtained for the three state variables, and no exhaustive process knowledge is required. The comparison of the measurement data obtained in a validation experiment with the model predictions showed the great extrapolation capability of the model presented, which could provide new complementary information for the COMT production system.

• BMB Reports
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• 제31권5호
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• pp.484-491
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• 1998

Acetylation of lysine residues within the aminoterminal domains of the core histones plays a critical role in chromatin assemhly as well as in regulation of gene expression. To study the biochemical function of histone acetylation, we have cloned a cDNA encoding the catalytic subunit of human histone acetyltransferase, Hat1. Analysis of the predicted amino acid sequence of human Hat1 revealed an open reading frame of 419 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 49.5 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.5. The amino acid sequence of human Hat1 is homologous to those of known and putative Hat1 proteins from various species throughout the entire open reading frame. The recombinant human Hat1 protein expressed in bacteria possesses histone H4 acetyltransferase activity in vitro. Both RbAp46 and RbAp48, which participate in various processes of histone metabolism, enhance the histone acetyltransferase activity of the recombinant human Hat1, indicating that they are both able to functionally interact with the human Hat1 in vitro.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.119-124
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• 2007

TLR4 together with CD14 and MD-2 forms a pattern recognition receptor that plays an initiating role in the innate immune response to Gram-negative bacteria. Here, we employed the surface plasmon resonance technique to investigate the kinetics of binding of LPS to recombinant CD14, MD-2 and TLR4 proteins produced in insect cells. The dissociation constants ($K_D$) of LPS for immobilized CD14 and MD-2 were $8.7{\mu}m$, and $2.3{\mu}m$, respectively. The association rate constant ($K_{on}$) of LPS for MD-2 was $5.61{\times}10^3M^{-1}S^{-1}$, and the dissociation rate constant ($K_{off}$) was $1.28{\times}10^2S^{-1}$, revealing slow association and fast dissociation with an affinity constant $K_D$ of $2.33{\times}10^6M$ at $25^{\circ}C$. These affinities are consistent with the current view that CD14 conveys LPS to the TLR4/MD-2 complex.