A systems level engineered E. coli capable of efficiently producing L-phenylalanine

The biosynthesis of L-phenylalanine (Phe) is one of the most complicated amino acid synthesis pathways. In this study, the engineering of Phe producer was carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of systems level engineering: (1) inactivated glucose specific phosphoenolpyruvate-carbohydrate phosphotransferase (PTS) system by inactivation of crr to moderate the glucose uptake rate to reduce overflow metabolism; (2) genetic switch on or off the expression of phe^fbr, aroG15, ydiB, aroK, and tyrB to increase the supply of precursors; (3) employed a tyrA mutant strain to reduce carbon diversion and to result in non-growing cells; (4) enhanced the efflux of Phe by overexpressing yddG to shift equilibrium towards Phe synthesis and to release the feedback regulation in Phe synthesis. The mutants in PTS were firstly compared and a crr⁻ mutant was firstly screened. The mutant AroG15 was demonstrated to a thermostable mutant. The strains expressing yddG excreted Phe into the medium at higher rate and less intracellular Phe accumulated. By systems level engineering, an engineered Phe producer achieved 47.0 g/L Phe with a yield of 0.252 g/g which was the highest under the non-optimized fermentation condition.     

小麦PAL基因的克隆及赤霉菌诱导下的表达分析

利用苯丙氨酸解氨酶(PAL,phenylalanine ammonia-lyase)基因保守区域从小麦抗赤霉病材料苏麦3号中克隆获得4个PAL基因,分别命名为Ta PAL1、Ta PAL2、Ta PAL3、Ta PAL4。4个基因的开放阅读框(ORF,open reading frame)长度分别为2142 bp、2016 bp、2118 bp和2139 bp,分别编码714个、672个、706个和713个氨基酸。基因序列比对发现其相似性达到88.35%,所编码的氨基酸相似性为91.92%,氨基酸序列分析表明4个基因都包含HAL-PAL结构域及PAL结构域。通过接种禾谷镰刀菌,利用荧光定量PCR对PAL基因进行表达分析发现,4个PAL基因全部为上调表达,其中Ta PAL2、Ta PAL3和Ta PAL4最为明显。PAL基因的上调表达,说明PAL基因在小麦抵抗赤霉病菌侵染的机制中可能起着重要作用。     

鱼腥藻苯丙氨酸脱氨酶的基因克隆、表达及最适反应pH改造

【目的】表达鱼腥藻苯丙氨酸脱氨酶(AvPAL),并经分子改造降低其最适反应pH。【方法】PCR克隆AvPAL编码基因,并在大肠杆菌中表达,用Ni2+亲和层析柱和凝胶柱纯化重组蛋白。利用GETAREA软件筛选与催化残基距离较近的暴露于酶分子表面的氨基酸位点,将其突变为带电性质不同的氨基酸,并对突变体进行酶学性质研究。【结果】在大肠杆菌中成功表达了AvPAL,纯化后得到电泳纯的重组酶。突变体E75Q和E75R的最适反应pH从8.5分别偏移到7.5和7.0。E75Q在pH 7.5时的比酶活较原酶提高了25%,在pH 6.5–9.5之间酶的稳定性良好,其最适反应温度为50 °C,在此温度下保温1 h酶活无显著变化。在最适反应条件下,E75Q的kcat/Km值较原酶提高了26.6%。【结论】改变AvPAL酶分子中起路易斯碱作用的关键氨基酸残基(质子受体)附近与之有相互作用的氨基酸的带电性质,降低了AvPAL的最适反应pH,提升了其在医疗领域的应用前景。     

Sulfonamide phenylalanine (SPA) series of analogues as an antibacterial,antifungal, anticancer agents along with p53 tumor suppressor-DNA complex inhibitor – part 1

Abstract

A series of N-[1-benzyl-2-oxo-2-substituted(ethyl)] benzene/p-toluene sulfonamide (K1–K12) are synthesized. Structure of the synthesized analogues has been confirmed by FT-IR, ¹H & ¹³C NMR and ESI-MS spectroscopic techniques. All the synthesized analogues (K1–K12) have also been examined for their in-vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities. Compounds showed good antibacterial and antifungal activity against standard drug. Anticancer study has been carried out on three cancer cell lines PC-3, MCF-7 and A549 on two different concentrations (mg/mL and μg/mL). The K4 sulfonamide analogue showed better anticancer activity amongst all analogues against PC-3 and A549 cell lines. K4 inhibit G0/G1 phase in cell-cycle analysis experiment. All synthesized molecules (K1–K12) dock at junction p53-DNA and make hydrogen bonded with residues of p53 protein as per docking study. ADMET predictions of synthesized phenylalanine sulfonamide analogues (K1–K12) has been done using ‘Lipinski rule’ and it has been observed that all synthesized analogues did not violate the rule. Electronic, chemical properties and mulliken atomic charges of analogues were calculated using density functional theory (DFT).

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma     

Mouse recombinant phenylalanine monooxygenase and the S‐oxygenation of thioether substrates

The substrate specificity of mouse recombinant phenylalanine monooxygenase (mPAH) has been investigated with respect to the mucoactive drug, S‐carboxymethyl‐L ‐cysteine (SCMC) and its thioether metabolites. Phenylalanine monooxygenase was shown to be able to catalyze the S‐oxygenation of SCMC, its decarboxylated metabolite, S‐methyl‐L ‐cysteine and both their corresponding N‐acetylated forms. However, thiodiglycolic acid was found not to be a substrate. The enzyme profiles for both phenylalanine and SCMC showed Michaelis‐Menten with noncompetitive substrate inhibition for both the substrate‐activated and the lysophosphatidylcholine‐activated mPAH assays. The tetrameric enzyme was shown to undergo posttranslational activation by preincubation with substrate, lysophosphatidylcholine, N‐ethylmaleimide (a thiol alkylating agent), and the proteolytic enzymes α‐chymotrypsin and trypsin. Similar posttranslational activation of PAH activity in the rat and human has also been reported. These results suggest that in the mouse, PAH was responsible for the S‐oxidation of SCMC and that the mouse models of the hyperphenylalaninemias may be a potential tool in the investigation of the S‐oxidation polymorphism in man. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 23:119–124, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jbt.20274     

Evolutionary patterns of the mitochondrial genome in the Moorish gecko, Tarentola mauritanica

A previous study on the evolutionary patterns of Tarentola mauritanica demonstrated that low levels of mitochondrial diversity observed in the European populations relative to nuclear markers were consistent with a selective sweep hypothesis. In order to unravel the mitochondrial evolutionary history in this European population and two other lineages of T. mauritanica (Iberian and North African clades), variation within 22 nearly complete mitogenomes was analyzed. Surprisingly, each clade seems to have a distinct evolutionary history; with both the European and Iberian clades presenting a decrease of polymorphism, which in the former is consistent with departure from neutrality of the mtDNA (positive or background selection), but in the latter seems to be the result of a bottleneck after a population expansion. The pattern exhibited by the North African clade seems to be a consequence of adaptation to certain mtDNA variants by positive selection.     

油木奈果实苯丙氨酸解氨酶基因的分离与表达分析

该试验从(木奈)褐变果实均一化全长cDNA文库中获得一个苯丙氨酸解氨酶全长基因,命名为PsPAL,并对该基因进行了生物信息学分析和表达模式的研究.结果表明:(1) PsPAL基因全长2 497 bp,开放阅读框为2 154bp,编码718个氨基酸,蛋白质分子量为78 kD,理论等电点为6.6.(2)系统进化树比对分析表明,PsPAL蛋白与蔷薇科甜樱桃PaPAL属于同簇,具有苯丙氨酸解氨酶-组氨酸解氨酶(PAL-HAL)和苯丙氨酸解氨酶(PAL)保守区域.(3) P.sPAL在(木奈)果实发育的前期表达量较高,在花后50 d表达量最高,随后开始下降,在成熟果中表达较弱.(4)荧光定量PCR分析表明,在响应机械损伤和低温处理后,与对照相比,PsPAL呈明显的上调表达趋势;高温和无氧处理后PsPAL呈先上升后下降的趋势;乙烯处理后,PsPAL呈上调-下调-上调的变化趋势.     

氨基酸和霉菌水提物对深层发酵桦褐孔菌菌丝体黄酮积累及其抗氧化活性的影响

黄酮类化合物是桦褐孔菌菌丝体中多酚类化合物的重要组成部分,也是该菌治疗众多疾病的有效成分之一。然而人工培养桦褐孔菌黄酮等酚类化合物积累甚少,导致药理活性的明显下降。为此,我们研究了3种氨基酸和4种霉菌水提物对深层发酵桦褐孔菌黄酮的积累及其抗氧化能力的影响。在所试验的3种氨基酸和4种霉菌水提物中,L-酪氨酸,黄曲霉和毛霉水提物能有效地增加该菌黄酮的积累。人工培养菌体中的黄酮至少由4种黄酮苷组成,苷元分别是槲皮素、柚皮素、山奈酚和异鼠李素。深层发酵菌丝体具有一定的抗氧化能力,并与总黄酮的含量呈正相关。由L-酪氨酸,黄曲霉和毛霉水提物调控生长的桦褐孔菌菌丝体,能有效地清除超氧阴离子、羟基自由基和DPPH自由基。