Phylogenetic position of Gluconobacter species as a coherent cluster separated from all Acetobacter species on the basis of 16S ribosomal RNA sequences

Abstract The 16S rRNA sequences from the Gluconobacter species G. asaii G. cerinus and G. frateurii were determined and compared with homologous sequences from published databases and sequences of G. oxydans and Acetobacter species previously described [Sievers M., Ludwig W. and Teuber M. (1994) System. Appl. Microbiol. 17, 189–196]. The Gluconobacter species have unique 16S rRNA sequences and exhibit sequence similarity values of 97.4 to 99.1%, corresponding to 36 to 14 base differences. The phylogenetic tree inferring methods (distance matrix, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood) show that the species of Gluconobacter form a coherent, closely related cluster. Based on the distance matrix method including Rhodopila globiformis as an outgroup reference organism, Gluconobacter is well separated from Acetobacter .     

巴氏醋杆菌高酸度醋发酵过程的能量代谢分析

【目的】初步分析了Acetobacter pasteurianus CICIM B7003-02在醋酸发酵过程中的能量代谢状况, 通过强化细胞能量代谢水平以提升菌株高酸发酵的产酸强度。【方法】探明A. pasteurianus CICIM B7003-02在高酸度醋发酵的不同阶段中三羧酸循环底物含量、乙醇呼吸链酶活及能量代谢酶基因的转录水平等代谢特点, 分析用于醋酸发酵的产能代谢途径及其作用。【结果】发现A. pasteurianus CICIM B7003-02在醋酸发酵初期, 主要通过苹果酸/琥珀酸回补偶联有氧呼吸途径产能。进入醋酸快速积累阶段, 乙醇呼吸链为主要供能代谢途径。发酵后期苹果酸/琥珀酸回补途径配合乙醇呼吸链供能。基于上述研究, 采取添加琥珀酸和苹果酸强化细胞产能, 促进高酸度醋发酵强度。【结论】能量供给影响醋杆菌耐酸能力和醋酸生产能力。确定乙醇呼吸链为醋酸发酵的主要供能系统。强化细胞产能手段可达到提高醋酸发酵强度的目的。     

Solubilization of Chicken Feather Keratin by Ammonium Copper Hydroxide (Schweitzer’s Reagent)

Chicken feather powder was solubilized by Schweitzer’s reagent with shaking in the presence of air and the soluble feather keratin was prepared by dialyzing this extract against running water. Cystine residues in the starting feather keratin was converted to cysteic acid residues in the solubilized derivatives by air oxygen. Copper was bound fairly tightly to the solubilized protein and this copper-protein complex was separated into four fractions by CM- and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. Each fraction had varied amount of bound copper, having a broad distribution of the molecular weight between 10,000 and 60,000 Sephadex column chromatographically. Although the amino acid composition of all separated feather keratin fractions were quite similar, the different electrophoretic patterns were observed among them by DISC electrophoresis.     

A Novel Type of D-Mannitol Dehydrogenase from Acetobacter xylinum: Occurrence,Purification, and Basic Properties

We purified a novel type of D-mannitol dehydrogenase, which contains a c-type cytochrome and an unknown chromophore in the soluble fraction of an acetic acid bacterium, Acetobacter xylinum KU-1, to homogeneity. The enzyme showed the maximum activity at pH 5 and 40°C. It was stable up to 60°C at pH 6, and was inhibited by Hg²⁺ and p-quinone (K_i = 0.18 mm). The molecular weight of the enzyme was about 140,000, and those of the subunits were 69,000, 51,000, and 20,000; the enzyme is hetero-trimeric and contained 8 g-atoms of Fe per mole. The α-helix content was estimated to be about 52.9%. The enzyme catalyzed phenazine methosulfate dependent oxidation of d-mannitol with an apparent K_m of 98 μm (for d-mannitol) and V_max of 213 μmol/min/mg. The reduced form of the enzyme showed the absorption maxima at 386, 416, 480, 518, 550, and 586 nm, which are attributable to a c-type cytochrome in the enzyme.     

Breeding of a 5-Fluorouridine-resistant Mutant with Increased Cellulose Production from Acetobacter xylinum subsp. nonacetoxidans

UDP-glucose (UDP-G), the direct precursor of cellulose, is known to be produced from UTP and glucose-1-phosphate. In an attempt to increase UTP biosynthesis, 5-fluorouridine (5-FUR: a pyrimidine analog)-resistant mutants were obtained using Acetobacter xylinum subsp. nonacetoxidans 757 as the parent strain. One of the 5-FUR-resistant mutants, FUR-35, showed about 40% higher cellulose productivion compared to the parent strain. Intracellular levels of UTP and UDP-G in FUR-35 was found to be higher than those in the parent strain. The carbamyl phosphate synthetase II (CPS) activity of FUR-35 was higher than that of the parent strain and the feedback inhibition of CPS by UTP in FUR-35 had been released compared with that in the parent strain. These results suggest that the increased cellulose production of FUR-35 was attributable to its higher of intracellular UDP-G level resulting from increased UTP biosynthesis.     

N-Acetylornithine-δ-aminotransferase-deficient and N-Acetylglutamokinase-deficient Arginine Auxotrophs of Corynebacterium glutamicum

An N-acetylglutamokinase-deficient arginine-requiring mutant, KY9390 and an N-acetylornithine aminotransferase-deficient arginine-requiring mutant, AA-7 were derived from a wild-type strain and an l-arginine-producing mutant of Corynebacterium glutamicum, respectively. KY 9390 accumulated 7.5 mg per ml of N-acetylglutamic acid and AA-7 accumulated 2 mg per ml of N-acetylglutamate-γ-semialdehyde, intermediates of arginine biosynthesis, in a culture medium.

The production of N-acetylglutamate-γ-semialdehyde by AA-7 was not affected by the concentration of l-arginine in the medium, whereas that of N-acetylglutamic acid by KY 9390 was inhibited by the addition of l-arginine in the medium.     

Increased number of Arginine-based salt bridges contributes to the thermotolerance of thermotolerant acetic acid bacteria, Acetobacter tropicalis SKU1100

Thermotolerant acetic acid bacteria (AAB), Acetobacter tropicalis SKU1100, can grow above 40 °C. To investigate the basis of its thermotolerance, we compared the genome of A. tropicalis SKU1100 with that of mesophilic AAB strain Acetobacter pasteurianus IFO3283-01. The comparative genomic study showed that amino acid substitutions from large to small residue and Lys to Arg occur in many orthologous genes. Furthermore, comparative modeling study was carried out with the orthologous proteins between SKU1100 and IFO3283-01 strains, indicating that the number of Arg-based salt bridges increased in protein models. Since it has been reported that Arg-based salt bridges are important factor for thermo-stability of protein structure, our results strongly suggest that the increased number of Arg-based salt bridges may contributes to the thermotolerance of A. tropicalis SKU1100 (the thermo-stability of proteins in A. tropicalis SKU1100).     

醋酸杆菌发酵生产细菌纤维素的研究进展

简要介绍醋酸杆菌发酵生产纤维素研究进展,内容包括：产纤维素的微生物、醋酸菌纤维素的结构特点、生物合成途径、一般提取处理及分析测定方法、商业用途、工业化发酵生产醋酸菌纤维素过程中存在的主要问题及发展前景。     

细菌纤维素生产菌株的分离和菌种初步鉴定

从长膜的醋醅中分离出一株发酵生产细菌纤维素产量较高且稳定的醋酸菌M12。根据《常见细菌系统鉴定手册》和《伯杰氏细菌鉴定手册》第九版,对醋酸菌M12进行了形态和生理生化特征的分析、测定了G＋Cmol％含量,初步鉴定该菌为醋化醋杆菌木质亚种（Acetobacter xylinum subsp.xylinum,又称木醋杆菌）。