High-level expression of recombinant glucose dehydrogenase and its application in NADPH regeneration

Two glucose dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.1.1.47) genes, gdh223 and gdh151, were cloned from Bacillus megaterium AS1.223 and AS1.151, and were inserted into pQE30 to construct the expression vectors, pQE30-gdh223 and pQE30-gdh151, respectively. The transformant Escherichia coli M15 with pQE30-gdh223 gave a much higher glucose dehydrogenase activity than that with the plasmid pQE30-gdh151. Thus it was used to optimize the expression of glucose dehydrogenase. An proximately tenfold increase in GDH activity was achieved by the optimization of culture and induction conditions, and the highest productivity of glucose dehydrogenase (58.7 U/ml) was attained. The recombinant glucose dehydrogenase produced by E. coli M15 (pQE30-gdh223) was then used to regenerate NADPH. NADPH was efficiently regenerated in vivo and in vitro when 0.1 M glucose was supplemented concomitantly in the reaction system. Finally, this coenzyme-regenerating system was coupled with a NADPH-dependent bioreduction for efficient synthesis of ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate from ethyl 4-chloro-3-oxobutanoate.     

Cloning and overexpression of the old yellow enzyme gene of Candida macedoniensis, and its application to the production of a chiral compound

The gene encoding old yellow enzyme (OYE), which catalyzes the conversion of ketoisophorone (KIP; 2,6,6-trimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1,4-dione) to (6R)-levodione (2,2,6-trimethylcyclohexane-1,4-dione), of Candida macedoniensis was cloned and sequenced. A 1212bp nucleotide fragment (oye) was confirmed to be the gene encoding OYE based on the agreement of internal amino acid sequences. Oye encodes a total 403 amino acid residues, and the deduced amino acid sequence shows a high degree of similarity to those of other microbial OYE family proteins. An expression vector, pETOYE, that contains the full length of oye was constructed. Escherichia coli harboring pETOYE exhibited an about six-fold increase in specific KIP-reducing activity under the control of the T7 promoter as compared with that of C. macedoniensis. (6R)-Levodione formed with washed cells of the transformant and a cofactor regeneration system amounted to 638 mM (98.2 mg ml(-1)), the a molar yield being 96.9%. The asymmetric reduction of KIP to (6R)-levodione with E. coli cells, which co-expressed both oye and the glucose dehydrogenase gene (gdh), as a catalyst was investigated. The (6R)-levodione formed amounted to 627 mM (96.6 mg ml(-1)), the a molar yield being 95.4%. Since the use of E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells co-expressing oye and gdh as a catalyst is simple and does not require the addition of glucose dehydrogenase, it is highly advantageous for the practical synthesis of (6R)-levodione.     

Cloning of the gene encoding quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus: evidence for the presence of a second enzyme.

We cloned the gene coding for the quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. This clone complements gdh mutations in A. calcoaceticus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli. The gene codes for a protein with an Mr of 83,000. Evidence is presented for the presence of two different glucose dehydrogenase enzymes in A. calcoaceticus: a protein with an Mr of 83,000 and a dimer of two identical subunits with an Mr of 50,000.     

The product of the Klebsiella aerogenes nac (nitrogen assimilation control) gene is sufficient for activation of the hut operons and repression of the gdh operon.

In Klebsiella aerogenes, the formation of a large number of enzymes responds to the quality and quantity of the nitrogen source provided in the growth medium, and this regulation requires the action of the nitrogen regulatory (NTR) system in every case known. Nitrogen regulation of several operons requires not only the NTR system, but also NAC, the product of the nac gene, raising the question of whether the role of NAC is to activate operons directly or by modifying the specificity of the NTR system. We isolated an insertion of the transposon Tn5tac1 which puts nac gene expression under the control of the IPTG-inducible tac promoter rather than the nitrogen-responsive nac promoter. When IPTG was present, cells carrying the tac-nac fusion activated NAC-dependent operons and repressed NAC-repressible operons independent of the nitrogen supply and even in the absence of an active NTR system. Thus, NAC is sufficient to regulate operons like hut (encoding histidase) and gdh (encoding glutamate dehydrogenase), confirming the model that the NTR system activates nac expression and NAC activates hut and represses gdh. Activation of urease formation occurred at a lower level of NAC than that required for glutamate dehydrogenase repression, and activation of histidase formation required still more NAC.     

增加糖基合成酶基因拷贝数对多杀菌素发酵单位的影响

多杀菌素是由刺糖多孢菌(Saccharopolyspora spinosa SIPI—A.2090)产生的重要农用抗生素,其生物合成途径已被阐明。NDP-葡萄糖合成酶(gtt)与葡萄糖脱氢酶(gdh)是多杀菌素生物合成途径中的限速酶。从SIPI-A.2090克隆gtt及gdh基因,并构建了表达这两个基因的整合型质粒,转入产多杀菌素刺糖多孢菌,发酵并验证其基因型。结果表明,阳性突变株SIPI—M.2092的多杀菌素发酵单位比出发菌株提高了173%,增加gtt和gdh基因拷贝数可以有效提高多杀菌素的发酵单位。     

羰基还原酶基因与葡萄糖脱氢酶基因在大肠杆菌中的共表达及其在不对称还原产麻黄碱中的初步应用

通过羰基还原酶基因与葡萄糖脱氢酶基因在大肠杆菌中的共表达,解决羰基还原酶在催化底物过程中的辅酶再生的问题。以枯草芽孢杆菌基因组为模板,采用PCR的手段扩增得到葡萄糖脱氢酶基因gdh与已构建好的pKK223-3-mldh连接,转化E.coli JM109获得重组菌E.coli pKK223-3-gdh-mldh。SDS-PAGE结果表明羰基还原酶及葡萄糖脱氢酶均有表达其相对分子质量分别为43 kD和31 kD。液相检测重组菌细胞破碎液在不添加外源的葡萄糖脱氢酶的情况下能专一性转化1-苯基-2-甲氨基丙酮简称MAK为d-伪麻黄碱。全细胞转化实验表明0.1 g湿菌体与0.15 mg MAK及6 mg葡萄糖30℃反应10 h生成0.091 mg d-伪麻黄碱,MAK的摩尔转化率为67.4%。     

NAD(H)-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase is essential for the survival of Arabidopsis thaliana during dark-induced carbon starvation

Interconversion between glutamate and 2-oxoglutarate, which can be catalysed by glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), is a key reaction in plant carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) metabolism. However, the physiological role of plant GDH has been a controversial issue for several decades. To elucidate the function of GDH, the expression of GDH in various tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana was studied. Results suggested that the expression of two Arabidopsis GDH genes was differently regulated depending on the organ/tissue types and cellular C availability. Moreover, Arabidopsis mutants defective in GDH genes were identified and characterized. The two isolated mutants, gdh1-2 and gdh2-1, were crossed to make a double knockout mutant, gdh1-2/gdh2-1, which contained negligible levels of NAD(H)-dependent GDH activity. Phenotypic analysis on these mutants revealed an increased susceptibility of gdh1-2/gdh2-1 plants to C-deficient conditions. This conditional phenotype of the double knockout mutant supports the catabolic role of GDH and its role in fuelling the TCA cycle during C starvation. The reduced rate of glutamate catabolism in the gdh2-1 and gdh1-2/gdh2-1 plants was also evident by the growth retardation of these mutants when glutamate was supplied as the alternative N source. Furthermore, amino acid profiles during prolonged dark conditions were significantly different between WT and the gdh mutant plants. For instance, glutamate levels increased in WT plants but decreased in gdh1-2/gdh2-1 plants, and aberrant accumulation of several amino acids was detected in the gdh1-2/gdh2-1 plants. These results suggest that GDH plays a central role in amino acid breakdown under C-deficient conditions.     

¹³C-metabolic enrichment of glutamate in glutamate dehydrogenase mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Glutamate dehydrogenases (GDH) interconvert α-ketoglutarate and glutamate. In yeast, NADP-dependent enzymes, encoded by GDH1 and GDH3, are reported to synthesize glutamate from α-ketoglutarate, while an NAD-dependent enzyme, encoded by GDH2, catalyzes the reverse. Cells were grown in acetate/raffinose (YNAceRaf) to examine the role(s) of these enzymes during aerobic metabolism. In YNAceRaf the doubling time of wild type, gdh2Δ, and gdh3Δ cells was comparable at ～4 h. NADP-dependent GDH activity (Gdh1p+Gdh3p) in wild type, gdh2Δ, and gdh3Δ was decreased ～80% and NAD-dependent activity (Gdh2p) in wild type and gdh3Δ was increased ～20-fold in YNAceRaf as compared to glucose. Cells carrying the gdh1Δ allele did not divide in YNAceRaf, yet both the NADP-dependent (Gdh3p) and NAD-dependent (Gdh2p) GDH activity was ～3-fold higher than in glucose. Metabolism of [1,2-(13)C]-acetate and analysis of carbon NMR spectra were used to examine glutamate metabolism. Incorporation of (13)C into glutamate was nearly undetectable in gdh1Δ cells, reflecting a GDH activity at <15% of wild type. Analysis of (13)C-enrichment of glutamate carbons indicates a decreased rate of glutamate biosynthesis from acetate in gdh2Δ and gdh3Δ strains as compared to wild type. Further, the relative complexity of (13)C-isotopomers at early time points was noticeably greater in gdh3Δ as compared to wild type and gdh2Δ cells. These in vivo data show that Gdh1p is the primary GDH enzyme and Gdh2p and Gdh3p play evident roles during aerobic glutamate metabolism.     

An inducible gene expression system for Neurospora crassa.

Neurospora crassa acetyl CoA synthetase is highly induced when the growing mycelium is transferred from sucrose- to acetate-based medium. The inducible promoter of this gene has been isolated and used to control the expression of glutamate dehydrogenase. Transformants containing this expression cassette show gdh levels up to 25 times higher than the nontransformed host strain. This expression cassette will form the basis of a system of heterologous gene expression.     

Diurnal changes in the expressionof glutamate dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase are involved in the C/N balance of tobacco source leaves

A novel cDNA encoding glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) from tobacco(Nicotiana tabacum), named gdh1, was characterized.The gdh1 mRNA was detected in roots, stems and source/senescentleaves. In order to investigate diurnal regulation of gdh1 inleaves, the content in gdh1 mRNA was measured every 3 h overa 48 h period and compared to nia and gs2 mRNAlevels, encoding, respectively, nitrate reductase (NR) and chloroplasticglutamine synthetase (GS2). In source leaves, gdh1 mRNA levelsexhibit diurnal fluctuations. A 12 h shift was observedbetween the day–night rhythms of gdh1 and nia expression.Metabolite contents were also measured and a shift in the day–nightfluctuations of both glutamate (GLU) and γ‐aminobutyricacid (GABA) was observed between sink and source leaves, whereasthe diurnal rhythm of α‐ketoglutarate showed no change.A possible role of GDH in the shift of GLU and GABA contents isdiscussed. Leaf disc experiments showed that gdh1 expressionis enhanced in conditions of continuous darkness. This trend isinhibited by sucrose feeding. The opposite was observed for nia expression.An important outcome of this work is the reverse regulation of gdh1 and nia genes.A possible role of sugars and amino acids in the co‐regulation of gdh1 and nia genesis suggested.     

Carbon regulation of environmental pH by secreted small molecules that modulate pathogenicity in phytopathogenic fungi

Fruit pathogens can contribute to the acidification or alkalinization of the host environment. This capability has been used to divide fungal pathogens into acidifying and/or alkalinizing classes. Here, we show that diverse classes of fungal pathogens—Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Penicillium expansum, Aspergillus nidulans and Fusarium oxysporum—secrete small pH‐affecting molecules. These molecules modify the environmental pH, which dictates acidic or alkaline colonizing strategies, and induce the expression of PACC‐dependent genes. We show that, in many organisms, acidification is induced under carbon excess, i.e. 175 mm sucrose (the most abundant sugar in fruits). In contrast, alkalinization occurs under conditions of carbon deprivation, i.e. less than 15 mm sucrose. The carbon source is metabolized by glucose oxidase (gox2) to gluconic acid, contributing to medium acidification, whereas catalysed deamination of non‐preferred carbon sources, such as the amino acid glutamate, by glutamate dehydrogenase 2 (gdh2), results in the secretion of ammonia. Functional analyses of Δgdh2 mutants showed reduced alkalinization and pathogenicity during growth under carbon deprivation, but not in high‐carbon medium or on fruit rich in sugar, whereas analysis of Δgox2 mutants showed reduced acidification and pathogencity under conditions of excess carbon. The induction pattern of gdh2 was negatively correlated with the expression of the zinc finger global carbon catabolite repressor creA. The present results indicate that differential pH modulation by fruit fungal pathogens is a host‐dependent mechanism, affected by host sugar content, that modulates environmental pH to enhance fruit colonization.     

黄色短杆菌GDK-9谷氨酸脱氢酶基因的克隆、序列分析及表达

利用PCR技术从黄色短杆菌GDK-9的基因组DNA中扩增出谷氨酸脱氢酶基因(gdh)片段(EC.1.4.1.4), 连到pUCm-T载体上测序。核酸序列分析结果表明, 该片段全长1927 bp, 包含一个ORF, 推测此ORF区编码一条448个氨基酸的多肽, 分子量约为48 kD。与已报道的gdh序列相似性为99.55%, 其中1190位碱基(C→A)突变导致了编码氨基酸的变化(Thr→Asn), 其它的碱基变化不影响编码的氨基酸。将gdh基因克隆入穿梭质粒pXMJ19中, 并转化E. coli XL-Blue和Brevibacterium flavum GDK-9, 经IPTG诱导后, SDS-PAGE电泳结果显示, 在预计位置出现明显的诱导蛋白条带, 分子量约为48.7 kD。谷氨酸发酵实验表明, 尽管谷氨酸脱氢酶GDH能明显提高胞内的谷氨酸含量, 但其不影响谷氨酸的分泌。     

Glutamate dehydrogenase activity can be transmitted naturally to Lactococcus lactis strains to stimulate amino acid conversion to aroma compounds

Amino acid conversion to aroma compounds by Lactococcus lactis is limited by the low production of alpha-ketoglutarate that is necessary for the first step of conversion. Recently, glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity that catalyzes the reversible glutamate deamination to alpha-ketoglutarate was detected in L. lactis strains isolated from a vegetal source, and the gene responsible for the activity in L. lactis NCDO1867 was identified and characterized. The gene is located on a 70-kb plasmid also encoding cadmium resistance. In this study, gdh gene inactivation and overexpression confirmed the direct impact of GDH activity of L. lactis on amino acid catabolism in a reaction medium at pH 5.5, the pH of cheese. By using cadmium resistance as a selectable marker, the plasmid carrying gdh was naturally transmitted to another L. lactis strain by a mating procedure. The transfer conferred to the host strain GDH activity and the ability to catabolize amino acids in the presence of glutamate in the reaction medium. However, the plasmid appeared unstable in a strain also containing the protease lactose plasmid pLP712, indicating an incompatibility between these two plasmids.