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Biomedical subjects

K Ohmiya

Publications and source records attributed to K Ohmiya.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Purification and properties of an endo-1,4-beta-glucanase translated from a Clostridium josui gene in Escherichia coli.

An endoglucanase encoded by a gene of Clostridium josui was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. The homogeneous enzyme, with a molecular weight of 39,000, revealed maximum endoglucanase activity at pH 7.2 to 7.5 and a temperature of 65 to 70 degrees C. The enzyme was stable at a temperature lower than 45 degrees C (the growth temperature of the bacterium) in the range of pH 4.5 to 9.0. The amino acid sequence of the enzyme at the N terminus was Val-Glu-Glu-Asp-Ser-Ser-His-Leu-Ile-Thr-Asn-Gln-Ala-Lys-Lys----. The enzyme hydrolyzed cellotetraose to cellobiose and then transferred cellobiose to the residual cellotetraose. The resulting cellohexaose was cleaved to cellotriose.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Purification and characterization of macrolide 2'-phosphotransferase from a strain of Escherichia coli that is highly resistant to erythromycin.

Macrolide 2'-phosphotransferase [MPH(2')] was purified 90-fold from an erythromycin-resistant strain of Escherichia coli, and its enzymatic properties were investigated. MPH(2') is an inducible intracellular enzyme which showed high levels of activity with 14-member-ring macrolides and extremely low levels with 16-member-ring macrolides. The optimum pH for inactivation of oleandomycin was 8.2, and the optimum temperature of the reaction was 40 degrees C. Enzyme activity was lost by heat treatment at 50 degrees C for 1 min. The isoelectric point and molecular weight of the enzyme were 5.3 and 34,000, respectively. Purine nucleotides, such as GTP, ITP, and ATP, were effective as cofactors in the inactivation of macrolides. Iodine, EDTA, or divalent cations inhibited MPH(2') activity.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Cloning of an endo-1,4-beta-D-glucanase gene from Clostridium josui and its expression in Escherichia coli.

The gene for carboxymethyl cellulose-degrading enzyme (endoglucanase) from Clostridium josui (FERM P-9684) was cloned in Escherichia coli HB101 with pBR322. A 5.6-kilobase-pair HindIII fragment encoding an endoglucanase was hybridized with C. josui chromosomal DNA. The size of the cloned DNA fragment was reduced with PvuII, and the resulting active fragment (2 kilobase pairs, with restriction sites of EcoRI and PstI) was ligated into pUC118 at the SmaI sites (pUCJ1). The endoglucanase production by E. coli JM103(pUCJ1) in Luria-Bertani broth was enhanced up to approximately three times by maintaining the pH at 6.5 and using 80 mM NaCl.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Structure of a Ruminococcus albus endo-1,4-beta-glucanase gene.

A chromosomal DNA fragment encoding an endo-1,4-beta-glucanase I (Eg I) gene from Ruminococcus albus cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli with pUC18 was fully sequenced by the dideoxy-chain termination method. The sequence contained a consensus promoter sequence and a structural amino acid sequence. The initial 43 amino acids of the protein were deduced to be a signal sequence, since they are missing in the mature protein (Eg I). High homology was found when the amino acid sequence of the Eg I was compared with that of endoglucanase E from Clostridium thermocellum. Codon usage of the gene was not biased. These results suggested that the properties of the Eg I gene from R. albus was specified from the known beta-glucanase genes of the other organisms.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Purification and properties of an endo-1,4-beta-glucanase from Clostridium josui.

An enzyme active against carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was purified from the stationary-phase-culture supernatant of Clostridium josui grown in a medium containing ball-milled cellulose. The purification in the presence of 6 M urea yielded homogeneous enzyme after an approximately 50-fold increase in specific activity and a 13% yield. The enzyme had a molecular mass of 45 kilodaltons. The optimal temperature and pH of the enzyme against CMC were 60 degrees C and 6.8, respectively. The enzyme hydrolyzed cellotetraose, cellopentaose, and cellohexaose to cellobiose and cellotriose but did not hydrolyze cellobiose or cellotriose. A microcrystalline cellulose, Avicel, was also hydrolyzed significantly, but the extent of hydrolysis was remarkably less than that of CMC. On the basis of these results, the enzyme purified here is one of the endo-1,4-beta-glucanases. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme is Tyr-Asp-Ala-Ser-Leu-Lys-Pro-Asn-Leu-Gln-Ile-Pro-Gln-Lys-Asn-Ile-Pro-Asn- Asn-Asp-Ala-Val-Asn-Ile-Lys.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Intergeneric Protoplast Fusion between Ruminococcus albus and an Anaerobic Recombinant, FE7.

Intergeneric protoplast fusion between Ruminococcus albus, a cellulolytic, gram-positive, anaerobic bacterium (Pc Sm Km), and an anaerobic recombinant, FE7 (Pc Sm Km), having lignin-related compound-degrading activities, was performed under strictly anaerobic conditions to introduce cellulase genes into strain FE7. The fusion frequency varied with different selected markers from 3.0 x 10 to 3.3 x 10. Two fusants, obtained from a synthetic medium with selective pressures of penicillin and streptomycin and with cellooli-gomer as the sole carbon source, were gram-negative rods. One of them, named FE7R2, showed 45 to 47% of the beta-glucosidase and cellobiosidase activities of its parent R. albus and still maintained a level of degradation activity against dehydrodivanillin, a lignin-related compound, of up to 87% of that of the parent strain FE7. To verify that the cellulolytic activities expressed in the fusant FE7R2 originated from R. albus cellulase genes, the beta-glucosidase gene of R. albus was cloned into Escherichia coli HB101 with plasmid pBR322. Cells bearing a recombinant plasmid, pRAII, produced high enzyme activities against both p-nitrophenyl-beta-d-glucoside and p-nitrophenyl-beta-d-cellobioside and could degrade cellobiose to glucose. Southern blot results showed that the cloned DNA fragment could hybridize with chromosomal DNAs of both R. albus and FE7R2, but did not with the chromosomal DNA of FE7, indicating that the beta-glucosidase gene fragment was introduced into the chromosome of FE7R2 from R. albus via the protoplast fusion. The fusant FE7R2 could utilize simultaneously both cellobiose and dehydrodivanillin. These results gave evidence that the fusion product FE7R2 is a recombinant strain between its parents R. albus and FE7. This recombinant has stably kept the above properties for about 2 years.

Journal Article↗

Isolation and characterization of an anaerobic dehydrodivanillin-degrading bacterium.

A novel, strictly anaerobic, gram-negative, non-spore-forming, fusiform, rod-shaped bacterium having high dehydrodivanillin (DDV)-degrading activity was isolated from cow ruminal fluid. This strain degraded a range of six main lignin-related compounds such as DDV, ferulic acid, dehydrodiisoeugenol, guaiacoxyacetic acid, vanillin, and veratrylglycerol-beta-guaiacyl ether to the extent of 14 to 83% within 2 days under strictly anaerobic conditions. As DDV degradation intermediates, three aromatic compounds (dehydrodivanillic acid, vanillic acid, and 5-carboxyvanillic acid) and two alicyclic compounds (cyclohexanecarboxylic acid and cyclohexanol) were detected by thin-layer, high-performance liquid, and gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The addition of 1% glucose and peptone in a synthetic medium stimulated growth of the strain but slowed down DDV degradation. The presence of 0.1% yeast extract increased both cell growth and DDV degradation. The growth yield in defined medium was 151.5 g (dry weight) of cells per mol of DDV utilized. Characterization of the strain indicated that it was distinct from known Fusobacterium and Clostridium species. The bacterium was easily induced to form protoplasts after treatment with either penicillin or lysozyme. The frequencies of protoplast formation and regeneration in the strain were 94 and 18%, respectively.

Animals↗

Cloning of the cellulase gene from Ruminococcus albus and its expression in Escherichia coli.

The gene for cellulase from Ruminococcus albus F-40 was cloned in Escherichia coli HB101 with pBR322. A 3.4-kilobase-pair HindIII fragment encoding cellulase hybridized with the chromosomal DNA of R. albus. The Ouchterlony double-fusion test gave a single precipitation line between the cloned enzyme and the cellulase from R. albus. The size of the cloned fragment was reduced by using HindIII and EcoRI. The resulting active fragment had a size of 1.9 kilobase pairs; and the restriction sites EcoRI, BamHI, PvuII, EcoRI, PvuII, and HindIII, in that order, were ligated into pUC19 at the EcoRI and HindIII sites (pURA1). Cellulase production by E. coli JM103(pURA1) in Luria-Bertani broth was remarkably enhanced, up to approximately 80 times, by controlling the pH at 6.5 and by reducing the concentration of NaCl in the broth to 80 mM.

Aerobiosis↗

Escherichia coli Spheroplast-Mediated Transfer of pBR322 Carrying the Cloned Ruminococcus albus Cellulase Gene into Anaerobic Mutant Strain FEM29 by Protoplast Fusion.

Intergeneric protoplast fusion between Escherichia coli HB101 with pBR322 carrying the cloned o-(carboxymethyl)cellulase (CMCase) gene of Ruminococcus albus (Pro Leu Ap Km) and an anaerobic mutant strain, FEM29 (Trp His Ap Km), with dehydrodivanillin-degrading activity was performed in the presence of 40% polyvinyl alcohol 300 under aerobic and anaerobic conditions to transfer the cloned cellulase gene into the mutant. The mutant FEM29 had a unique property. When it was incubated in liquid medium with 1% glucose and sucrose, protoplasts could be produced autogenously and regenerated on the agar slant. E. coli spheroplasts formed from a plasmid-amplified overnight culture after 10 min of treatment with lysozyme (20 mug/ml) in a hypertonic solution (0.01 M Tris hydrochloride [pH 7.5], 0.4 M mannitol). Protoplast regeneration rates of FEM29 and HB101 were 30 and 83%, respectively, on the agar-yeast extract medium. Ap Km fusants were obtained at high frequency: 1.7 x 10 anaerobically and 8.2 x 10 aerobically. These fusants showed 23 to 57% of CMCase and dehydrodivanillin-degrading activities, respectively, as compared with parental strains. All the fusants isolated were gram-negative rods with main phenotypes such as urease and catalase activities as in HB101 and esterase and chymotrypsin activities as in FEM29. Southern hybridization experiments suggested that pBR322 with the cloned CMCase gene existed autonomously in the fusant cells. This is the first report describing transfer of pBR322 with a cloned cellulase gene into an anaerobic mutant by polyvinyl alcohol-mediated fusion with an E. coli spheroplast.

Journal Article↗

Intergeneric protoplast fusion between Fusobacterium varium and Enterococcus faecium for enhancing dehydrodivanillin degradation.

Intergeneric protoplast fusion between Fusobacterium varium (Pcs Glu+) and Enterococcus faecium (Pcr Glu-) was performed under strictly anaerobic conditions to improve dehydrodivanillin (DDV) degradation. The fusion frequency obtained from the selective medium (Pc+ Glu-) was about 0.9 X 10(-5) to 1.3 X 10(-5). The seven fusants isolated were all gram-negative anaerobes with rod shapes like that of F. varium and with main phenotypical properties of cocci like those of E. faecium such as esculin and starch hydrolysis, milk clotting, and lactate production. Five fusants showed enhanced DDV degradation activities that were 2 to 4 times higher than those of parental strains. Genetic relatedness between a fusant (FE7) and the parents was estimated by DNA-DNA Southern blot hybridization with 32P-labeled chromosomal DNA fragments of F. varium and E. faecium as respective probes. The fusant FE7 presented a very high cross-hybridization with both probes, indicating a high DNA homology between the fusant and both parental strains. Almost all the fusants obtained here have stably kept the properties described above for about 2 years. These results suggest that intergeneric gene transfer takes place through protoplast fusion and that the fusants that were obtained are stable recombinants.

Anaerobiosis↗

Thermostable amylolytic enzymes from a new clostridium isolate.

A new Clostridium strain was isolated on starch at 60 degrees C. Starch, pullulan, maltotriose, and maltose induced the synthesis of alpha-amylase and pullulanase, while glucose, ribose, fructose, and lactose did not. The formation of the amylolytic enzymes was dependent on growth and occurred predominantly in the exponential phase. The enzymes were largely cell bound during growth of the organism with 0.5% starch, but an increase of the starch concentration in the growth medium was accompanied by the excretion of alpha-amylase and pullulanase into the culture broth; but also by a decrease of total activity. alpha-Amylase, pullulanase, and alpha-glucosidase were active in a broad temperature range (40 to 85 degrees C) and displayed temperature optima for activity at 60 to 70 degrees C. During incubation with starch under aerobic conditions at 75 degrees C for 2 h, the activity of both enzymes decreased to only 90 or 80%. The apparent K(m) values of alpha-amylase, pullulanase, and alpha-glucosidase for their corresponding substrates, starch, pullulan, and maltose were 0.35 mg/ml, 0.63 mg/ml, and 25 mM, respectively.

Journal Article↗

Protoplast formation and regeneration of dehydrodivanillin-degrading strains of Fusobacterium varium and Enterococcus faecium.

Two strains of rumen anaerobes isolated from dehydrodivanillin-degrading cultures were identified as Fusobacterium varium and Enterococcus faecium. These organisms degraded dehydrodivanillin synergistically to 5-carboxymethylvanillin and vanillic acid. Specific conditions for protoplast formation and cell wall regeneration for both bacteria were determined, under strictly anaerobic conditions, to be as follows. The cell wall of each bacterium in yeast extract medium was loosened by adding penicillin G during early log-phase growth. The cell wall of F. varium was lysed by lysozyme (1 mg/ml) in glycerol (0.2 M)-phosphate buffer (0.05 M; pH 7.0). The addition of NaCl (0.08 M) with lysozyme was necessary for lysis of E. faecium in this solution. Almost all cells were converted to protoplasts after 2 h of incubation at 37 degrees C. Regeneration of both protoplasts was 20 to 30% on an agar-containing yeast extract medium.

Anaerobiosis↗

[Antibacterial activity of (+)-negamycin prepared by a new method].

Antibacterial activity of (+)-negamycin (NGM) prepared by a new method was investigated for some bacteria. The results demonstrated that this antibacterial activity of synthesized NGM was almost the same as compared to that of naturally obtained NGM, and was also effective to Pseudomonas aeruginosa harboring multiple drug resistant plasmid kR102.

Amino Acids, Diamino↗

Degradation of dehydrodivanillin by anaerobic bacteria from cow rumen fluid.

Dehydrodivanillin (DDV; 0.15 g/liter) was biodegradable at 37 degrees C under strictly anaerobic conditions by microflora from cow rumen fluid to the extent of 25% within 2 days in a yeast extract medium. The anaerobes were acclimated on DDV for 2 weeks, leading to DDV-degrading microflora with rates of degradation eight times higher than those initially. Dehydrodivanillic acid and vanillic acid were detected in an ethylacetate extract of a DDV-enriched culture broth by thin-layer, gas, and high-performance liquid chromatographies and by mass spectrometry.

Journal Article↗

Anaerobic degradation of veratrylglycerol-beta-guaiacyl ether and guaiacoxyacetic acid by mixed rumen bacteria.

Veratrylglycerol-beta-guaiacyl ether (0.2 g/liter), a lignin model compound, was found to be degraded by mixed rumen bacteria in a yeast extract medium under strictly anaerobic conditions to the extent of 19% within 24 h. Guaiacoxyacetic acid, 2-(o-methoxyphenoxy)ethanol, vanillic acid, and vanillin were detected as degradation products of veratrylglycerol-beta-guaiacyl ether by thin-layer chromatography, gas chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Guaiacoxyacetic acid (0.25 g/liter), when added into the medium as a substrate, was entirely degraded within 36 h, resulting in the formation of phenoxyacetic acid, guaiacol, and phenol. These results suggest that the beta-arylether bond, an important intermonomer linkage in lignin, can be cleaved completely by these rumen anaerobes.

Anaerobiosis↗

Isolation and properties of beta-glucosidase from Ruminococcus albus.

An enzyme active against p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucoside was purified from logarithmic-phase cells of Ruminococcus albus cultivated in a medium containing ball-milled cellulose. The purification yielded homogeneous enzyme after an approximately 520-fold increase in specific activity and a 9% yield. The enzyme was identified as a beta-glucosidase because it can hydrolyze cellobiose and cellooligosaccharides to glucose from the nonreducing ends.

Cations, Divalent↗