Analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">ldh</Emphasis> genes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lactobacillus casei</Emphasis> BL23: role on lactic acid production

Lactobacillus casei is a lactic acid bacterium that produces L-lactate as the main product of sugar fermentation via L-lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh1) activity. In addition, small amounts of the D-lactate isomer are produced by the activity of a D-hydroxycaproate dehydrogenase (HicD). Ldh1 is the main L-lactate producing enzyme, but mutation of its gene does not eliminate L-lactate synthesis. A survey of the L. casei BL23 draft genome sequence revealed the presence of three additional genes encoding Ldh paralogs. In order to study the contribution of these genes to the global lactate production in this organism, individual, as well as double mutants (ldh1 ldh2, ldh1 ldh3, ldh1 ldh4 and ldh1 hicD) were constructed and lactic acid production was assessed in culture supernatants. ldh2, ldh3 and ldh4 genes play a minor role in lactate production, as their single mutation or a mutation in combination with an ldh1 deletion had a low impact on L-lactate synthesis. A Deltaldh1 mutant displayed an increased production of D-lactate, which was probably synthesized via the activity of HicD, as it was abolished in a Deltaldh1 hicD double mutant. Contrarily to HicD, no Ldh1, Ldh2, Ldh3 or Ldh4 activities could be detected by zymogram assays. In addition, these assays revealed the presence of extra bands exhibiting D-/L-lactate dehydrogenase activity, which could not be attributed to any of the described genes. These results suggest that L. casei BL23 possesses a complex enzymatic system able to reduce pyruvic to lactic acid.     

Disruption of lactate dehydrogenase through homologous recombination to improve bioethanol production in Thermoanaerobacterium aotearoense

To enhance ethanol production in Thermoanaerobacterium aotearoense, the lactate dehydrogenase (ldh) gene, which is responsible for lactic acid production in a key branch pathway, was successfully disrupted via homologous recombination. ldh-up and ldh-down were designed and amplified based on JW/SL-YS485-AY 278026, and they were subsequently used as homologous fragments with an inserted erythromycin resistance gene to construct the targeted vector based on pBLUESCRIPT II SK(+). Southern hybridization and PCR-based assay definitely confirmed that the ldh gene in the Δldh mutant was disrupted by the insertion of the erythromycin resistance gene. Compared with the wild type, the Δldh mutant exhibited increases of 31.0% and 31.4% in cell yield under glucose and xylose cultivation, respectively, probably because knocking out the ldh gene results in increased acetate and ATP levels. Knockout of lactate dehydrogenase produced 2.37- and 2.1-fold increases in the yield of ethanol (mole/mole substrate) under glucose and xylose cultivation, respectively. Moreover, no lactic acid was detected in Δldh mutant fermentation mixtures (detection limit of HPLC: 0.5 mM), but lactic acid was readily detected for growth of the wild-type strain on both glucose and xylose, with final concentrations up to 59.24 mM and 56.06 mM, respectively. The success of this process thoroughly demonstrates the methodological possibility of gene knockout through homologous recombination in Thermoanaerobacterium.     

Mutants of Escherichia coli deficient in the fermentative lactate dehydrogenase.

Mutants of Escherichia coli deficient in the fermentative NAD-linked lactate dehydrogenase (ldh) have been isolated. These mutants showed no growth defects under anaerobic conditions unless present together with a defect in pyruvate formate lyase (pfl). Double mutants (pfl ldh) were unable to grow anaerobically on glucose or other sugars even when supplemented with acetate, whereas pfl mutants can do so. The ldh mutation was found to map at 30.5 min on the E. coli chromosome. The ldh mutant FMJ39 showed no detectable lactate dehydrogenase activity and produced no lactic acid from glucose under anaerobic conditions as estimated by in vivo nuclear magnetic resonance measurements. We also found that in wild-type strains the fermentative lactate dehydrogenase was conjointly induced by anaerobic conditions and an acidic pH. Despite previous findings that phosphate concentrations affect the proportion of lactic acid produced during fermentation, we were unable to find any intrinsic effect of phosphate on lactate dehydrogenase activity, apart from the buffering effect of this ion.     

谷氨酸棒杆菌1dh基因的敲除

谷氨酸棒杆菌中ldh基因编码乳酸脱氢酶,可催化丙酮酸转化生成乳酸.利用重叠延伸PCR的方法,获得中间缺失部分序列的dldh基因片段,将其与载体pk 18mobsacB连接,转化大肠杆菌感受态,筛选出阳性转化子后,转化谷氨酸棒杆菌ATCC 13032感受态细胞.分别在卡那霉素抗性平板及10％蔗糖平板上进行两次筛选,利用PCR方法鉴定,成功获得ldh基因缺失的谷氨酸棒杆菌突变株ATCC 13032-(4)ldh.应用荧光定量PCR检测,ATCC 13032-(z)ldh中的ldh基因在转录水平与野生型菌株ATCC 13032相比,相对表达量为O.ldh基因的敲除对菌株的生长造成了一定的影响.     

Metabolic engineering of Bacillus subtilis for ethanol production: lactate dehydrogenase plays a key role in fermentative metabolism

Wild-type Bacillus subtilis ferments 20 g/liter glucose in 48 h, producing lactate and butanediol, but not ethanol or acetate. To construct an ethanologenic B. subtilis strain, homologous recombination was used to disrupt the native lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) gene (ldh) by chromosomal insertion of the Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate decarboxylase gene (pdc) and alcohol dehydrogenase II gene (adhB) under the control of the ldh native promoter. The values of the intracellular PDC and ADHII enzymatic activities of the engineered B. subtilis BS35 strain were similar to those found in an ethanologenic Escherichia coli strain. BS35 produced ethanol and butanediol; however, the cell growth and glucose consumption rates were reduced by 70 and 65%, respectively, in comparison to those in the progenitor strain. To eliminate butanediol production, the acetolactate synthase gene (alsS) was inactivated. In the BS36 strain (BS35 delta alsS), ethanol production was enhanced, with a high yield (89% of the theoretical); however, the cell growth and glucose consumption rates remained low. Interestingly, kinetic characterization of LDH from B. subtilis showed that it is able to oxidize NADH and NADPH. The expression of the transhydrogenase encoded by udhA from E. coli allowed a partial recovery of the cell growth rate and an early onset of ethanol production. Beyond pyruvate-to-lactate conversion and NADH oxidation, an additional key physiological role of LDH for glucose consumption under fermentative conditions is suggested. Long-term cultivation showed that 8.9 g/liter of ethanol can be obtained using strain BS37 (BS35 delta alsS udhA+). As far as we know, this is the highest ethanol titer and yield reported with a B. subtilis strain.     

Glucose metabolism and regulation of glycolysis in Lactococcus lactis strains with decreased lactate dehydrogenase activity.

The distribution of carbon flux at the pyruvate node was investigated in Lactococcus lactis under anaerobic conditions with mutant strains having decreased lactate dehydrogenase activity. Strains previously selected by random mutagenesis by H. Boumerdassi, C. Monnet, M. Desmazeaud, and G. Corrieu (Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63, 2293-2299, 1997) were found to have single punctual mutations in the ldh gene and presented a high degree of instability. The strain L. lactis JIM 5711 in which lactate dehydrogenase activity was diminished to less than 30% of the wild type maintained homolactic metabolism. This was due to an increase in the intracellular pyruvate concentration, which ensures the maintained flux through the lactate dehydrogenase. Pyruvate metabolism was linked to the flux limitation at the level of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, as previously postulated for the parent strain (C. Garrigues, P. Loubière, N. D. Lindley, and M. Cocaign-Bousquet (1997) J. Bacteriol. 179, 5282-5287, 1997). However, a strain (L. lactis JIM 5954) in which the ldh gene was interrupted reoriented pyruvate metabolism toward mixed metabolism (production of formate, acetate, and ethanol), though the glycolytic flux was not strongly diminished. Only limited production of acetoin occurred despite significant overflow of pyruvate. Intracellular metabolite profiles indicated that the in vivo glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity was no longer flux limiting in the Deltaldh strain. The shift toward mixed acid fermentation was correlated with the lower intracellular trioses phosphate concentration and diminished allosteric inhibition of pyruvate formate lyase.     

伊犁黑蜂蜂胶对不同状态下变形链球菌乳酸脱氢酶及其相关基因影响的实验研究

目的目的通过新疆伊犁黑蜂蜂胶乙醇提取物(Ethanol Extract of Propolis,EEP)对不同状态下变形链球菌乳酸脱氢酶活性及其相关基因表达影响的作用,研究伊犁黑蜂蜂胶抑制变形链球菌产酸的原因并探讨其可能的防龋机制。方法 (1)分别培养浮游状态与生物膜状态下生长的变形链球菌,根据实验分组用含梯度浓度EEP的BHI培养基、50 mg/L氟化钠的BHI培养基作用18 h,通过还原性辅酶I氧化法测定乳酸脱氢酶活性。(2)分别培养浮游状态与生物膜状态下生长变形链球菌,根据实验分组用含梯度浓度EEP的BHI培养基、含50 mg/L氟化钠的BHI培养基作用18 h,反转录-实时荧光定量PCR(RTq PCR)法测定各组乳酸脱氢酶编码基因ldh表达情况。结果 (1)在浮游状态与生物膜状态下,EEP组和Na F组乳酸脱氢酶活性均有降低,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05)。(2)浮游状态时,实验组组和阳性对照组ldh表达明显受到抑制(P0.05);生物膜状态下,实验组在1 MBEC、1/2 MBEC、1/4 MBEC浓度时ldh表达受到抑制(P0.05),Na F组ldh表达差异没有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论伊犁黑蜂蜂胶能够抑制浮游状态与生物膜状态下变形链球菌乳酸脱氢酶活性及其编码基因ldh表达,来抑制细菌产酸,伊犁黑蜂蜂胶可能是通过此途径抑制变形链球菌产酸,从而达到防龋的效果。     

嗜乙酰乙酸棒杆菌Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum-Δldh缺氧条件下代谢葡萄糖途径的变化

缺氧条件下嗜乙酰乙酸棒杆菌Corynebacterium acetoacidophilum ATCC13870生长停滞,却能够代谢葡萄糖产生以乳酸和琥珀酸为主的有机酸。采用以sacB基因为反向筛选标记的同源重组染色体基因敲除系统,敲除嗜乙酰乙酸棒杆菌的乳酸脱氢酶基因,得到的Δldh菌株CCTCC NO.M20122041在缺氧条件下不产乳酸,葡萄糖消耗速率降低了29.3%,产琥珀酸和乙酸浓度分别提高45.6%和182%;NADH/NAD+值小于1(约0.7);磷酸烯醇式丙酮酸羧化酶和乙酸激酶的比酶活分别提高84%和12倍。说明嗜乙酰乙酸棒杆菌中乳酸合成途径的阻断驱使了琥珀酸和乙酸代谢途径加强,推测加强NADH供给和阻断乙酸产生支路可能是提高C.acetoacidophilum菌株产琥珀酸产量的有效途径。     

The Alcaligenes eutrophus ldh structural gene encodes a novel type of lactate dehydrogenase

Abstract The lactate dehydrogenase gene, ldh , of Alcaligenes eutrophus H16 was identified on a 14-kbp Eco RI restriction fragment of a genomic library in the cosmid pHC79 by hybridization with a 50-mer synthetic oligonucleotide which was derived from the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified enzyme. Recombinant strains of Escherichia coli JM83, which harboured a 2.0-kbp Pst I subfragment in pUC9-1, expressed LDH at a high level, if ldh was downstream from and colinear to the E. coli lac promoter. The nucleotide sequence of a region of 4245 bp revealed several open reading frames which might represent coding regions. One represented the ldh gene. The amino acid sequence deduced from ldh exhibited 29% and 36% identity to the L-malate dehydrogenase of Methanothermus fervidus and to the putative translation product of an E. coli sequence of unknown function, respectively. The ldh was separated by short intergenic regions from two other open reading frames: ORF5 was located downstream of and colinear to ldh , and its putative translational product revealed 38 to 56% amino acid identity to penicillin-binding proteins. ORF3 was located upstream of and colinear to ldh , and its putative gene translational product represented a hydrophobic protein. A sequence, which resembled the A. eutrophus alcohol dehydrogenase promoter, was detected upstream of ORF3, which most probably represents the first transcribed gene of an operon consisting of ORF3, ldh and ORF5.     

Lactate dehydrogenase has no control on lactate production but has a strong negative control on formate production in Lactococcus lactis.

A series of mutant strains of Lactococcus lactis were constructed with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities ranging from below 1% to 133% of the wild-type activity level. The mutants with 59% to 133% of lactate dehydrogenase activity had growth rates similar to the wild-type and showed a homolactic pattern of fermentation. Only after lactate dehydrogenase activity was reduced ninefold compared to the wild-type was the growth rate significantly affected, and the ldh mutants started to produce mixed-acid products (formate, acetate, and ethanol in addition to lactate). Flux control coefficients were determined and it was found that lactate dehydrogenase exerted virtually no control on the glycolytic flux at the wild-type enzyme level and also not on the flux catalyzed by the enzyme itself, i.e. on the lactate production. As expected, the flux towards the mixed-acid products was strongly enhanced in the strain deleted for lactate dehydrogenase. What is more surprising is that the enzyme had a strong negative control ( CLDHJF1 =-1.3) on the flux to formate at the wild-type level of lactate dehydrogenase. Furthermore, we showed that L. lactis has limited excess of capacity of lactate dehydrogenase, only 70% more than needed to catalyze the lactate flux in the wild-type cells.     

High ethanol titers from cellulose by using metabolically engineered thermophilic, anaerobic microbes

This work describes novel genetic tools for use in Clostridium thermocellum that allow creation of unmarked mutations while using a replicating plasmid. The strategy employed counter-selections developed from the native C. thermocellum hpt gene and the Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum tdk gene and was used to delete the genes for both lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh) and phosphotransacetylase (Pta). The Δldh Δpta mutant was evolved for 2,000 h, resulting in a stable strain with 40:1 ethanol selectivity and a 4.2-fold increase in ethanol yield over the wild-type strain. Ethanol production from cellulose was investigated with an engineered coculture of organic acid-deficient engineered strains of both C. thermocellum and T. saccharolyticum. Fermentation of 92 g/liter Avicel by this coculture resulted in 38 g/liter ethanol, with acetic and lactic acids below detection limits, in 146 h. These results demonstrate that ethanol production by thermophilic, cellulolytic microbes is amenable to substantial improvement by metabolic engineering.     

Cloning and expression of the Clostridium thermocellum L-lactate dehydrogenase gene in Escherichia coli and enzyme characterization

The structural gene for L-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (EC.1.1.1.27) from Clostridium thermocellum 27405 was cloned in Escherichia coli by screening the Lambda Zap II phage library of C. thermocellum genomic DNA. In one positive clone, an open reading frame of 948 base pairs corresponded to C. thermocellum ldh gene encoding for the predicted 315-residue protein. The ldh gene was successfully expressed in E. coli FMJ39 (ldh mutant) under the lac promoter. The recombinant enzyme was partially purified from E. coli cell extracts and its kinetic properties were determined. Clostridium thermocellum LDH was shown to catalyze a highly reversible reaction and to be an allosteric enzyme that is activated by fructose-1,6-diphosphate (FDP). For pyruvate, partially purified LDH had Km and Vmax values of 7.3 mmol/L and 87 micromol/min, respectively, and in the presence of FDP, a 24-fold decrease in Km and a 5.7-fold increase in Vmax were recorded. The enzyme exhibited no marked catalytic activity for lactate in the absence of FDP, whereas Km and Vmax values were 59.5 mmol/L and 52 micromol/min, respectively, in its presence. The enzyme did not lose activity when incubated at 65 degrees C for 5 min.     

Targeted gene engineering in Clostridium cellulolyticum H10 without methylation

Genetic engineering of Clostridium cellulolyticum has been developed slowly compared with that of other clostridial species, and one of the major reasons might be the restriction and modification (RM) system which degrades foreign DNA. Here, a putative MspI endonuclease gene, ccel2866, was inactivated by a ClosTron-based gene disruption method. The resulting C. cellulolyticum mutant H10ΔmspI lost the MspI endonuclease activity and can accept unmethylated DNA efficiently. Following that, an oxygen-independent green fluorescence protein gene was introduced into H10ΔmspI without methylation, generating a convenient reporter system to evaluate the expression of heterologous protein in C. cellulolyticum by green fluorescence. To further demonstrate the efficiency of the H10ΔmspI, double mutants H10ΔmspIΔldh and H10ΔmspIΔack were constructed by disrupting lactate dehydrogenase gene ccel2485 and acetate kinase gene ccel2136 in H10ΔmspI, respectively, without DNA methylation, and the stability of the double mutation was confirmed after the 100th generation. The mutant H10ΔmspI constructed here can be used as a platform for further targeted gene manipulation conveniently and efficiently. It will greatly facilitate the metabolic engineering of C. cellulolyticum aiming at faster cellulose degradation and higher biofuel production at the molecular level.     

L—乳酸脱氢酶基因克隆及功能分析

构建了一株产D,L-乳酸的乳杆菌(Lactobaeillus sp．)MD—1的基因库。利用乳酸脱氢酶和丙酮酸裂解酶缺陷的Escherichia coli FMJ144作为宿主,通过互补筛选分离克隆到乳酸脱氢酶基因(ldhL)。核酸序列分析表明,该基因以ATG为起始密码子编码316个氨基酸残基组成的蛋白质,预测的分子量为33．84kD;5′端存在典型的启动子结构,3′端的终止子是不依赖于ρ因子的转录终止子。ldhL编码的蛋白质有3个保守区域,其中Gly13～Asp50保守区域是NADH的结合位点,Asp73～Ile100和Asn123～Arg154保守区是酶的活性部位。该ldhL和其他乳杆菌的ldhL基因和编码的氨基酸序列相似性较低,核苷酸序列相似性最高仅为64．1％,氨基酸序列相似性最高仅为68．9％,是新的L—乳酸脱氢酶基因。