Enzymatic Production of Pyrimidine Nucleotides Using Corynebacterium ammoniagenes Cells and Recombinant Escherichia coli Cells: Enzymatic Production of CDP-Choline from Orotic Acid and Choline Chloride (Part I)

Enzymatic production of cytidine diphosphate choline (CDP-choline) using orotic acid and choline chloride as substrates was investigated using a 200-ml beaker as a reaction vessel. When Corynebacterium ammoniagenes KY13505 cells were used as the enzyme source, UMP was accumulated up to 28.6 g/liter (77.6 mm) from orotic acid after 26 h of reaction. In this reaction, UDP and UTP were also accumulated, but CTP, a direct precursor of CDP-choline, was not accumulated sufficiently. Escherichia coli JF646/pMW6 cells, which overproduce CTP synthetase by selfcloning of the pyrG gene, were used together with cells of KY13505 for the enzymatic reaction using orotic acid as a substrate. CTP was produced at 8.95 g/liter (15.1 mm) after 23 h of this reaction. To produce CDP-choline, two additional enzyme activities were needed. E. coli MM294/pUCK3 and MM294/pCC41 cells, which express a choline kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (CKIase; encoded by the CKI gene) and a cholinephosphate cytidylyltransferase from S. cerevisiae (CCTase; encoded by the CCT gene) respectively, were added to this CTP-producing reaction system. After 23 h of the reaction using orotic acid and choline chloride as substrates, 7.7 g/liter (15.1 mm) of CDP-choline was accumulated without addition of ATP or phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP). ATP and PRPP required in the CDP-choline forming reaction system are biosynthesized by those cells using glucose as a substrate.     

高温湿热酸法破壁提取法夫酵母胞内虾青素

法夫酵母是一种能积累虾青素的红酵母, 对其进行破壁是当前虾青素工业化提取生产的瓶颈工艺。研究在高温湿热条件下,低浓度盐酸对法夫酵母破壁而提取其胞内虾青素的工艺。探讨了不同破壁温度、盐酸浓度、液料比与破壁处理时间等因素对法夫酵母破壁后虾青素及类胡萝卜素提取率的影响, 确定了高温湿热酸法破壁提取虾青素的最佳条件为: 饱和蒸汽压力 0.1 MPa (121°C), 盐酸浓度0.5 mol/L, 液料比 (V/W)30 mL/g, 破壁时间2 min。在最佳条件下进行中试放大实验, 可得到虾青素与类胡萝卜素的提取率分别为: (84.8±3.2)%, (93.3±2)%。经优化后的新破壁工艺安全高效, 不会有毒性残留, 具有良好的工业应用前景。     

Acetate catabolism by Methanosarcina barkeri: Hydrogen-dependent methane production from acetate by a soluble cell protein fraction

Abstract Cell extracts prepared from Methanosarcina barkeri converted acetate into methane and carbon dioxide under a hydrogen atmosphere. Methanogenesis by cell extracts required acetate and ATP and, the in vitro rate was 5 to 10% of the rate of methanogenesis observed during exponential growth of cells on acetate. Methane and carbon dioxide produced by cell extracts originated predominantly from the methyl and carboxyl groups of acetate, respectively, in a manner consistent with that observed in whole cells. Acetate degradation activity was detected in the soluble (150000 × g supernatant) fraction and not in the membrane fraction. These results are discussed in relation to a proposed model for ATP generation from acetate that involves both membrane-bound and soluble enzymatic components such as CO dehydrogenase.     

Enzymatic Kolbe-Schmitt reaction to form salicylic acid from phenol: Enzymatic characterization and gene identification of a novel enzyme, Trichosporon moniliiforme salicylic acid decarboxylase

Salicylic acid decarboxylase (Sdc) can produce salicylic acid from phenol; it was found in the yeast Trichosporon moniliiforme WU-0401 and was for the first time enzymatically characterized, with the sdc gene heterologously expressed. Sdc catalyzed both reactions: decarboxylation of salicylic acid to phenol and the carboxylation of phenol to form salicylic acid without any byproducts. Both reactions were detected without the addition of any cofactors and occurred even in the presence of oxygen, suggesting that this Sdc is reversible, nonoxidative, and oxygen insensitive. Therefore, it is readily applicable in the selective production of salicylic acid from phenol, the enzymatic Kolbe-Schmitt reaction. The deduced amino acid sequence of the gene, sdc, encoding Sdc comprises 350 amino acid residues corresponding to a 40-kDa protein. The recombinant Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) expressing sdc converted phenol to salicylic acid with a 27% (mol/mol) yield at 30 °C for 9 h.     

KVP2O7 as a Robust High‐Energy Cathode for Potassium‐Ion Batteries: Pinpointed by a Full Screening of the Inorganic Registry under Specific Search Conditions

Candidates for high‐energy cathodes in potassium‐ion batteries (KIBs) are selected by fully screening the inorganic compound structure database. The compounds that satisfy the specific conditions for plausible KIB cathodes are further subjected to theoretical and electrochemical verification, and KVP₂O₇ is finally pinpointed. KVP₂O₇ can reversibly desert/insert ≈60% of K⁺ (60 mA h g^?1) during either chemical or electrochemical oxidation/reduction. KVP₂O₇ shows an average discharge potential of ≈4.2 V versus K/K⁺, which corresponds to an energy density of 253 W h kg^?1 at 0.25 C. This high energy density characteristic of KVP₂O₇ is maintained both during fast charge/discharge (C/D) and prolonged redox cycles. The C/D of KVP₂O₇ is also accompanied by a phase transition between a monoclinic KVP₂O₇ (P2₁/c) and a triclinic K_1?xVP₂O₇. The structure interpretation of a new K_1?xVP₂O₇ phase indicates that K⁺‐extraction induces a conformational change of two tetrahedral PO₄ units in pyrophosphates. The phase of K_1?xVP₂O₇ (x ≈0.6) remains stable during the C/D process, although it returns to the inborn P2₁/c phase after thermal treatment. It is believed that the data‐mining protocol designed for this study will provide a new strategy for materials discovery and that the pinpointed KVP₂O₇ can be utilized as a reliable KIB cathode.     

Production of lactobionic acid and sorbitol from lactose/fructose substrate using GFOR/GL enzymes from Zymomonas mobilis cells: a kinetic study

In this work, we have investigated the kinetics of the biotechnological production of lactobionic acid (LBA) and sorbitol by the catalytic action of glucose-fructose oxidoreductase (GFOR) and glucono-δ-lactonase (GL) enzymes. The cells of bacterium Zymomonas mobilis ATCC 29191 containing this enzymatic complex were submitted to permeabilization and reticulation procedures. The effect of the concentration of substrates on the rate of product formation using a mobilized cell system was investigated. The application of higher fructose concentration seems to not affect the initial rate of formation of the bionic acid. Under conditions of low initial concentration of lactose, the experimental kinetic data of the bi-substrate reaction were modelled by assuming a rate equation of the classical ping-pong mechanism. The found kinetic parameters displayed a low affinity of the GFOR enzyme for both substrates. The enzymatic system did not exhibit normal Michaelis-Menten kinetics in response to a change of concentration of lactose, when fructose was held constant, presenting a sigmoid relationship between initial velocity and substrate concentration. A rate equation based on Hill kinetics was used to describe the kinetic behaviour of this enzyme-substituted reaction at higher lactose concentrations. The results from batch experiments using immobilized cells within Ca-alginate beads revealed that there is no pronounced occurrence of mass transfer limitations on LBA production for beads with 1.2 mm in average diameter. This discussion aids for defining the best operating conditions to maximize the productivity for LBA and sorbitol in this bioconversion and also for reducing the complexity of downstream separation processes.     

Substrate Binding and Catalysis in Carbamate Kinase Ascertained by Crystallographic and Site-Directed Mutagenesis Studies: Movements and Significance of a Unique Globular Subdomain of This Key Enzyme for Fermentative ATP Production in Bacteria

Carbamate kinase (CK) makes ATP from ADP and carbamoyl phosphate (CP) in the final step of the microbial fermentative catabolism of arginine, agmatine, and oxalurate/allantoin. Two previously reported CK structures failed to clarify CP binding and catalysis and to reveal the significance of the protruding subdomain (PSD) that hangs over the CK active center as an exclusive and characteristic CK feature. We clarify now these three questions by determining two crystal structures of Enterococcus faecalis CK (one at 1.5 Å resolution and containing bound MgADP, and the other at 2.1 Å resolution and having in the active center one sulfate and two fixed water molecules that mimic one bound CP molecule) and by mutating active-center residues, determining the consequences of these mutations on enzyme functionality. Superimposition of the present crystal structures reconstructs the filled active center in the ternary complex, immediately suggesting in-line associative phosphoryl group transfer and a mechanism for enzyme catalysis involving N51, K209, K271, D210, and the PSD residue K128. The large respective increases and decreases in K_m^CP and k_cat triggered by the mutations N51A, K128A, K209A, and D210N corroborate the ternary complex active-site architecture and the catalytic mechanism proposed. The extreme negative effects of K128A demonstrate a key role of the PSD in substrate binding and catalysis. The crystal structures reveal large rigid-body movements of the PSD towards the enzyme body that place K128 next to CP and bury the CP site. A mechanism that connects CP site occupation with the PSD approach, involving V206-I207 in the CP site and P162-S163 in the PSD stem, is identified. The effects of the V206A and V206L mutations support this mechanism. It is concluded that the PSD movement allows CK to select against the abundant CP/carbamate analogues acetylphosphate/acetate and bicarbonate, rendering CK highly selective for CP/carbamate.     

Self-association of isolated large cytoplasmic domain of plasma membrane H-ATPase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Role of the phosphorylation domain in a general dimeric model for P-ATPases

Large cytoplasmic domain (LCD) plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase from S. cerevisiae was expressed as two fusion polypeptides in E. coli: a DNA sequence coding for Leu353-Ileu674 (LCDh), comprising both nucleotide (N) and phosphorylation (P) domains, and a DNA sequence coding for Leu353-Thr543 (LCDΔh, lacking the C-terminus of P domain), were inserted in expression vectors pDEST-17, yielding the respective recombinant plasmids. Overexpressed fusion polypeptides were solubilized with 6 M urea and purified on affinity columns, and urea was removed by dialysis. Their predicted secondary structure contents were confirmed by CD spectra. In addition, both recombinant polypeptides exhibited high-affinity 2′,3′-O-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)adenosine-5′-triphosphate (TNP-ATP) binding (K_d = 1.9 μM and 2.9 μM for LCDh and LCDΔh, respectively), suggesting that they have native-like folding. The gel filtration profile (HPLC) of purified LCDh showed two main peaks, with molecular weights of 95 kDa and 39 kDa, compatible with dimeric and monomeric forms, respectively. However, a single elution peak was observed for purified LCDΔh, with an estimated molecular weight of 29 kDa, as expected for a monomer. Together, these data suggest that LCDh exist in monomer-dimer equilibrium, and that the C-terminus of P domain is necessary for self-association. We propose that such association is due to interaction between vicinal P domains, which may be of functional relevance for H⁺-ATPase in native membranes. We discuss a general dimeric model for P-ATPases with interacting P domains, based on published crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy evidence.