Secretion of recombinant Bacillus hydrolytic enzymes using Escherichia coli expression systems

Bacillus spp. are Gram-positive bacteria that secrete a large number of extracellular proteins of industrial relevance. In this report, three Bacillus extracellular hydrolytic enzymes, i.e., alpha-amylase, mannanase and chitinase, were cloned and over-expressed in Gram-negative Escherichia coli. We found that both the native signal peptides and that of E. coli outer membrane protein, OmpA, could be used to direct the secretion of the recombinant enzymes. The expressed enzymes were observed as clearing zones on agar plates or in zymograms. Determination of enzyme activities in different cell compartments suggested that the ability of the enzymes to be secreted out into the culture medium depends on the time of induction, the type of the signal peptides and the molecular mass of the enzymes. After overnight induction, most of the enzyme activities (85-96%) could be harvested from the culture supernatant. Our results suggest that various signal peptides of Bacillus spp. can be recognized by the E. coli secretion machinery. It seems possible that other enzymes with similar signal peptide could be secreted equally well in E. coli expression systems. Thus, our finding should be able to apply for cloning and extracellular production of other Bacillus hydrolytic enzymes as well as other proteins.     

Protease Activities During the Course of Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis

Three proteolytic enzymes have been isolated from sporulating cultures of Bacillus subtilis. These activities were, respectively, a protease inhibited by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) but not phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), a protease active on both protein and ester substrates, and an ester-active enzyme with low activity on proteins. The latter two enzymes were inhibited by PMSF but not by EDTA. The specific activity of each was determined both intra- and extra-cellularly during growth and sporulation in a single-defined medium. All three enzymes were shown to exhibit a rapid increase in specific activity at a time coinciding with the appearance of refractile bodies in cells.     

Lipolytic enzymes LipA and LipB from Bacillus subtilis differ in regulation of gene expression, biochemical properties, and three-dimensional structure

Bacillus subtilis secretes the lipolytic enzymes LipA and LipB. We show here that they are differentially expressed depending on the composition of the growth medium: LipA is produced in rich and in minimal medium, whereas LipB is present only in rich medium. A comparison of biochemical characteristics revealed that LipB is thermostable at pH 11 but becomes thermolabile at pH 5. However, construction of a variant carrying the substitution A76G in the conserved lipase pentapeptide reversed these effects. The atomic coordinates from the LipA crystal structure were used to build a three-dimensional structural model of LipB, which revealed that 43 out of 45 residues different from LipA are surface-located allowing to rationalize the differences observed in the substrate preferences of the two enzymes.     

Influence of different sources of carbon and nitrogen on the biosynthesis of proteolytic complexes by Bacillus circulans 693, Bacillus sp. 27 and Yarrowia lipolytica 2061 strains

The influence of different factors on the biosynthesis of extracellular proteolytic complexes by strains-producers Bacillus circulans 693, Bacillus sp. 27 and Yarrowia lipolytica 2061 at submerged cultivation has been investigated. It has been shown that ammonium hydrocarbonate and gelatin with glucose were optimum carbon and nitrogen sources for synthesis of proteolytic activity of B. circulans strain 693, gelatin with arabinose--for Bacillus sp. 27, gelatin and glycine with sorbose--for Y. lipolytica 2061. It has been established that the cultivation of producers on optimal sources of carbon and nitrogen increased protease activity of cultural liquid of B. circulans 693 3.8 times, Bacillus sp. 27--2.7 times, Y. lipolytica 2061--3.4 times. It has been found that the usage of different protein substrates in cultural medium permitted to obtain the proteolytic enzymes with various specificity with respect to globular and fibrillar proteins.     

Oxidation of Nicotinic Acid by a Bacillus Species: Regulation of Nicotinic Acid and 6-Hydroxynicotinic Acid Hydroxylases

The first two enzymes employed by a Bacillus species for the dissimilation of nicotinic acid are coordinately induced. The inducer of the enzymes appears to be 6-hydroxynicotinic acid, the product of the first enzyme in the pathways. Synthesis of the enzymes is repressed by glucose when ammonium is present in the medium, but not when nicotinic acid is the sole nitrogen source. The possible significance of the coordinate induction and unusual repression is discussed.     

Effects of macromolecular growth substrates on production of extracellular enzymes by Bacillus species in continuous culture

Bacillus species 11089 and alkalophilic Bacillus species 11203 were both capable of growth in continuous culture on macromolecular substrates, starch, soybean flour, casein, pectin, polypectate, polygalacturonate and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) when these were used as the carbon-energy source in a mineral salts basal medium. High maximum specific growth rate (micronmax) and biomass values occurred when cells were grown on starch, soybean flour and casein, and low values on pectin, polypectate, polygalacturonic acid and CMC. Hydrolytic enzymes (protease, amylase, polygalacturonate lyase and alkaline phosphatase) were subject to regulation (induction and/or repression) depending on the nature of the growth substrate utilized. In general, high levels of enzymes were produced on soybean flour, casein and starch but low levels on CMC, pectin, polypectate and polygalacturonate.     

Cloning of the maltose phosphorylase gene from Bacillus sp. strain RK-1 and efficient production of the cloned gene and the trehalose phosphorylase gene from Bacillus stearothermophilus SK-1 in Bacillus subtilis

The maltose phosphorylase (MPase) gene of Bacillus sp. strain RK-1 was cloned by PCR with oligonucleotide primers designed on the basis of a partial N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified enzyme. The MPase gene consisted of 2,655 bp encoding a theoretical protein with a Mr of 88,460, and had no secretion signal sequence, although most of the MPase activity was detected in the culture supernatant of RK-1. This cloned MPase gene and the trehalose phosphorylase (TPase) gene from Bacillus stearothermophilus SK-1 were efficiently expressed intracellularly under the control of the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens alpha-amylase promoter in Bacillus subtilis. The production yields were estimated to be more than 2 g of enzyme per liter of medium, about 250 times the production of the original strains, in a simple shake flask. About 60% of maltose was converted into trehalose by the simultaneous action of both enzymes produced in B. subtilis.     

Inhibition of germination ofBacillus cereus T spores by phenylglyoxal

Phenylgloxal at a concentration of 0.6 mM inhibited germination of Bacillus cereus T spores as characterized by a decrease in absorbance, dipicolinic acid and loss in heat resistance in a chemically defined growth and sporulation medium. In a germination medium containing L-alanine and adenosine, phenylglyoxal inhibited decrease in absorbance and affected partial loss of viability. It is postulated that phenylglyoxal interacts with free amino groups of various enzymes or amino compounds present in the spore structure thereby causing the inhibition of germination.     

A parametric study ot protease production in batch and fed-batch cultures of Bacillus firmus

Proteolytic enzymes produced by Bacillus species find a wide variety of applications in brewing, detergent, food, and leather industries. Owing to significant differences normally observed in culture conditions promoting cell growth and those promoting production of metabolites such as enzymes, for increased efficacy of bioreactor operations it is essential to identify these sets of conditions (including medium formulation). This study is focused on formulation of a semidefined medium that substantially enhances synthesis and secretion of an alkaline protease in batch cultures of Bacillus firmus NRS 783, a known superior producer of this enzyme. The series of experiments conducted to identify culture conditions that lead to improved protease production also enables investigation of the regulatory effects of important culture parameters including pH, dissolved oxygen, and concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous sources and yeast extract in the medium on cell growth, synthesis and secretion of protease, and production of two major nonbiomass products, viz., acetic acid and ethanol. Cell growth and formation of the three nonbiomass products are hampered significantly under nitrogen, phosphorous, or oxygen limitation, with the cells being unable to grow in an oxygen-free environment. Improvement in protease production is achieved with respect to each culture parameter, leading in the process to 80% enhancement in protease activity over that attained using media reported in the literature. Results of a few fed-batch experiments with constant feed rate, conducted to examine possible enhancement in protease production and to further investigate repression of protease synthesis by excess of the principal carbon and nitrogen sources, are also discussed. The detailed investigation of stimulatory and repressory effects of simple and complex nutrients on protease production and metabolism of Bacillus firmus conducted in this study will provide useful guidelines for design of bioreactors for production of protease and bulk chemicals by this bacterium.     

Optimization of alkaline protease production by batch culture of Bacillus sp. RKY3 through Plackett-Burman and response surface methodological approaches

The proteolytic enzymes are the most important group of commercially produced enzymes. The production of alkaline protease was optimized using a newly isolated Bacillus sp. RKY3. The fermentation variables were selected in accordance with the Plackett-Burman design and were further optimized via response surface methodological approach. Four significant variables (corn starch, yeast extract, corn steep liquor, and inoculum size) were selected for the optimization studies. The statistical model was constructed via central composite design (CCD) using three screened variables (corn starch, corn steep liquor, and inoculum size). An overall 2.3-fold increase in protease production was achieved in the optimized medium as compared with the unoptimized basal medium. Enzyme activity increased significantly with optimized medium (939 u ml(-1)) when compared with unoptimized medium (417 u ml(-1)).     

枯草杆菌脂肪水解酶LipA和LipB

源自枯草杆菌的分泌型脂肪水解酶LipA及LipB已经被克隆、表达并表征. 它们的分子结构特点、催化机理也已经被深入研究. 枯草杆菌脂肪水解酶因为具有较好的食品工业及化学工业等方面的应用潜力,已经吸引了越来越多的关注. 通过定向进化及高通量筛选的方法对酶分子进行改造,提高其热稳定性及立体选择性是近年的研究热点. 结合国外及本研究组的工作,本文对LipA和LipB的生化性质、结构特点以及采用基因工程突变的方法进行分子改造等方面的研究进展做一简要综述. 另外,对其中一些研究论文做了简要的评价,并提出对未来工作的展望.     

Fibrinolytic activity of Bacillus mesentericus strains

Two Bacillus mesentericus strains with a high activity of proteolytic enzymes having the thrombolytic action were selected from a group of its collection strains. The effect of different carbon sources on the synthesis of proteases was studied. A growth medium containing potato broth (10%), peptone (0.5%) and lactose (0.5%) allowed one to obtain a cultural broth dissolving human blood clots within 2.5 to 3 hours in experiments in vitro.     

Purification and properties of alpha-amylases in morphological variants of Bacillus subtilis

Extracellular alpha-amylases were isolated from the culture medium filtrates of Bacillus subtilis R-623 morphological variants R, P and S by means of biospecific chromatography on artificial sorbents and then purified to homogeneity. Some properties of purified alpha-amylases were being studied. The molecular weight of alpha-amylases from Bacillus subtilis variants R, P and S equals 57,000, 58,000 and 56,000, and the isoelectric points are at pH 5.4, 5.6 and 5.1, respectively. pH optimum for alpha-amylase from variants R and P is 4.5, and for that from variant S--5.0. alpha-Amylases from Bacillus subtilis R-623 morphological variants are thermostable enzymes. According to the properties studied, they correspond to Bacillus subtilis alpha-amylases that were isolated and described by other researchers.     

Autolysis ofBacillus subtilis by glucose depletion

In cultures in minimal medium, rapid lysis of cells ofBacillus subtilis was observed as soon as the carbon source, e.g. glucose, had been completely consumed. The cells died and ultraviolet-absorbing material was excreted in the medium. The results suggest that the cells lyse because of the presence of autolytic enzymes. In the presence of glucose the damage to the cell wall caused by these enzymes is repaired immediately.     

Purification of Bacillus mesentericus proteolytic enzymes by affinity chromatography

By means of affinity chromatography on Ovomucoid-Sepharose two proteinases hydrolyzing casein and elastin were isolated from the supernatant of the Bacillus mesentericus culture medium. The activity yield of proteinases was 100%. The characteristics of the purified enzymes were studied. It is demonstrated that B. mesentericus possesses several proteinases.     

Enhancement of bacitracin biosynthesis by branched-chain amino acids in a regulatory mutant ofBacillus licheniformis

DL-4-Azaleucine-resistant mutant of Bacillus licheniformis azlr-1 isolated after N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis, was a better bacitracin producer than the parent strain. In the minimal medium, the antibiotic biosynthesis was 4 times higher in the mutant than in the parent strain and less dependent on L-leucine addition. In the complex fermentation medium, the yield was 18-20% higher in the mutant strain. Transaminase B activity measured in the crude extract revealed that the branched-chain amino acid biosynthetic enzymes were 5-10 times derepressed supplying bacitracin synthetase with enhanced quantity of isoleucine and leucine, the building units of bacitracin molecule.     

Thrombolytic activity of Bacillus mesentericus at different conditions of nitrogen nutrition of a culture

The work is concerned with studying the effect exerted by different sources of nitrogen nutrition on the biosynthesis of proteinases with a thrombolytic activity by a variant of Bacillus mesentericus, strain 64, obtained with the aid of analytical selection. Protein substrates taken as a nitrogen source stimulate the synthesis of proteinases by the bacterial culture. These enzymes have a high caseinolytic and thrombolytic activity, and the level of their activity correlates with the amount of a protein substrate added to the medium. Ammonium acetate and succinate are the best stimulants for the formation of proteinases when the salts of mineral and organic acids are used as a source of nitrogen nutrition. In that case, the enzymes have a high thrombolytic activity and a low caseinolytic activity. A semi-synthetic medium with the aforementioned nitrogen-containing compounds as a source of nitrogen nutrition is proposed for the synthesis of thrombolytic proteinase by the variant of B. mesentericus.     

The Bacillus subtilis ureABC operon.

The Bacillus subtilis ureABC operon encodes homologs of the three subunits of urease enzymes of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Disruption of ureC prevented utilization of urea as a nitrogen source and resulted in a partial growth defect in minimal medium containing limiting amounts of arginine or allantoin as the sole nitrogen source.     

Structural basis of the thermostability of monomeric malate synthase from a thermophilic Bacillus.

Malate synthases from a thermophilic Bacillus and Escherichia coli have been isolated in a high state of purity. Molecular weights of these two proteins determined in the native state and after denaturation in sodium dodecyl sulfate-mercaptoethanol show that the enzymes are monomeric. This conclusion is supported, for the thermophile enzyme, by the result of an electrophoretic analysis of that protein after treatment with dimethylsuberimidate and denaturation. The thermophilic Bacillus malate synthase is considerably more thermostable than its mesophilic counterparts from E. coli, Bacillus licheniformis, and Pseudomonas indigofera. It is, however, markedly labilized by an increase in the ionic strength of the medium brought about by the addition of 0.2 M potassium chloride or in pH above 9. Increased ionic strength has little effect on the thermostability of the mesophilic bacterial malate synthases. These observations provide strong support for the idea that monomeric proteins in thermophiles owe their unusual heat stability to the presence of salt bridges in their tertiary structure.