Metabolism of polyamines by cultured glioma cells. Effect of asparagine on gamma-aminobutyric acid concentrations.

The activity of ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17) increased in confluent cultures of glioma C6BU-1 cells 3 h after adding a complete serum-containing medium, and was maximal 5 h later. The activity of S-adenoxyl-L-methionine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.50) increased soon after addition of the complete medium to the cells, and reached its peak after 11 h. The activity of diamine oxidase (EC 1.4.3.6) also increased soon after adding complete medium and was maximal 8h later, when the activity of ornithine decarboxylase reached its peak. The increase in the activity of S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase was accompanied by changes in cellular spermidine and spermine concentrations, whereas the increase in the activity of diamine oxidase was followed by the accumulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid, which was detected both in the cells and in the medium. Asparagine enhanced the utilization of radioactive putrescine by glioma cells suspended in buffered-salt/glucose solution and increased intracellular and extracellular gamma-aminobutyric acid concentrations. Radioactive putrescine was converted into spermidine and spermine by glioma cells after addition of a serum-containing medium, but not after adding buffered--salt/glucose solutions, in the presence or absence of asparagine. The kinetics of ornithine decarboxylase 'induction' and the half-life of the enzyme differed in cells incubated with buffered asparagine solutions and serum-containing media.     

Glucose and ketone bodies production in hepatocytes isolated from fetuses at term--I. Effect of maternal fasting

The effect produced by maternal fasting on glucose and ketone bodies production has been studied in hepatocytes isolated from fetal rat. Maternal fasting produces a decrease in the weight of fetal liver. Maternal fasting produces a decrease in glucose production, both from endogenous substrates and adding lactate (10 mM) to the incubation medium. Maternal fasting produces an increase in ketone bodies production, both from endogenous substrates and adding acetate (5 mM) to the incubation medium.     

The effect of energy substrate concentration and amino acids on the in vitro development of preimplantation porcine embryos

As the pig becomes increasingly used for biomedical research, an effective and efficient in vitro culture system is essential. This study aimed to improve the commonly used porcine embryo culture medium, NCSU23, by altering the energy substrates and adding amino acids, using electrically activated diploid parthenotes from oocytes obtained from the ovaries of prepubertal and adult animals. Morphological development to day 6 and blastocyst cell number were examined. Glucose (5.56 mM) was replaced by pyruvate and lactate (0.2 mM and 5.7 mM, respectively) for either the entire culture period or for the first 48 h only. Blastocyst rates were not different between any of the treatments, and were similar for prepubertal and adult oocytes. When the embryos were cultured with pyruvate and lactate for the first 48 h and then glucose, there was a significant increase in blastocyst cell number compared to glucose only. Blastocysts produced using pyruvate and lactate for the entire time tended to have more cells than those exposed to glucose only and less than those who were cultured in pyruvate and lactate for the first 48 h and then glucose. Nonessential amino acids added for the first 48 h and nonessential and essential amino acids added for the remaining time significantly increased blastocyst cell number only when the embryos were grown in pyruvate and lactate followed by glucose. Blastocyst rates were not different between any of the treatments, and this result was the same when using sow or gilt oocytes. The modified medium was then tested using in vitro matured and fertilized embryos from sow oocytes. Blastocyst rates and cell number were significantly increased in the modified medium compared to those grown in unmodified NCSU23. This shows that altering energy substrates and adding amino acids can increase the quantity and cell number of IVP blastocysts compared with NCSU23.     

Alanine Uptake and Release by Sympathetic Ganglia of Chicken Embryos

Uptake and release of alanine were measured in lumbar sympathetic chains excised from embryos of white leghorn chickens, 14-15 days old, and incubated in a modified Eagle's minimum essential medium. In the presence of [U-14C]glucose, glucose carbon accumulated in alanine in the medium at a rate that increased when unlabeled alanine was added and sometimes exceeded the rate of appearance in lactate. When combined with uptake data, the increase in appearance of labeled alanine in the medium could be accounted for quantitatively by interference with its reuptake, without assuming a change in the unidirectional output of labeled alanine, provided allowance was made for the measured properties of exchange between the extracellular space and the surrounding medium. According to this model, the constant unidirectional outflux of labeled alanine was about 50 mumol/g dry weight/h. When [U-14C]alanine was added to medium containing unlabeled glucose, the alanine was consumed at a rate that increased as the concentration of alanine in the medium was elevated. The uptake rate was found to fit a modified Michaelis-Menten equation with a Umax of about 120 mumol/g dry weight/h, a Km of 0.5-1.0 mM, and a Kd of 0.75 ml/g dry weight/h. By chemical measurement of changes in alanine concentration in the medium during incubation, the uptake rate was shown to equal the output rate when about 0.2 mM alanine was present. Much of the alanine consumed in the presence of glucose was metabolized to CO2, raising the total CO2 output above the rate obtained with glucose alone. When alanine was present at a concentration of 10-20 mM, it contributed almost as much carbon to CO2 as did the glucose. A higher percentage of the carbon from alanine was incorporated into tissue constituents than was carbon from either glucose or lactate. It is concluded that alanine can be significant both as a product and as a substrate, but that its role as substrate would not be great at typical concentrations of alanine in blood.     

Enhancement of ABE fermentation through regulation of ammonium acetate and D–xylose uptake from acid-pretreated corncobs

Clostridium acetobutylicum TISTR 1462 and Clostridium beijerinckii TISTR 1461 were chosen to optimize acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation by using glucose as a carbon source. The enhancement in its productivity by adding various concentrations of ammonium acetate was studied. Then, the variation of glucose/xylose ratios in the pre-grown medium was investigated. The results showed that both increased ammonium acetate in the production medium and D–xylose in the pre-grown medium could produce more ABE. With these conditions, using corncob hydrolysate as a substrate, 20.58 g/L ABE was produced from C. beijerinckii TISTR 1461 with 0.44 g/L/h and 0.45 of ABE productivity and yield, respectively.     

Inactivation of polygalacturonase in the process of growth of the yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus

The effect of exogenous glucose addition on polygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.15) activity in the culture medium of Saccharomyces pastorianus was studied. An rapid but transient decrease in the enzyme activity was observed after 9-12 h after adding glucose to the culture medium. This effect was not associated with protein degradation or modification in the spectrum of secreted proteins. Ethyl acetate appeared in the culture medium during this period.     

Regulation of reductive production of succinate under anaerobic conditions in baker's yeast

When baker's yeast grown aerobically on ethanol as a carbon source was anaerobically cultured in a medium containing glucose, the activity of a cytoplasmic fumarate reductase irreversibly catalyzing the conversion of fumarate to succinate increased, reaching about 3 times the original activity after 12 h, while the activity of succinate dehydrogenase was almost lost after 10 h. These results indicate that the citrate cycle is partially modified to become a reductive pathway leading to succinate during the anaerobic cultivation. In non-proliferating cells grown anaerobically on glucose, the rates of accumulating succinate and pyruvate were decreased and increased, respectively, with increasing concentrations of L-aspartate or NH4Cl in the medium containing glucose as a substrate. These changes were accompanied with increase in the cellular content of aspartate, an inhibitor of pyruvate carboxylase that is involved in supplying the intermediates of the citrate cycle, and pyruvate, a substrate of the enzyme. The aminotransferase inhibitor, aminooxyacetate, prevented the changes in succinate accumulation and cellular aspartate following the addition of NH4Cl. The addition of L-glutamate caused a marked increase in the rate of succinate accumulation without changing the cellular content of aspartate. Neither L-glutamate nor L-aspartate had the ability to produce succinate. The rate of glucose consumption was not changed upon adding these nitrogen compounds. Similar findings were also observed in experiments using proliferating cells. This report presents evidence that in cells containing a large amount of the fumarate reductase, the production of succinate from glucose is regulated by the cellular level of aspartate through the pyruvate carboxylase reaction and that glutamate regulates the succinate production by a mechanism distinct from that involved in the regulation by L-aspartate.     

葡萄糖浓度对转人肿瘤坏死因子-α鱼腥藻IB02培养过程的影响

目的：通过在培养基中添加葡萄糖的方法,提高转基因鱼腥藻的产量和人肿瘤坏死因子（hTNF）-α的表达率。方法：在葡萄糖浓度为0～300mmol／L的范围内,进行了转hTNF-α鱼腥藻IB02的摇瓶混合营养培养,用比浊法和酶联免疫法测定转基因鱼腥藻的生长和hTNF-α的表达。结果：添加葡萄糖的藻液最高生长密度是未添加葡萄糖的3．5倍,且hTNFa的表达率也提高至4倍。结论：在各种葡萄糖浓度下,葡萄糖的利用都不明显。     

Formation of poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) by Azotobacter vinelandii UWD.

Azotobacter vinelandii UWD formed polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymers containing beta-hydroxybutyrate and beta-hydroxyvalerate (HV) when grown in a medium containing glucose as the primary C source and valerate (pentanoate) as a precursor. Copolymer was not formed when propionate was added to the glucose medium but was formed when heptanoate, nonanoate, or trans-2-pentenoate was present. Optimal levels of HV were formed when valerate was added at the time of maximum PHA synthesis, although HV incorporation was not dependent on glucose catabolism. HV content in the polymer was increased from 17 to 24 mol% by adding 10 to 40 mM valerate to glucose medium, but HV insertion into the polymer occurred at a fixed rate. Similarly, the addition of valerate to a fed-batch culture of strain UWD in beet molasses in a fermentor produced 19 to 22 g of polymer per liter, containing 8.5 to 23 mol% HV after 38 to 40 h. The synthesis of HV in these cultures also occurred at a fixed rate (2.3 to 2.8 mol% h-1), while the maximum PHA production rate was 1.1 g liter-1 h-1. During synthesis of copolymer in batch or fed-batch culture, the yield from conversion of glucose into PHA (YP/S) remained at maximum theoretical efficiency (greater than or equal to 0.33 g of PHA per g of glucose consumed). Up to 45 mol% C source, but the PHA produced amounted to less than 1 g/liter. The combination of 30 mM valerate as a sole C source and 0.5 mM 4-pentenoate increased the HV content in the polymer to 52 mol%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Formation of poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) by Azotobacter vinelandii UWD.

Azotobacter vinelandii UWD formed polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymers containing beta-hydroxybutyrate and beta-hydroxyvalerate (HV) when grown in a medium containing glucose as the primary C source and valerate (pentanoate) as a precursor. Copolymer was not formed when propionate was added to the glucose medium but was formed when heptanoate, nonanoate, or trans-2-pentenoate was present. Optimal levels of HV were formed when valerate was added at the time of maximum PHA synthesis, although HV incorporation was not dependent on glucose catabolism. HV content in the polymer was increased from 17 to 24 mol% by adding 10 to 40 mM valerate to glucose medium, but HV insertion into the polymer occurred at a fixed rate. Similarly, the addition of valerate to a fed-batch culture of strain UWD in beet molasses in a fermentor produced 19 to 22 g of polymer per liter, containing 8.5 to 23 mol% HV after 38 to 40 h. The synthesis of HV in these cultures also occurred at a fixed rate (2.3 to 2.8 mol% h-1), while the maximum PHA production rate was 1.1 g liter-1 h-1. During synthesis of copolymer in batch or fed-batch culture, the yield from conversion of glucose into PHA (YP/S) remained at maximum theoretical efficiency (greater than or equal to 0.33 g of PHA per g of glucose consumed). Up to 45 mol% C source, but the PHA produced amounted to less than 1 g/liter. The combination of 30 mM valerate as a sole C source and 0.5 mM 4-pentenoate increased the HV content in the polymer to 52 mol%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effect of simple and complex carbon sources,low temperature culture and complex carbon feeding policies on poly-3-hydroxybutyric acid (PHB) content and molecular weight (Mw) from Azotobacter chroococcum 6B

The molecular weight (M _w) of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), produced by shake-flask culture of Azotobacter chroococcum showed little variation with increasing glucose concentration as carbon source (being in the range of 400–500 kDa), while M _w increased from 300–400 to 640 kDa when grown with increasing concentration of sugar cane molasses. Molecular weight increased nearly 30% from 48 to 72 h culture time when 5% molasses as carbon source was used, while with glucose the highest M _w was reached at 48 h. Under fermentor cultivation A. chroococcum produced PHB with a relatively high M _w of 1590 kDa at 53 h culture time when grown in modified Burk's medium with glucose as carbon source at an initial C/N ratio (molar basis) of 69 under fermentor cultivation. A batch glucose-grown ammonium-limited fermentor culture was repeatedly fed with sugar cane molasses (initial C/N ratio 69) and it was observed that PHB content curve decreased at a slower rate than in the fed-batch culture in which glucose and sucrose were not consumed in the culture medium after the feed.     

Inactivation of polygalacturonase during growth ofSaccharomyces pastorianus in culture

The effect of exogenous glucose addition on polygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.15) activity in the culture medium ofSaccharomyces pastorianus was studied. A rapid but transient decrease in the enzyme activity was observed after 9–12 h after adding glucose to the culture medium. This effect was not associated with protein degradation or modification of the spectrum of secreted proteins. Ethyl acetate appeared in the culture medium durine this period.     

Effects of glucose and glycerol on gamma-poly(glutamic acid) formation by Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 9945a

Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 9945a is one of the bacterial strains that produce gamma-poly(glutamic acid) (gamma-PGA). The use of carbohydrate medium components for gamma-PGA production was explored. Cells were grown in shake flasks or in controlled pH fermentors using medium formulations that contain different carbon sources. During the cultivations, aliquots were removed to monitor cell growth, carbon utilization, polymer production, and polymer molecular weight. Glucose was a better carbon source than glycerol for cell growth. Furthermore, glucose was utilized at a faster rate than glycerol, citrate, or glutamate. However, by using mixtures of glucose and glycerol in medium formulations, the efficiency of gamma-PGA production increased. For example, by increasing the glycerol in medium formulations from 0 to 40 g/L, the gamma-PGA broth concentration after 96 h increased from 5.7 to 20.5 g/L. Considering that glycerol utilization was low for the glucose/glycerol mixtures studied, it was unclear as to the mechanism by which glycerol leads to enhanced product formation. Cell growth and concomitant gamma-PGA production (12 g/L) at pH 6.5 was possible using glucose as a carbon source if trace amounts (0.5 g/L each) of citrate and glutamate were present in the medium. We suggested that citrate and glutamate were useful in preventing salt precipitation from the medium. In addition, glutamate may be preferred relative to ammonium chloride as a nitrogen source. The conversion of glucose to gamma-PGA by the strain ATCC 9945a was believed to occur by glycolysis of glucose to acetyl-CoA and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates that were then metabolized via the TCA cycle to form alpha-ketoglutarate, which is a direct glutamate precursor.     

Nutrient-Enhanced Production of Remarkably High Concentrations of Ethanol by Saccharomyces bayanus through Soy Flour Supplementation

The supplementation of a simple medium with soy flour led to an increase in the specific growth rate and viable cell concentration of Saccharomyces bayanus during fermentation. Increasing the amount of soy flour led to an increase in the maximum number of viable yeast cells and the percentage of glucose fermented. It was possible in 64 h to reach 12.8% (wt/vol) ethanol by adding 4% soy flour (wt/vol) to a simple medium with 300 g of glucose per liter. The aqueous extract from soy flour was nearly as effective as whole-soy flour, whereas the lipidic fraction had no positive effect.     

Chemostat studies on the regulation of glucose metabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by citrate

The effect of the relative concentrations of citrate and glucose on the regulation of key enzymes of the direct oxidative, phosphorylative, Entner-Doudoroff and pentose-cycle pathways of glucose metabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been investigated in continuous culture under conditions of NH(4) (+)-limitation. For comparison isocitrate dehydrogenase and aconitase were also assayed. Measurements were made for steady-state and transient conditions and the effect of growth rate was also studied. When cells grew on 75mm-citrate the glucose concentration had to attain 6-8mm before significant induction of enzymes of glucose metabolism occurred; the specific activities increased further as the result of both raising the glucose concentration to 30mm and then subsequently lowering the citrate to 60mm and then to 45mm. The specific activities of the glucose enzymes increased immediately during the transient period between the steady states characteristic of growth on 6mm- and 8mm-glucose, the increase continuing for about two doubling times. The converse experiment of adding increasing citrate concentrations to 45mm-glucose medium revealed an immediate induction of the citrate-transport system, oxidation of citrate following the increase in citrate concentration up to 8mm. Between 8mm- and 16mm-citrate a marked repression of gluconate, glucose 6-phosphate and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenases and the Entner-Doudoroff enzymes occurred. Increased growth rate in citrate medium resulted in decreased specific activities of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and isocitrate dehydrogenase. Increased growth rate in citrate-glucose medium gave decreased specific activities of isocitrate dehydrogenase and aconitase whereas the activities of some of the glucose enzymes decreased initially but then increased at the highest growth rate (0.5h(-1)), at which a marked increase in glucose utilization occurred. These observations accord with the regulation of glucose enzymes by induction with glucose or its metabolites and repression by citrate or its metabolic products.     

添加TCA循环中间产物加速光滑球拟酵母积累丙酮酸

在维生素限制的条件下,研究了添加TCA循环中间产物对光滑球拟酵母多重维生素营养缺陷型菌株CCTCC M202019生长和积累丙酮酸的影响。该菌株能以TCA循环中间产物为唯一碳源进行生长,且在以葡萄糖、乙酸和TCA循环中间产物为复合碳源的平板上菌落数高于分别以葡萄糖和乙酸或TCA循环中间产物为唯一碳源时的菌落数。与其它TCA循环中间产物相比,草酰乙酸更能促进细胞的生长、提高丙酮酸产量和对葡萄糖的得率。草酰乙酸能够促进细胞生长,是因为T. glabrata CCTCC M202019菌株能够利用乙酸作为乙酰辅酶A供体。在含有100 g/L葡萄糖和6 g/L乙酸钠的培养基中再添加10 g/L草酰乙酸进行分批发酵实验,可使菌体浓度从11.8 g/L提高到 13.6 g/L,增长幅度为15%;丙酮酸对葡萄糖的得率(0.66 g/g)以及生产强度(1.19 g·L^{-1<、sup>·h-1<、sup>)分别高出6%和24%,使发酵结束时间提前8～12h。}     

Misregulation of maltose uptake in a glucose repression defective mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae leads to glucose poisoning

In hex2 mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which are defective in glucose repression of several enzymes, growth is inhibited if maltose is present in the medium. After adding [14C]maltose to cultures growing with ethanol, maltose metabolism was followed in both hex2 mutant and wild-type cells. The amount of radioactivity incorporated was much higher in hex2 than in wild-type cells. Most of the radioactivity in hex2 cells was located in the low molecular mass fraction. Pulse-chase experiments showed that 2 h after addition of maltose, hex2 cells hydrolysed maltose to glucose, which was partially excreted into the medium. 31P-NMR studies gave evidence that turnover of sugar phosphates was completely abolished in hex2 cells after 2 h incubation with maltose. 13C-NMR spectra confirmed these results: unlike those for the wild-type, no resonances corresponding to fermentation products (ethanol, glycerol) were found for hex2 cells, whereas there were resonances corresponding to glucose. Although maltose is taken up by proton symport, the internal pH in the hex2 mutant did not change markedly during the 5 h after adding maltose. The intracellular accumulation of glucose seems to explain the inhibition of growth by maltose, probably by means of osmotic damage and/or unspecific O-glycosylation of proteins. Neither maltose permease nor maltase was over-expressed, and so these enzymes were not the cause of glucose accumulation. Hence, the coordination of maltose uptake, hydrolysis to glucose and glycolysis of glucose is not regulated simply by the specific activity of the catabolic enzymes involved.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Vancomycin production in batch and continuous culture

Production of the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin by two Amycolatopsis orientalis strains was examined in batch shake flask culture in a semidefined medium with peptone as the nitrogen source. Different growth and production profiles were observed with the two strains; specific production (Y(p/x)) was threefold higher with strain ATCC 19795 than with strain NCIMB 12945. A defined medium with amino acids as the nitrogen source was developed by use of the Plackett-Burman statistical screening method. This technique identified certain amino acids (glycine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and arginine) that gave significant increased specific production, whereas phosphate was identified as inhibitory for high specific vancomycin production. Experiments made with the improved medium and strain ATCC 19795 showed that vancomycin production kinetics were either growth dissociated or growth associated, depending on the amino acid concentration. In chemostat culture at a constant dilution rate (0.087 h(-1)), specific vancomycin production rate (q(vancomycin)) decreased linearly as the medium phosphate concentration was increased from 2 to 8 mM. In both phosphate and glucose limited chemostats, q(vancomycin) was a function of specific growth rate; the maximum value was observed at D = 0.087 h(-1) (52% of the maximum specific growth rate). Under phosphate limited growth conditions, q(vancomycin) was threefold higher (0.37 mg/g dry weight/h) than under glucose limitation (0.12 mg/g dry weight/h). (c) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Time course of adaptation to elevated salt by Saccharomyces rouxii

Cells from a 24-h preculture of Saccharomyces rouxii grew without lag on a medium containing yeast extract, neopeptone, and glucose. Additions of 0.3 M KCl or 0.6 M pentaerythritol, which increased the osmolality of the medium 10-fold, still allowed immediate growth, whereas addition of 0.3 M NaCl resulted in a lag of 23 h (after which the growth rate was normal). The time course of growth in this elevated-sodium medium of 0.3 M was studied under defined conditions for inoculum history as well as experimental culture. S. rouxii cells with single exposure to elevated-sodium medium for 23 h exhibited a shorter lag (12 h) on fresh elevated-sodium medium; even with an intervening washing step. Elevated-sodium medium that had received the standard inoculum became conditioned during the lag so that it then supported growth of new, untrained cells with only 2 h lag; even with an intervening filter- or heat-sterilization treatment. The lag period on elevated-sodium medium could also be decreased by (1) using younger cells for inoculum, (2) increasing the amount of the inoculum, or (3) adding extra glucose to the medium. The results indicate that a diffusible, heat-stable factor is synthesized by cells during adaptation to elevated sodium, and that a threshold concentration of the factor is a prerequisite for the normal growth that eventually ensues. A change in retentivity for the factor with cellular age may explain the different growth kinetics with younger or older inocula.     

Requirement of heme for growth of Bacteroides fragilis.

Heme or protoporphyrin IX was required for growth of Bacteroides fragilis in a defined medium. The amount of heme necessary for half-maximal growth was 2 to 10 ng/ml (3.8 to 15 pmol/ml) among the Bacteroides species and strains tested. The growth rate, metabolic products from glucose fermentation, and cell yields were affected by the concentration of heme in the medium and by the length of time the culture was incubated. When heme was growth limiting (4 ng/ml), growth rates decreased by 50%, cultures started producing lactic and fumaric acids, and the cell yields declined. The cell yield for B. fragilis (ATCC 25285) at 24 h in medium containing 6.5 microgram of heme per ml was 69 g (dry weight) of cells per mol of glucose compared to 16 g (dry weight) of cells per mol of glucose with 4 ng of heme per ml. B. fragilis was unable to grow in defined medium when a porphyrin precursor, delta-aminolevulenic acid or porphobilinogen, was added in place of heme.