Two Penicillium camembertii mutants affected in the production of cyclopiazonic acid.

Penicillium camembertii was mutated and screened for cyclopiazonic acid-negative mutants. With a simple and rapid mini-extraction method for detection of cyclopiazonic acid production, we were able to isolate two strains which were affected in the production of this metabolite. One strain had completely lost the ability to synthesize detectable amounts of this secondary metabolite, whereas the other mutant produced 50 to 100 times less cyclopiazonic acid than the wild type. Also, the former strain had a changed morphology compared with the wild type. This morphological alteration appears to be coupled to the inability to produce cyclopiazonic acid because morphological revertants were able to synthesize cyclopiazonic acid to a level comparable to the wild type. The second mutant accumulated a new metabolite which was detectable by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. This new metabolite, however, appears not to be a direct precursor of cyclopiazonic acid.     

The Enzymatic Production of Adipic Acid

Mutants of Brevibacterium sp. R312 were isolated for the production of adipic acid from 1,4-dicyanobutane (adiponitrile). One mutant (Ad), with a modified cell wall showed activity against adipamide three times greater than the wild type. Another mutant (ACV2) derived from the Ad strain had 30 times more activity on 5-cyanovaleric acid, and 7 times more on adipamide than the wild type.

The nitrile hydratase from the mutant strain ACV2 was purified and compared to that from the wild type R312. The nitrile hydratase of the mutant strain is different from that of the wild type by its pHi, optimum activity pH, and its rates of hydrolysis of 5-cyanovaleramide and 5-cyanovaleric acid which were 30 and 15 folds greater.

The presence of a new amidase named “adipamidase” acting on amide intermediates in the hydrolysis of dinitriles to organic acids was demonstrated in this mutant ACV2.     

光合自养缺陷型小球藻的筛选及生物能源应用

小球藻Chlorella protothecoides(C.protothecoides)是潜在的、可用于工业生产生物柴油的高产油微藻.本研究通过体外诱变的手段,获得了一株完全不能进行光合自养生长的突变体Al64.利用尼罗红染色和叶绿素自发荧光分析和电子显微镜分析细胞的亚显微结构,结果显示该突变体中叶绿体严重退化,其中类囊体膜结构缺失,导致该突变体缺乏叶绿素,无法进行光合自养生长.在富糖富氮的培养条件下,该光合自养缺陷型突变体的细胞密度和油脂含量比野生型细胞分别高5.54%和6.76%,分析还发现,该突变体产油能力为0.158 g L?1 h?1,比野生型提高12.8%.本文通过缺失光合作用突变体的构建,在异养高氮条件下实现了生物量及细胞内油脂含量的同步提高,为进一步提高微藻生产生物柴油的产量提供了新的研究平台.     

Development of microalga Scenedesmus dimorphus mutant with higher lipid content by radiation breeding

In this study, a high lipid-accumulating mutant strain of the microalgae Scenedesmus dimorphus was developed via radiation breeding. To induce mutant strain, S. dimorphus was gamma-irradiated at doses from 100 to 800 Gy, and then a mutant (Sd-Pm210) with 25 % increased lipid content was selected using Nile red staining methodology. Sd-Pm210 showed morphological changes and had higher growth rate compared to the wild type. From random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis, partial genetic modifications were also observed in Sd-Pm210. In comparisons of lipid content between wild type and Sd-Pm210 using thin-layer chromatography, the content of triacylglycerol was markedly higher in the Sd-Pm210 strain. The total peak area of fatty acid methyl ester was shown to have about 1.4-fold increase in Sd-Pm210, and major fatty acids were identified as palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid. To define the metabolic changes in the mutant strain, 2-dimensional electrophoresis was conducted. Several proteins related to lipid synthesis and energy metabolisms were overexpressed in the mutant strain. These results showed that radiation breeding can be utilized for the development of efficient microalgae strains for biofuel production.     

Effects of Mutations and Growth Conditions on Lipid Synthesis in Neurospora crassa

A morphological mutant (col-2) of Neurospora, which is partially deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) activity and has lower levels of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), accumulated three-fold more triglycerides during log-phase growth than the wild-type strain. Increased lipid deposition was not found in other strains that included slow-growing morphological mutants, NADPH-deficient strains, G-6-PD-deficient mutants, wild-type revertants from col-2, and a cel, col-2 double mutant. The cel, col-2 strain was supplemented with an exogenous source of fatty acids because it cannot synthesize these lipid moieties. The observed normal lipid content of this strain suggests that the lipid deposition in col-2 on glucose is due to an overstimulation of fatty acid synthesis and not a deficiency in fatty acid breakdown. The neutral lipid levels in both wild type and col-2 were decreased to identical levels when grown on glutamate as a carbon source. This effect was not due to changes in glutamic dehydrogenase levels. The omission of citrate from the glutamate medium reduced wild-type neutral lipid levels even further, but had no effect on col-2. The variations with time in the neutral lipid levels of col-2 upon changes in these carbon sources are presented, as well as a discussion of the possible types of regulatory effects unique to the col-2 mutation which might affect fatty acid synthesis.     

Linking central metabolism with increased pathway flux: L-valine accumulation by Corynebacterium glutamicum

Mutants of Corynebacterium glutamicum were made and enzymatically characterized to clone ilvD and ilvE, which encode dihydroxy acid dehydratase and transaminase B, respectively. These genes of the branched-chain amino acid synthesis were overexpressed together with ilvBN (which encodes acetohydroxy acid synthase) and ilvC (which encodes isomeroreductase) in the wild type, which does not excrete L-valine, to result in an accumulation of this amino acid to a concentration of 42 mM. Since L-valine originates from two pyruvate molecules, this illustrates the comparatively easy accessibility of the central metabolite pyruvate. The same genes, ilvBNCD, overexpressed in an ilvA deletion mutant which is unable to synthesize L-isoleucine increased the concentration of this amino acid to 58 mM. A further dramatic increase was obtained when panBC was deleted, making the resulting mutant auxotrophic for D-pantothenate. When the resulting strain, C. glutamicum 13032DeltailvADeltapanBC with ilvBNCD overexpressed, was grown under limiting conditions it accumulated 91 mM L-valine. This is attributed to a reduced coenzyme A availability and therefore reduced flux of pyruvate via pyruvate dehydrogenase enabling its increased drain-off via the L-valine biosynthesis pathway.     

Mutational Analysis of Dark Endogenous Metabolism in the Blue-Green Bacterium Anacystis nidulans

We describe a mutant (strain 704) of the obligate photoautotroph Anacystis nidulans which behaves like the wild type under continuous illumination but which in the dark rapidly loses viability, respires little, and incorporates label into ribonucleic acid and protein at rates considerably less than observed with the darkened wild type. Extracts of this mutant strain show no detectable 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.44) activity. Spontaneous revertants of mutant 704 were selected as survivors of prolonged incubation in darkness. Of 10 such strains examined, none had regained 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase activity, and all had lost detectable glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49) activity. Although dark survival of these revertants paralleled that of the wild type, rates of dark endogenous respiration and incorporation of labeled precursors into ribonucleic acid were still very low, comparable to those observed with strain 704. These results are consistent with the following hypotheses concerning dark endogenous metabolism in unicellular blue-green bacteria. (i) Although the oxidative pentose phosphate cycle (hexose monophosphate shunt) may play a major role in endogenous metabolism in A. nidulans, as proposed by others, it is not the only pathway capable of providing energy for maintenance of viability in darkness. (ii) Much of the endogenous metabolic activity (respiration and macromolecular synthesis) observed in darkened cultures of wild-type A. nidulans is not required for survival alone, and must therefore serve other functions.     

Toxoplasma gondii: the enzymic defect of a mutant resistant to 5-fluorodeoxyuridine.

We have previously described a mutant of Toxoplasma gondii that was 100-fold more resistant to 5-fluorodeoxyuridine, as measured by growth in human fibroblast cultures. Various pyrimidine salvage enzymes were measured in the wild type and the mutant parasites to determine the biochemical basis for resistance to fluorodeoxyuridine. Both the resistant mutant and the wild type parasite had little or no uridine kinase, an enzyme readily detectable in the human fibroblast host cells. Uridine and deoxyuridine phosphorylases were found in both parasites while human fibroblasts had much less of these enzymes. The critical difference between the mutant and the wild type parasites proved to be a 100-fold lower concentration of uracil phosphoribosyltransferase in the fluorodeoxyuridine-resistant mutant. A back mutant of the resistant strain, selected for its ability to use uracil, simultaneously regained uracil phosphoribosyltransferase and sensitivity to fluorodeoxyuridine. This enzymic evidence together with previously published data show that in wild type T. gondii, deoxyuridine is incorporated into nucleic acids through a phosphorolysis to produce uracil which is then converted to uridylic acid by uracil phosphoribosyltransferase.     

温度对假单胞rsmA突变株M-18R合成Plt和PCA的区别性影响

次生代谢物阻遏蛋白(Repressor of secondary metabolite,Rsm)A是一种全局性调控因子,与mRNA的RBS结合,转录后水平上抑制基因翻译。运用同源重组技术,构建了假单胞茵(Pseudomonas sp．)M-18的rsmA突变菌株M-18R。在37℃、28℃恒温和短期升温(37℃、4h培养,转28℃继续培养)条件下,比较野生株M-18和突变株M-18R生物合成藤黄绿菌素(Plt)和吩嗪-1-羧酸(PCA)的量。在37℃条件下,M-18和M-18R合成这两种抗生物质的能力几乎受到完全抑制。在28℃条件下,M-18R合成P11的量约为野生型M-18的10倍,达到270μg／mL,但是合成PCA的量仅为野生型的50％。经短期升温培养,M-18的Plt合成量明显下降,PCA产量降低不显;相反,M-18R合成Plt的量达到400μg／mL,但PCA产量的变化仍不明显。推测,M-18菌株细胞内存在着某种与RsmA相关联的温度敏感因子,在RsmA缺失条件下,作为专一性激活剂促进Plt的生物合成,但是,并不参与对PCA合成的调控。     

2-Ketogluconic acid production by Klebsiella pneumoniae CGMCC 1.6366

Klebsiella pneumoniae CGMCC 1.6366 is a bacterium isolated for 1,3-propanediol or 2,3-butanediol production previously. K. pneumoniae ΔbudA, a 2,3-butanediol synthesis pathway truncated mutant with the gene deletion of budA which encodes alpha-acetolactate decarboxylase, was found to execrate an unknown chemical at a high titer when grown in the broth using glucose as carbon source. Later this chemical was identified to be 2-ketogluconic acid, which was formed through the glucose oxidation pathway in K. pneumoniae. It was found that 2-ketogluconic can also be produced by the wild strain. The fermentation studies showed that the production of this metabolite is strictly pH dependent, when the fermenting broth was maintained at pH 6–7, the main metabolite produced by K. pneumoniae CGMCC 1.6366 was 2,3-butanediol, or some organic acids in the budA mutated strain. However, if the cells were fermented at pH 4.7, 2-ketogluconic acid was formed, and the secretion of all other organic acids or 2,3-butanediol were limited. In the 5L bioreactors, a final level of 38.2 and 30.2 g/L 2-ketogluconic acid were accumulated by the wild type and the budA mutant K. pneumoniae, respectively, in 26 and 56 h; and the conversion ratios of glucose to 2-ketogluconic acid reached 0.86 and 0.91 mol/mol for the wild and the budA mutant, respectively.     

Enhanced biomass and gamma-linolenic acid production of mutant strain Arthrospira platensis

A mutant of Arthrospira platensis PCC 9108, strain M9108, obtained by mutagenesis with UV treatment, was able to mixotrophically grow in an SOT medium containing 40 g of glucose/l. The biomass and specific growth rate of strain M9108 (4.10 g/l and 0.70/d) were 1.9-fold and 1.4-fold higher, respectively, than those of the wild type (2.21 g/l and 0.58/d) under mixotrophic culture condition. In addition, when compared with the wild type, the content of gamma- linolenic acid (GLA) in the mutant was increased when glucose concentration was increased. Compared with the wild type, the GLA content of the mutant was 2-fold higher in autotrophic culture and about 3-fold higher in mixotrophic culture. Thus, the mutant appears to possess more efficient facility to assimilate and metabolize glucose and to produce more GLA than its wild-type strain.     

Lignin peroxidase-negative mutant of the white-rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Phanerochaete chrysosporium produces two classes of extracellular heme proteins, designated lignin peroxidases and manganese peroxidases, that play a key role in lignin degradation. In this study we isolated and characterized a lignin peroxidase-negative mutant (lip mutant) that showed 16% of the ligninolytic activity (14C-labeled synthetic lignin----14CO2) exhibited by the wild type. The lip mutant did not produce detectable levels of lignin peroxidase, whereas the wild type, under identical conditions, produced 96 U of lignin peroxidase per liter. Both the wild type and the mutant produced comparable levels of manganese peroxidase and glucose oxidase, a key H2O2-generating secondary metabolic enzyme in P. chrysosporium. Fast protein liquid chromatographic analysis of the concentrated extracellular fluid of the lip mutant confirmed that it produced only heme proteins with manganese peroxidase activity but no detectable lignin peroxidase activity, whereas both lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase activities were produced by the wild type. The lip mutant appears to be a regulatory mutant that is defective in the production of all the lignin peroxidases.     

Disruption of the acetate kinase (<Emphasis Type="Italic">ack</Emphasis>) gene of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clostridium acetobutylicum</Emphasis> results in delayed acetate production

In microorganisms, the enzyme acetate kinase (AK) catalyses the formation of ATP from ADP by de-phosphorylation of acetyl phosphate into acetic acid. A mutant strain of Clostridium acetobutylicum lacking acetate kinase activity is expected to have reduced acetate and acetone production compared to the wild type. In this work, a C. acetobutylicum mutant strain with a selectively disrupted ack gene, encoding AK, was constructed and genetically and physiologically characterized. The ack (-) strain showed a reduction in acetate kinase activity of more than 97% compared to the wild type. The fermentation profiles of the ack (-) and wild-type strain were compared using two different fermentation media, CGM and CM1. The latter contains acetate and has a higher iron and magnesium content than CGM. In general, fermentations by the mutant strain showed a clear shift in the timing of peak acetate production relative to butyrate and had increased acid uptake after the onset of solvent formation. Specifically, in acetate containing CM1 medium, acetate production was reduced by more than 80% compared to the wild type under the same conditions, but both strains produced similar final amounts of solvents. Fermentations in CGM showed similar peak acetate and butyrate levels, but increased acetoin (60%), ethanol (63%) and butanol (16%) production and reduced lactate (-50%) formation by the mutant compared to the wild type. These findings are in agreement with the proposed regulatory function of butyryl phosphate as opposed to acetyl phosphate in the metabolic switch of solventogenic clostridia.     

Effect of restrictive temperature on cell wall synthesis in a temperature-sensitive mutant of Bacillus stearothermophilus.

A temperature-sensitive mutant of Bacillus stearothermophilus, TS-13, was unable to grow above 58 degrees C, compared to 72 degrees C for the wild type. Actively growing TS-13 cells lysed within 2 h when exposed to a restrictive temperature of 65 degrees C. Peptidoglycan synthesis stopped within 10 to 15 min postshift before a shut down of other macromolecular syntheses. Composition of preexisting peptidoglycan was not altered, nor was new peptidoglycan of aberrant composition formed. No significant difference in autolysin activity was observed between the mutant and the wild type at 65 degrees C. Protoplasts of TS-13 cells were able to synthesize cell wall material at 52 degress C, but not at 65 degrees C. This wall material remained closely associated with the cell membrane at the outer surface of the protoplasts, forming small, globular, membrane-bound structures which could be visualized by electron microscopy. These structures reacted with fluorescent antibody prepared against purified cell walls. Production of this membrane-associated wall material could be blocked by bacitracin, which inhibited cell wall synthesis at the level of transport through the membrane. The data were in agreement with previous studies showing that at the restrictive temperature this mutant is unable to alter its membrane fatty acid and phospholipid composition with temperature such that it is not able to maintain a membrane lipid composition which permits normal membrane function at the restrictive temperature.     

Penicillium oxalicum SAEM-51: a mutagenised strain for enhanced production of chitin deacetylase for bioconversion to chitosan

A novel chitin deacetylase (CDA) producing strain Penicillium oxalicum ITCC 6965 was isolated from residual materials of sea food processing industries. Strain following mutagenesis using ethidium bromide (EtBr) and microwave irradiation had resulted into a mutant P. oxalicum SAE(M)-51 having improved levels of chitin deacetylase (210.71 ± 1.65 Ul(-1)) as compared to the wild type strain (108.26 ± 1.98 Ul(-1)). Maximum enzyme production was achieved in submerged fermentation following 144 hours of incubation with notably improved productivity of 1.46 ± 0.82 Ul(-1) h(-1) as compared to the wild type strain (0.75 ± 0.53 Ul(-1)h(-1)). Scanning electron micrographs of mutant and wild type strains had revealed distinct morphological features. Evaluation of kinetic parameters viz. Q(s), Q(p), Y(p/x), Y(p/s), q(p), q(s) had denoted that strain P. oxalicum SAE(M)-51 is a hyper producer of chitin deacetylase. Glucose as compared to chitin or colloidal chitin had resulted in increased levels of enzyme production. However, replacement of glucose with chitinous substrates had prolonged the duration for enzyme production. The mutant strain had two pH optima that is 6.0 and 8.0 and had an optimum temperature of 30 °C for growth and enzyme production.     

Isocitrate dehydrogenase of Bradyrhizobium japonicum is not required for symbiotic nitrogen fixation with soybean

A mutant strain of Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA110 lacking isocitrate dehydrogenase activity was created to determine whether this enzyme was required for symbiotic nitrogen fixation with soybean (Glycine max cv. Williams 82). The isocitrate dehydrogenase mutant, strain 5051, was constructed by insertion of a streptomycin resistance gene cassette. The mutant was devoid of isocitrate dehydrogenase activity and of immunologically detectable protein, indicating there is only one copy in the genome. Strain 5051 grew well on a variety of carbon sources, including arabinose, pyruvate, succinate, and malate, but, unlike many microorganisms, was a glutamate auxotroph. Although the formation of nodules was slightly delayed, the mutant was able to form nodules on soybean and reduce atmospheric dinitrogen as well as the wild type, indicating that the plant was able to supply sufficient glutamate to permit infection. Combined with the results of other citric acid cycle mutants, these results suggest a role for the citric acid cycle in the infection and colonization stage of nodule development but not in the actual fixation of atmospheric dinitrogen.     

Characterization of an NaCl-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus mutant and rescue of the NaCl-sensitive phenotype by glycine betaine but not by other compatible solutes.

To further study mechanisms of coping with osmotic stress-low water activity, mutants of Staphylococcus aureus with transposon Tn917-lacZ-induced NaCl sensitivity were selected for impaired ability to grow on solid defined medium containing 2 M NaCl. Southern hybridization experiments showed that NaCl-sensitive mutants had a single copy of the transposon inserted into a DNA fragment of the same size in each mutant. These NaCl-sensitive mutants had an extremely long lag phase (60 to 70 h) in defined medium containing 2.5 M NaCl. The osmoprotectants glycine betaine and choline (which is oxidized to glycine betaine) dramatically shortened the lag phase, whereas L-proline and proline betaine, which are effective osmoprotectants for the wild type, were ineffective. Electron microscopic observations of the NaCl-sensitive mutant under NaCl stress conditions revealed large, pseudomulticellular cells similar to those observed previously in the wild type under the same conditions. Glycine betaine, but not L-proline, corrected the morphological abnormalities. Studies of the uptake of L-[14C]proline and [14C]glycine betaine upon osmotic upshock revealed that the mutant was not defective in the uptake of either osmoprotectant. Comparison of pool K+, amino acid, and glycine betaine levels under NaCl stress conditions in the mutant and the wild type revealed no striking differences. Glycine betaine appears to have additional beneficial effects on NaCl-stressed cells beyond those of other osmoprotectants. The NaCl stress protein responses of the wild type and the NaCl-sensitive mutant were characterized and compared by labeling with L-[35 S]methionine and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The synthesis of 10 proteins increased in the wild type in response to NaCl stress, whereas the synthesis of these 10 proteins plus 2 others increased in response to NaCl stress in the NaCl-sensitive mutant. Five proteins, three of which were NaCl stress proteins, were produced in elevated amounts in the NaCl-sensitive mutant under unstressed conditions compared to the wild type. The presence of glycine betaine during NaCl stress decreased the production of three NaCl stress proteins in the mutant versus one in the wild type.     

Characterization and responses to environmental cues of a photosynthetic antenna-deficient mutant of the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120

The cyanobacterial phycobilisome (PBS) is a giant pigment-protein complex which harvests light energy for photosynthesis and comprises two structures: a core and peripheral rods. Most studies on PBS structure and function are based on mutants of unicellular strains. In this report, we describe the phenotypic and genetic characterization of a transposon mutant of the filamentous Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, denoted LC1, which cannot synthesize the phycobiliprotein phycocyanin (PC), the main component of the rods; in this mutant, the transposon had inserted into the cpcB gene (orf alr0528) which putatively encodes PC-β chain. Mutant LC1 was able to synthesize phycoerythrocyanin (PEC), a phycobiliprotein (PBP) located at the terminal region of the rods; but in the absence of PC, PEC did not attach to the PBSs that only retained the allophycocyanin (APC) core; ferredoxin: NADP⁺-oxidoreductase (FNR) that is associated with the PBS in the wild type, was not found in isolated PBSs from LC1. The performance of the mutant exposed to different environmental conditions was evaluated. The mutant phenotype was successfully complemented by cloning and transfer of the wild type complete cpc operon to mutant LC1. Interestingly, LC1 compensated its mutation by significantly increasing the number of its core-PBS and the effective quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry; this feature suggests a more efficient energy conversion in the mutant which may be useful for biotechnological applications.     

Involvement of the reserve material poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate in Azospirillum brasilense stress endurance and root colonization

When grown under suboptimal conditions, rhizobacteria of the genus Azospirillum produce high levels of poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB). Azospirillum brasilense strain Sp7 and a phbC (PHB synthase) mutant strain in which PHB production is impaired were evaluated for metabolic versatility, for the ability to endure various stress conditions, for survival in soil inoculants, and for the potential to promote plant growth. The carbon source utilization data were similar for the wild-type and mutant strains, but the generation time of the wild-type strain was shorter than that of the mutant strain with all carbon sources tested. The ability of the wild type to endure UV irradiation, heat, osmotic pressure, osmotic shock, and desiccation and to grow in the presence of hydrogen peroxide was greater than that of the mutant strain. The motility and cell aggregation of the mutant strain were greater than the motility and cell aggregation of the wild type. However, the wild type exhibited greater chemotactic responses towards attractants than the mutant strain exhibited. The wild-type strain exhibited better survival than the mutant strain in carrier materials used for soil inoculants, but no difference in the ability to promote plant growth was detected between the strains. In soil, the two strains colonized roots to the same extent. It appears that synthesis and utilization of PHB as a carbon and energy source by A. brasilense under stress conditions favor establishment of this bacterium and its survival in competitive environments. However, in A. brasilense, PHB production does not seem to provide an advantage in root colonization under the conditions tested.