Phenol utilization by filamentous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum

The investigated strain Trichosporon cutaneum shows well expressed capability for metabolizing high concentrations of phenol, up to 1 g/l, utilizing it as the sole carbon source for the growth and development of the population. The data reported, prove the good perspectives for its application in protecting the environment from phenol pollution. No data about modelling the process of cultivation of Trichosporon cutaneum in phenol media is available in scientific literature up to now. The mathematical model, reported here, consists of two nonlinear differential equations, describing cell growth and substrate consumption. The unknown parameters are estimated following the method of Hooke and Jeeves. A number of simulation investigations are carried out. They prove the adequacy of the model and its applicability in further studies on the processes of growth and phenol uptake of Trichosporon cutaneum.     

Cultivation of the yeast Trichosporon cutaneum K-1 on milk serum]

Yeast Trichosporon cutaneoum K-1 were cultivated on milk serum supplemented with nitrogen and phosphorus sources. The culture showed a high biosynthetic capacity. The specific growth rate (mu) of yeast on milk serum was 0.40-0.45 hr-1. During lactose assimilation in the synthetic medium mu was 0.43 hr-1 and the economic coefficent of the biomass yield was 54%. It was shown that assimilation first involved lactose and then organic acids. The composition of the resulting biomass was identified.     

Induction of cellulose- and xylan-degrading enzyme complex in the yeast Trichosporon cutaneum

The specificity of induction of cellulose- and xylan-degrading enzymes was investigated on the yeast strain Trichosporon cutaneum CCY 30-5-4 using series of compounds structurally related to cellulose and xylan, including monosaccharides, glycosides, glucooligosaccharides and xylooligosaccharides. Determination of activities of secreted cellulase and -xylanase, intracellular, cell wall bound and extracellular -glucosidase and -xylosidase revealed that: (1) The synthesis of xylan-degrading enzymes is induced in the cell only by xylosaccharides, 1,3--xylobiose, 1,2--xylobiose, 1,4--xylosyl-L-arabinose, 1,4--xylobiose and thioxylobiose being the best inducers. The xylan-degrading enzymes show different pattern of development in time and discrete cellular localization, i.e. intracellular -xylosidase precedes extracellular -xylanase. (2) A true cellulase is not inducible by glucosaccharides and cellulose. Negligible constitutive cellulase activity was detected which was about two orders lower than an induced cellulase in the typical cellulolytic fungus Trichoderma reesei QM 9414. (3) The best inducer of intracellular -glucosidase splitting cellobiose was thiocellobiose in a wide range of concentration (0.1–10 mM), whereas xylosaccharides at high concentrations induced -xylosidase of xylobiose type and a non-specific aryl -D-glucosidase.The results were confirmed by growing cells on cellulose and xylan. T. cutaneum was found to be a xylan-voracious yeast, unable to grow on cellulose.     

Lumping kinetics of ABE fermentation wastewater treatment by oleaginous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum

Lumping kinetics models were built for the biological treatment of acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation wastewater by oleaginous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum with different fermentation temperatures. Compared with high temperature (33°C, 306?K) and low temperature (23°C, 296?K), medium temperature (28°C, 301?K) was beneficial for the cell growth and chemical oxygen demand (COD) degradation during the early stage of fermentation but the final yeast biomass and COD removal were influenced little. By lumping method, the materials in the bioconversion network were divided into five lumps (COD, lipid, polysaccharide, other intracellular products, other extracellular products), and the nine rate constants (k₁–k₉) for the models can well explain the bioconversion laws. The Gibbs free energy (G) for this bioconversion was positive, showing that it cannot happen spontaneous, but the existence of yeast can after the chemical equilibrium and make the bioconversion to be possible. Overall, the possibility of using lumping kinetics for elucidating the laws of materials conversion in the biological treatment of ABE fermentation wastewater by T. cutaneum has been initially proved and this method has great potential for further application.     

Purification and characterization of a cytosolic cytochrome P450 from the yeast Trichosporon cutaneum

A soluble cytochrome P450 from the yeast Trichosporon cutaneum was purified to homogeneity, using ammonium sulfate fractionation followed by fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) with DEAE-cellulose and phenyl-Sepharose columns. This procedure resulted in a 45-fold increase in specific activity with an activity yield of 6.8%. One- and two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that the purified enzyme was homogeneous and had a molecular mass of 45 kDa. The purified enzyme contained a heme group and had a characteristic absorption peak at 448 nm in the reduced carbon monoxide difference spectrum. This enzyme was a monomeric protein and catalyzed the conversion of salicylic acid to catechol in the presence of NADH or NADPH. The N-terminal amino acid sequence indicated that the Trichosporon cutaneum cytochrome P450 did not show homology to most eukaryotic cytochromes P450, but had a high degree of homology to one cytochrome P450, the nitric oxide reductase, of Fusarium oxysporum.     

cis,cis-Muconate cyclase from Trichosporon cutaneum.

The inducible enzyme catalysing the conversion of cis,cis-muconate to (+)-muconolactone was purified 300-fold from the yeast Trichosporon cutaneum, grown on phenol. The enzyme has a sharp pH optimum at pH 6.6. It reacts also with several monohalogen derivatives and with one monomethyl derivative of cis,cis-muconate, but not with cis,trans- or trans,trans-muconate or 3-carboxy-cis,cis-muconate. In contrast with the corresponding enzymes in bacteria, the yeast enzyme does not require added divalent metal ions for activity and is not inhibited by EDTA. The purified enzyme can be resolved into two peaks by isoelectric focusing. The two forms have pI 4.58 (cis,cis-muconate cyclase I) and pI 4.74 (cis, cis-muconate cyclase II), respectively. Each of these is homogenous on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in the absence or presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. The two enzyme forms have the same molecular weight (50000) as determined by gel filtration and by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. They have the same Km value (25 microM) for cis,cis-muconate. They differ with respect to their content of free thiol groups. cis, cis-Muconate cyclase I contains one thiol group, essential for activity, but relatively stable upon storage. cis, cis-Muconate cyclase II contains two thiol groups that are readily oxidized during storage with concomitant loss of activity.     

Comparison of two alternative dominant selectable markers for wine yeast transformation

Genetic improvement of industrial yeast strains is restricted by the availability of selectable transformation markers. Antibiotic resistance markers have to be avoided for public health reasons, while auxotrophy markers are generally not useful for wine yeast strain transformation because most industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains are prototrophic. For this work, we performed a comparative study of the usefulness of two alternative dominant selectable markers in both episomic and centromeric plasmids. Even though the selection for sulfite resistance conferred by FZF1-4 resulted in a larger number of transformants for a laboratory strain, the p-fluoro-DL-phenylalanine resistance conferred by ARO4-OFP resulted in a more suitable selection marker for all industrial strains tested. Both episomic and centromeric constructions carrying this marker resulted in transformation frequencies close to or above 10(3) transformants per microg of DNA for the three wine yeast strains tested.     

Genetic transformation of filamentous fungi

Many filamentous fungi of all taxa can now be subject to DNA-mediated transformation. Many dominant selectable markers are available and the range available is increasing as new genes are cloned. Transformation is especially valuable in cloning genes defined by mutations with selectable phenotypes and is allowing investigation of many problems in fungi with good genetic systems. Increasingly sophisticated techniques for inactivating genes, targetingin vitro generated mutations to specific loci, and altering gene expression and its regulation are being developed. These approaches are being used to investigate the wealth of basic and applied biological problems available in filamentous fungi.     

Uptake of phenol by Trichosporon cutaneum.

The soil yeast Trichosporon cutaneum, which is distinguished by having a strictly oxidative metabolism, can be induced to utilize phenol as a sole carbon source. The present paper shows that such phenol-induced cells contain a specific, energy-dependent uptake system for phenol. Phenol uptake is not directly linked to its o-hydroxylation inside the cell, the first step of phenol metabolism. The Km for uptake is 235 +/- 30 microM, that for hydroxylation only 4.5 +/- 0.5 microM. Further, the phenol analog 2,6-dimethylphenol, which can not be hydroxylated, competes with phenol for the uptake system. The pH dependence of uptake indicates that phenolate is an essential form during the uptake process. The energy requirement for phenol uptake is indicated by effects of various inhibitors of energy generation, including proton-conducting uncouplers. Direct monitoring of proton movements in a pH-stat during phenol uptake indicates a phenol-proton symport. One proton is cotransported with every phenol molecule. Phenol competes with the uptake of sucrose and glycerol by cells grown on these substrates. Under such conditions the uptake of phenol seems to proceed through a different system, with lower affinity for phenol than in phenol-grown cells.     

Induction of phenol-metabolizing enzymes in Trichosporon cutaneum

Some aspects of the induction of enzymes participating in the metabolism of phenol and resorcinol in Trichosporon cutaneum were studied using intact cells and cell-free preparations.Activities of phenol hydroxylase (1.14.13.7), catechol 1,2-oxygenase (1.13.11.1), cis,cis-muconate cyclase (5.5.1.-), delactonizing enzyme(s) and maleolylacetate reductase were 50–400 times higher in fully induced cells than in noninduced cells.In addition to phenol and resorcinol, also catechol, cresols and fluorophenols could induce phenol hydroxylase.The induction was severely inhibited by phenol concentrations higher than 1 mM. Using optimum inducer concentrations (0.01–0.10 mM), it took more than 8 h to obtain full induction, whether in proliferating or in nonproliferating cells.Phenol hydroxylase, catechol 1,2-oxygenase and cis,cis-muconate cyclase were induced simultaneously. The synthesis of the de-lactonizing activity was delayed in relation to these three preceeding enzymes of the pathway.High glucose concentration (over 15 mM) inhibited completely the induction of phenol oxidation by nonproliferating cells. It also inhibited phenol oxidation by pre-induced cells.Among the NADPH-generating enzymes, the activity of iso-citrate dehydrogenase was elevated in cells grown on phenol and resorcinol instead of glucose.     

DNA mediated transformation of the filamentous fungus Curvularia lunata using a dominant selectable marker

Summary A DNA mediated transformation system was developed for the filamentous fungus Curvularia lunata. Incubation of protoplasts with a plasmid (pAN7-1) which contains the Escherichia coli hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene (hph) fused to an Aspergillus nidulans promoter resulted in the formation of hygromycin B resistant transformants. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments revealed that plasmid pAN7-1 became integrated into the fungal genome. All transformants analyzed so far proved to be stable even after vegetative growth for three months without selective pressure.Dedicated to Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. Esser on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

Enzymology of the beta-ketoadipate pathway in Trichosporon cutaneum.

Cell extracts were prepared from Trichosporon cutaneum grown with phenol or p-cresol, and activities were assayed for enzymes catalyzing conversion of these two carbon sources into 3-ketoadipate (beta-ketoadipate) and 3-keto-4-methyladipate, respectively. When activities of each enzyme were expressed as a ratio, the rate for methyl-substituted substrate being divided by that for the unsubstituted substrate, it was apparent that p-cresol-grown cells elaborated pairs of enzymes for hydroxylation, dioxygenation, and delactonization. One enzyme of each pair was more active against its methyl-substituted substrate, and the other was more active against its unsubstituted substrate. Column chromatography was used to separate two hydroxylase activities and also 1,2-dioxygenase activities; the catechol 1,2-dioxygenases were further purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. Extracts of phenol-grown cells contained only those enzymes in this group that were more active against unsubstituted substrates. In contrast, whether cells were grown with phenol or p-cresol, only one muconate cycloisomerase (lactonizing enzyme) was elaborated which was more active against 3-methyl-cis,cis-muconate than against cis,cis-muconate; in this respect it differed from a cycloisomerase of another strain of T. cutaneum which has been characterized. The cycloisomerase was purified from both phenol-grown and p-cresol-grown cells, and some characteristics were determined.     

皮状丝孢酵母B3利用木薯淀粉发酵生产微生物油脂

对皮状丝孢酵母B3以木薯淀粉水解液为碳源发酵生产微生物油脂培养条件进行了优化,并在2 L发酵罐中对菌体生长和油脂积累进行了考察。摇瓶实验表明,木薯淀粉水解液的浓度高于90 g/L时不利于菌体的生长和油脂积累,皮状丝孢酵母B3发酵生产微生物油脂的最适氮源及其浓度、最适C/N比和pH分别为酵母提取物3.0 g/L、116、6.0,在此条件下培养144 h菌体生物量、油脂产量和油脂含量分别达到15.2 g/L、6.22 g/L和40.9％;在2 L发酵罐中分批发酵44 h后菌体生物量、油脂产量和油脂含量分别达28.7 g/L、12.27 g/L和42.8％。以皮状丝孢酵母B3所产油脂制备生物柴油,其主要组成包括棕榈酸甲酯、硬脂酸甲酯、油酸甲酯、亚油酸甲酯等,且理化特性符合相关国家标准,可作为一种有潜力的化石燃料替代品。     

Catabolism of L-tyrosine in Trichosporon cutaneum.

Protocatechuic acid was a catabolite in the degradation of L-tyrosine by Trichosporon cutaneum. Intact cells oxidized to completion various compounds proposed as intermediates in this conversion, but they did not readily oxidize catabolites of the homogentisate and homoprotocatechuate metabolic pathways, which are known to function in other organisms. Cell extracts converted tyrosine first to 4-hydroxycinnamic acid and then to 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. The proposed hydration product of 4-hydroxycinnamic acid, namely, beta-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-hydracrylic acid, was synthesized chemically, and its enzymatic degradation to 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde was shown to be dependent upon additions of adenosine triphosphate and coenzyme A. The hydroxylase that attacked 4-hydroxybenzoate showed a specific requirement for reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. Protocatechuate, the product of this reaction, was oxidized by cell extracts supplemented with reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide or, less effectively, with reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, but these extracts contained no ring fission dioxygenase for protocatechuate. Evidence is presented that the principal hydroxylation product of protocatechuate was hydroxyquinol, the benzene nucleus of which was cleaved oxidatively to give maleylacetic acid.     

Serological Characterization of Trichosporon cutaneum and Related Species

Recent molecular biological, chemical, physiological and morphological studies indicate that Trichosporon cutaneum and related species should be reclassified. In this study, antigenic characteristics of the species were determined. The results of adsorption experiments revealed that there were at least three serological types: I, II and III. Specific factor sera I, II and III were prepared on the basis of adsorption experiments and isolates were serotyped by cell slide agglutination (CSA). Since the CSA test was difficult to read in some strains, the results of the CSA test were compared with the findings from an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). For the ELISA, crude polysaccharide antigens prepared from the culture supernatant were used as the antigen. The types determined by ELISA correlated well with those determined by the CSA test. These data suggest that T. cutaneum and related species have at least three serological types, and that the typing can be done by either CSA or ELISA.     

Continuous Propagation of Trichosporon cutaneum in Cheese Whey

Trichosporon cutaneum, a nonfermenting yeast, was used to convert cheese whey lactose into microbial cell material. The doubling time for this organism in a laboratory-scale continuous propagator was 2 hr in a whey medium fortified with ammonium sulfate and corn steep liquor. Cellular growth and efficiency of conversion of lactose to cell material was higher than with Saccharomyces fragilis. When grown in whey, the nitrogen content of T. cutaneum was 3.5% and the distribution of amino acids per gram of cell protein was similar to that of commercial food yeasts.     

Catabolism of aromatic acids in Trichosporon cutaneum.

Trichosporon cutaneum readily metabolized protocatechuate, homoprotocatechuate, and gentisate, but lacked ring fission dioxygenases for these compounds. Benzoic, salicylic, 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic, and gentisic acids were converted into beta-ketoadipic acid before entry into the Krebs cycle. Benzoic acid gave rise successively to 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid, and hydroxyquinol (1,3,4-trihydroxybenzene), which underwent ring fission to maleylacetic acid. Salicylate and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate were both initially metabolized to give catechol. 2,3-Dihydroxybenzoate was the substrate for a specific nonoxidative decarboxylase induced by salicylate, although 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate was not a catabolite of salicylate. Gentisate was metabolized to maleylacetic acid and was also readily attacked by salicylate hydroxylase at each stage of a partial purification procedure. Phenylacetic acid was degraded through 3-hydroxyphenylacetic, homogentisic, and maleylacetoacetic acids to acetoacetic and fumaric acids. All the reactions of these catabolic sequences were catalyzed by cell extracts, supplemented with reduced pyridine nucleotide coenzymes where necessary, except for the hydroxylations of benzoic and phenylacetic acids which were demonstrated with cell suspensions and isotopically labeled substrates.