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Yoshiharu Doi

Publications and source records attributed to Yoshiharu Doi.

76 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Dynamic adsorption behavior of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) depolymerase onto polyester surface investigated by QCM and AFM.

Time-dependent adsorption behavior of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) depolymerase from Ralstonia pickettiiT1 on a polyester surface was studied by complementary techniques of quarts crystal microbalance (QCM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Amorphous poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) thin films were used as adsorption substrates. Effects of enzyme concentration on adsorption onto the PLLA surface were determined time-dependently by QCM. Adsorption of PHB depolymerase took place immediately after replacement of the buffer solutions with the enzyme solutions in the cell, followed by a gradual increase in the amount over 30 min. The amount of PHB depolymerase molecules adsorbed on the surface of amorphous PLLA thin films increased with an increase in the enzyme concentration. Time-dependent AFM observation of enzyme molecules was performed during the adsorption of PHB depolymerase. The phase response of the AFM signal revealed that the nature of the PLLA surface around the PHB depolymerase molecule was changed due to the adsorption function of the enzyme and that PHB depolymerase adsorbed onto the PLLA surface as a monolayer at a lower enzyme concentration. The number of PHB depolymerase molecules on the PLLA surface depended on the enzyme concentration and adsorption time. In addition, the height of the adsorbed enzyme was found to increase with time when the PLLA surface was crowded with the enzymes. In the case of higher enzyme concentrations, multilayered PHB depolymerases were observed on the PLLA thin film. These QCM and AFM results indicate that two-step adsorption of PHB depolymerase occurs on the amorphous PLLA thin film. First, adsorption of PHB depolymerase molecules takes place through the characteristic interaction between the binding domain of PHB depolymerase and the free surface of an amorphous PLLA thin film. As the adsorption proceeded, the surface region of the thin film was almost covered with the enzyme, which was accompanied by morphological changes. Second, the hydrophobic interactions among the enzymes in the adlayer and the solution become more dominant to stack as a second layer.

Adsorption↗

Enhancement of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) production in the transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana by the in vitro evolved highly active mutants of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase from Aeromonas caviae.

In this study, the enhancement of photosynthetic PHA production was achieved using the highly active mutants of PHA synthase created by the in vitro evolutionally techniques. The wild-type and mutated PHA synthase genes from Aeromonas caviae were introduced into Arabidopsis thaliana together with the NADPH-dependent acetoacetyl-CoA reductase gene from Ralstonia eutropha. Expression of the highly active mutated PHA synthase genes, N149S and D171G, led to an 8-10-fold increase in PHA content in the T1 transgenic Arabidopsis, compared to plants harboring the wild-type PHA synthase gene. In homozygous T2 progenies, PHA content was further increased up to 6.1 mg/g cell dry weight. GC/MS analysis of the purified PHA from the transformants revealed that these PHAs were poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) [P(3HB-co-3HV)] copolymers consisting of 0.2-0.8 mol % 3HV. The monomer composition of the P(3HB-co-3HV) copolymers synthesized by the wild-type and mutated PHA synthases reflected the substrate specificities observed in Escherichia coli. These results indicate that in vitro evolved PHA synthases can enhance the productivity of PHA and regulate the monomer composition in transgenic plants.

Acyltransferases↗

Enzymatic degradation processes of poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid] and poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-(R)-3-hydroxyvaleric acid] single crystals revealed by atomic force microscopy: effects of molecular weight and second-monomer composition on erosion rates.

Enzymatic degradation processes of poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid] (P(3HB)) and poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-(R)-3-hydroxyvaleric acid] (P(3HB-co-3HV)) single crystals in the presence of PHB depolymerase from Ralstonia pickettii T1 were studied by real-time and static atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations. Fibril-like crystals were generated along the long axis of single crystals during the enzymatic degradation, and then the dimensions of fibril-like crystals were analyzed quantitatively. The morphologies and sizes of fibril-like crystals were dependent on the molecular weight and copolymer composition of polymers. For all samples, the crystalline thickness gradually decreased toward a tip from the root of a fibril-like crystal after enzymatic degradation for 1 h. The thinning of fibril-like crystals may be attributed to the destruction of chain-packing structure toward crystallographic c axis by the adsorption of enzyme. From the real-time AFM images, it was found that at the initial stage of degradation the enzymatic erosion started from the disordered chain-packing region in single crystals to form the grooves along the a axis. The generated fibril-like crystals deformed at a constant rate along the a axis with a constant rate after the induction time. The erosion rate at the grooves along the a axis increased with a decrease of molecular weight and with an increase of copolymer composition. On the other hand, the erosion rate along the a axis, at the tip of the fibril-like crystal, was dependent on only the copolymer composition, and the value increased with an increase in the copolymer composition. The morphologies and sizes of fibril-like crystals were governed by both the erosion rates along the a axis at the grooves and tip of fibril-like crystals. In addition, we were able to estimated the overall enzymatic erosion rate of single crystals by PHB depolymerase from the volumetric analysis.

Crystallization↗

Time-resolved X-ray diffraction study on poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] films during two-step-drawing: generation mechanism of planar zigzag structure.

Uniaxially oriented films with high tensile strength were processed from ultrahigh-molecular-weight poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] (P(3HB)) by a method combining hot-drawing near the melting point of the polymer and two-step-drawing at room temperature. In a two-step-drawn and subsequently annealed film, P(3HB) molecular chains fall into two states: 2/1 helix (alpha-form) and planar zigzag (beta-form) conformations. The mechanism for generating the beta-form during two-step-drawing was investigated by time-resolved synchrotron wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering measurements (WAXD and SAXS), together with the measurement of stress-strain curves. It was found that the improvement of mechanical properties is due to not only the orientation of molecular chains but also the generation of the beta-form during the drawing. The crystal and molecular structures of the alpha-form remained unchanged until the yield point of the stress-strain curve. At the yield point, the long period obtained from SAXS doubled and a new reflection indicative of the beta-form was observed on the equatorial line in WAXD. The intensity of the reflection from the beta-form increased with an increase in the two-step-drawing ratio at room temperature. The SAXS pattern changed from a two-point reflection along the meridian to a cross pattern with streaking on the equatorial line, demonstrating the close alignment of shish-kebab structures. The reflection intensity, crystal orientation and crystal size of the alpha-form decreased during two-step-drawing. Based on these results, the beta-form is mainly introduced from the orientation of free molecular chains in the amorphous regions between alpha-form lamellar crystals, but the structural transformation of molecular chains also occurs from the alpha-form to the beta-form at the deformed lamellar crystals.

Hydroxybutyrates↗