Neoasaia chiangmaiensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel osmotolerant acetic acid bacterium in the alpha-Proteobacteria

An acetic acid bacterium, designated as isolate AC28(T), was isolated from a flower of red ginger (khing daeng in Thai; Alpinia purpurata) collected in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at pH 3.5 by use of a glucose/ethanol/acetic acid (0.3%, w/v) medium. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences for 1,376 bases showed that isolate AC28(T) constituted a cluster along with the type strain of Kozakia baliensis. However, the isolate formed an independent cluster in a phylogenetic tree based on 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequences for 586 bases. Pair-wise sequence similarities of the isolate in 16S rRNA gene sequences for 1,457 bases were 93.0-88.3% to the type strains of Asaia, Kozakia, Swaminathania, Acetobacter, Gluconobacter, Gluconacetobacter, Acidomonas, and Saccharibacter species. Restriction analysis of 16S-23S rDNA ITS regions discriminated isolate AC28(T) from the type strains of Asaia and Kozakia species. Cells were non-motile. Colonies were pink, shiny, and smooth. The isolate produced acetic acid from ethanol. Oxidation of acetate and lactate was negative. The isolate grew on glutamate agar and mannitol agar. Growth was positive on 30% D-glucose (w/v) and in the presence of 0.35% acetic acid (w/v), but not in the presence of 1.0% KNO(3) (w/v). Ammoniac nitrogen was hardly assimilated on a glucose medium or a mannitol medium. Production of dihydroxyacetone from glycerol was weakly positive. The isolate did not produce a levan-like polysaccharide on a sucrose medium. Major isoprenoid quinone was Q-10. DNA base composition was 63.1 mol% G+C. On the basis of the results obtained, Neoasaia gen. nov. was proposed with Neoasaia chiangmaiensis sp. nov. The type strain was isolate AC28(T) (=BCC 15763(T) =NBRC 101099(T)).     

Energy metabolism of a unique acetic acid bacterium, Asaia bogorensis, that lacks ethanol oxidation activity

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are known as a vinegar producer on account of their ability to accumulate a high concentration of acetic acid due to oxidative fermentation linking the ethanol oxidation respiratory chain. Reactions in oxidative fermentation cause poor growth because a large amount of the carbon source is oxidized incompletely and the harmful oxidized products are accumulated almost stoichiometrically in the culture medium during growth, but a newly identified AAB, Asaia, has shown unusual properties, including scanty acetic acid production and rapid growth, as compared with known AAB as Acetobacter, Gluconobacter, and Gluconacetobacter. To understand these unique properties of Asaia in more detail, the respiratory chain and energetics of this strain were investigated. It was found that Asaia lacks quinoprotein alcohol dehydrogenase, but has other sugar and sugar alcohol-oxidizing enzymes specific to the respiratory chain of Gluconobacter, especially quinoprotein glycerol dehydrogenase. It was also found that Asaia has a cyanide-sensitive cytochrome bo(3)-type ubiquinol oxidase as sole terminal oxidase in the respiratory chain, and that it exhibits a higher H(+)/O ratio.     

Production of acetic acid by Dekkera/Brettanomyces yeasts under conditions of constant pH

Sixty yeast strains were previously screened for their ability to produce acetic acid, in shaken flask batch culture, from either glucose or ethanol. Seven of the strains belonging to the Brettanomyces and Dekkera genera, from the ARS Culture Collection, Peoria, IL, were further evaluated for acetic acid production in bioreactor batch culture at 28 °C, constant aeration (0.75 v/v/m) and pH (6.5). The medium contained either 100 g glucose/l or 35 g ethanol/l as the carbon/energy source. Dekkera intermedia NRRL YB-4553 produced 42.8 and 14.9 g acetic acid/l from the two carbon sources, respectively, after 64.5 h. The optimal pH was determined to be 5.5. When the initial glucose concentration was 150 or 200 g/l, the yeast produced 57.5 and 65.1 g acetic acid/l, respectively.     

Ethanol tolerance and carbohydrate metabolism in lactobacilli

Summary This paper describes the ethanol tolerance and metabolism of 31 strains ofLactobacillus on glucose, xylose, lactose, cellobiose and starch. The purpose of this work was to determine the suitability of the 31 strains as potential host for the ethanol producing genes, pyruvate decarboxylase and aldehyde dehydrogenase, fromZymomonas mobilis. The 31 strains were screened for their ability to grow in 0 to 8% v/v ethanol on all five carbohydrates. Those strains that were able to grow to an OD of 1.0 in 8% ethanol were evaluated at ethanol concentrations up to 16%. v/v. The fermentative products from the five carbohydrates were analyzed to determine the ratios of lactic acid, ethanol, and acetic acid.Published as Paper No. 9786, Journal Series Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station, Lincoln, NE 68583-0704.     

High ethanol tolerance of new isolates of Clostridium thermocellum strains SS21 and SS22

Clostridium thermocellum strains SS21 and SS22, producing high yields of ethanol, were tolerant to 4.0 and 5.0% (v/v) ethanol, respectively. This is the highest ethanol tolerance so far reported by wild type strains of C. thermocellum. In the presence of added ethanol, both the strains had extended period of growth arrest. On addition of ethanol at different culture ages increase in ethanol tolerance upto 7.0 and 8.0% (v/v) by strains SS21 and SS22, respectively was observed. The optimum growth temperature for strain SS21 decreased as the concentration of ethanol in the medium increased and remained constant for strain SS22. Both the strains were tolerant to various solvents and acetic acid indicating that high ethanol tolerance of the strains is due to the general solvent tolerance of the organisms.     

Acetic acid production by Dekkera/Brettanomyces yeasts

Yeast belonging to the genera Brettanomyces and Dekkera are noted for spoiling cellar and bottled wine through the production of haze, turbidity and acetic acid. However, I was unable to find information on the use of these yeasts for the expressed purpose of acetic acid production. Sixty yeast strains belonging to these, and several other genera, from the ARS Culture Collection, Peoria, IL, were screened for their ability to produce both ethanol and/or acetic acid. For ethanol production, the strains were grown anaerobically at 24 and 30 °C in batch culture using glucose (100 g/l) as the carbon/energy source. For acetic acid production, the strains were grown aerobically in batch culture using either glucose (100 g/l) or ethanol (35 g/l) as the carbon/energy source. In the initial ethanol production screen, 19 strains produced at least 45 g ethanol/l. In the initial acetic acid screen, 28 of the yeast strains produced at least 5 g acetic acid/l from 100 g glucose/l, while 23 strains produced at least 5 g acetic acid/l from 35 g ethanol/l.     

Interaction effects of lactic acid and acetic acid at different temperatures on ethanol production by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> in corn mash

The combined effects of lactic acid and acetic acid on ethanol production by S. cerevisiae in corn mash, as influenced by temperature, were examined. Duplicate full factorial experiments (three lactic acid concentrations × three acetic acid concentrations) were performed to evaluate the interaction between lactic and acetic acids on the ethanol production of yeast at each of the three temperatures, 30, 34, and 37°C. Corn mash at 30% dry solids adjusted to pH 4 after lactic and acetic acid addition was used as the substrate. Ethanol production rates and final ethanol concentrations decreased (P<0.001) progressively as the concentration of combined lactic and acetic acids in the corn mash increased and the temperature was raised from 30 to 37°C. At 30°C, essentially no ethanol was produced after 96 h when 0.5% w/v acetic acid was present in the mash (with 0.5, 2, and 4% w/v lactic acid). At 34 and 37°C, the final concentrations of ethanol produced by the yeast were noticeably reduced by the presence of 0.3% w/v acetic acid and ≥2% w/v lactic acid. It can be concluded that, as in previous studies with defined media, lactic acid and acetic acid act synergistically to reduce ethanol production by yeast in corn mash. In addition, the inhibitory effects of combined lactic and acetic acid in corn mash were more apparent at elevated temperatures.     

Drug resistance marker-aided genome shuffling to improve acetic acid tolerance in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis>

Acetic acid existing in a culture medium is one of the most limiting constraints in yeast growth and viability during ethanol fermentation. To improve acetic acid tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, a drug resistance marker-aided genome shuffling approach with higher screen efficiency of shuffled mutants was developed in this work. Through two rounds of genome shuffling of ultraviolet mutants derived from the original strain 308, we obtained a shuffled strain YZ2, which shows significantly faster growth and higher cell viability under acetic acid stress. Ethanol production of YZ2 (within 60 h) was 21.6% higher than that of 308 when 0.5% (v/v) acetic acid was added to fermentation medium. Membrane integrity, higher in vivo activity of the H⁺-ATPase, and lower oxidative damage after acetic acid treatment are the possible reasons for the acetic acid-tolerance phenotype of YZ2. These results indicated that this novel genome shuffling approach is powerful to rapidly improve the complex traits of industrial yeast strains.     

UPRE-lac Z为报告基因评价酵母UPR响应初步研究 *

目的: 未折叠蛋白质反应UPR是酵母最重要蛋白质质量控制机制之一,研究UPR响应规律有助于优化异源蛋白分泌途径合成和应对酸醇等胁迫因子的细胞自我保护。方法: 选择实验室菌株W303-1A和工业菌株An-a,以UPRE启动子控制下的Lac Z为报告基因,利用CRISPR/Cas9技术构建得到指示菌株W303-1A (leu 2::UPRE-lac Z)和An-a (leu 2::UPRE- lac Z),分别简称WZ和AZ。结果: 生长曲线测定显示WZ和AZ与亲本菌株的生长接近;添加下述试剂孵育4h后测定β-半乳糖苷酶酶活:1μg/ml衣霉素、8%(v/v)乙醇、0.3%(v/v)乙酸、5%(v/v)乙醇+0.1%(v/v)乙酸;菌株AZ的比酶活分别是对照值的8.2、26.4、1.1和7.9倍,而菌株WZ则分别为12.6、2.4、1.0和1.0倍;进一步以YEplac195为载体表达β-葡萄糖苷酶,AZ和WZ转化子在2%纤维二糖中生长24h的β-葡萄糖苷酶酶活值分别为0.35和6.12U/ml,相应的LacZ则分别为对照值的3.1和5.4倍。结论: 两个菌株显示了在抑制物和异源蛋白表达UPR响应和调控能力上的显著差异,为其改造利用提供了方向;研究也为分析抑制物耐受性和异源蛋白表达关键制约因素、优化酵母ER和UPR信号通路的调控奠定了初步方法基础。     

Ethanol and acetic acid tolerance in free and immobilized cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Acetobacter aceti

Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Acetobacter aceti cells were immobilized by entrapment in Ca-alginate or by adsorption on to preformed cellulose beads and were treated with 0-20% (v/v) ethanol and 0-10% (v/v) acetic acid. At 20% (v/v) ethanol, lethal for free yeast cells, 62-72% of the immobilized cells survived. In 10% (v/v) acetic acid, free and adsorbed Acetobacter aceti cells ceased to grow but 69% of entrapped cells survived. Cells released from the carrier showed an intermediate survival (20-60%).     

Effect of pH and lactic or acetic acid on ethanol productivity by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in corn mash

The effects of lactic and acetic acids on ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in corn mash, as influenced by pH and dissolved solids concentration, were examined. The lactic and acetic acid concentrations utilized were 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0% w/v, and 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6% w/v, respectively. Corn mashes (20, 25 and 30% dry solids) were adjusted to the following pH levels after lactic or acetic acid addition: 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 or 5.5 prior to yeast inoculation. Lactic acid did not completely inhibit ethanol production by the yeast. However, lactic acid at 4% w/v decreased (P<0.05) final ethanol concentration in all mashes at all pH levels. In 30% solids mash set at pH ≤5, lactic acid at 3% w/v reduced (P<0.05) ethanol production. In contrast, inhibition by acetic acid increased as the concentration of solids in the mash increased and the pH of the medium declined. Ethanol production was completely inhibited in all mashes set at pH 4 in the presence of acetic acid at concentrations ≥0.8% w/v. In 30% solids mash set at pH 4, final ethanol levels decreased (P<0.01) with only 0.1% w/v acetic acid. These results suggest that the inhibitory effects of lactic acid and acetic acid on ethanol production in corn mash fermentation when set at a pH of 5.0–5.5 are not as great as that reported thus far using laboratory media.     

Delayed larval development in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anopheles</Emphasis> mosquitoes deprived of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Asaia</Emphasis>bacterial symbionts

BACKGROUND: In recent years, acetic acid bacteria have been shown to be frequently associated with insects, but knowledge on their biological role in the arthropod host is limited. The discovery that acetic acid bacteria of the genus Asaia are a main component of the microbiota of Anopheles stephensi makes this mosquito a useful model for studies on this novel group of symbionts. Here we present experimental results that provide a first evidence for a beneficial role of Asaia in An. stephensi. RESULTS: Larvae of An. stephensi at different stages were treated with rifampicin, an antibiotic effective on wild-type Asaia spp., and the effects on the larval development were evaluated. Larvae treated with the antibiotic showed a delay in the development and an asynchrony in the appearance of later instars. In larvae treated with rifampicin, but supplemented with a rifampicin-resistant mutant strain of Asaia, larval development was comparable to that of control larvae not exposed to the antibiotic. Analysis of the bacterial diversity of the three mosquito populations confirmed that the level of Asaia was strongly decreased in the antibiotic-treated larvae, since the symbiont was not detectable by PCR-DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis), while Asaia was consistently found in insects supplemented with rifampicin plus the antibiotic-resistant mutant in the diet, and in those not exposed to the antibiotic. CONCLUSIONS: The results here reported indicate that Asaia symbionts play a beneficial role in the normal development of An. stephensi larvae.     

Effects of acetic acid and lactic acid on the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a minimal medium

Specific growth rates (μ) of two strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae decreased exponentially (R ²>0.9) as the concentrations of acetic acid or lactic acid were increased in minimal media at 30°C. Moreover, the length of the lag phase of each growth curve (h) increased exponentially as increasing concentrations of acetic or lactic acid were added to the media. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of acetic acid for yeast growth was 0.6% w/v (100 mM) and that of lactic acid was 2.5% w/v (278 mM) for both strains of yeast. However, acetic acid at concentrations as low as 0.05–0.1% w/v and lactic acid at concentrations of 0.2–0.8% w/v begin to stress the yeasts as seen by reduced growth rates and decreased rates of glucose consumption and ethanol production as the concentration of acetic or lactic acid in the media was raised. In the presence of increasing acetic acid, all the glucose in the medium was eventually consumed even though the rates of consumption differed. However, this was not observed in the presence of increasing lactic acid where glucose consumption was extremely protracted even at a concentration of 0.6% w/v (66 mM). A response surface central composite design was used to evaluate the interaction between acetic and lactic acids on the specific growth rate of both yeast strains at 30C. The data were analysed using the General Linear Models (GLM) procedure. From the analysis, the interaction between acetic acid and lactic acid was statistically significant (P≤0.001), i.e., the inhibitory effect of the two acids present together in a medium is highly synergistic. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (2001) 26, 171–177. Received 06 June 2000/ Accepted in revised form 21 September 2000     

A Method for the Selective Removal of Deoxyribonucleic Acid from Tissue Sections

The deoxyrihonucleic acid (DNA) of chromatin undergoar depurinization on mild acid hydrolysis with a picric acid-formaldehyde mixture (Bouin's fluid). The apurinic acid thus formed is degraded by condensation with aniline and is lost from tissue sections, but ribonucleic acid (RNA) in nucleoli and cytoplasm is well preserved. Technique: Fi in Carnoy's fluid (ethanol:acetic acid 3:1 or ethanol:chloroform:acetic acid 6:3:1) or in aldehydes (10% formalin or 2.5% glutaraldehyde bsered to pH 7.0). Hydrolyse deparaEnii sections 12-24 hr at 27-50 C in Bouin's fluid, wash in distilled water, immerse in 25% (v/v) acetic acid, treat 1 hr at 27-30 C with 10% (v/v) dine in 25% acetic acid, wash in 25% acetic acid and then in water. Stain 10-40 min with 0₃% toluidine blue in 0.05 M potassium biphthalate bder (pH 4.0); rinse in distilled water, pass to 10% (w/v) ammonium molybdate for 1 min, rinse again in water and pass through tert-butanol and xylene to a synthetic resin. Chromatin and chromosomes are pale green; RNA in nucleoli and cytoplasm deep purple.     

Engineering efficient xylose metabolism into an acetic acid-tolerant Zymomonas mobilis strain by introducing adaptation-induced mutations

The impact of the two adaptation-induced mutations in an improved xylose-fermenting Zymomonas mobilis strain was investigated. The chromosomal mutation at the xylose reductase gene was critical to xylose metabolism by reducing xylitol formation. Together with the plasmid-borne mutation impacting xylose isomerase activity, these two mutations accounted for 80?% of the improvement achieved by adaptation. To generate a strain fermenting xylose in the presence of high acetic acid concentrations, we transferred the two mutations to an acetic acid-tolerant strain. The resulting strain fermented glucose?+?xylose (each at 5?% w/v) with 1?% (w/v) acetic acid at pH 5.8 to completion with an ethanol yield of 93.4?%, outperforming other reported strains. This work demonstrated the power of applying molecular understanding in strain improvement.     

An improved toluene-triton-based liquid scintillation system for counting 14C-labeled compounds at ambient temperature

With respect to counting rate and stability, the standard toluene/Triton X-100 (2:1, v/v) scintillation system was neither adequate for assaying trichloro[¹⁴C]acetic acid in ethanol solution or in ethanol extracts from shoots and roots of wheat seedlings, nor appropriate for counting [¹⁴C]dicamba in ethanol extracts from roots of barley and oats seedlings. The counting rates decreased rapidly during the first 10 hr, followed by a further decline at slower rates. The addition of NCS (3.3%, v/v) made the system suitable for measuring a number of ¹⁴C-labeled compounds (3-amino-s-triazole, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid, [(4-chloro-o-tolyl)oxy]acetic acid, and trichloroacetic acid) either dissolved in ethanol or extracted from seedlings of cereal crops.     

Mutants of the pentose-fermenting yeast Pachysolen tannophilus tolerant to hardwood spent sulfite liquor and acetic acid

A strain development program was initiated to improve the tolerance of the pentose-fermenting yeast Pachysolen tannophilus to inhibitors in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Several rounds of UV mutagenesis followed by screening were used to select for mutants of P. tannophilus NRRL Y2460 with improved tolerance to hardwood spent sulfite liquor (HW SSL) and acetic acid in separate selection lines. The wild type (WT) strain grew in 50 % (v/v) HW SSL while third round HW SSL mutants (designated UHW301, UHW302 and UHW303) grew in 60 % (v/v) HW SSL, with two of these isolates (UHW302 and UHW303) being viable and growing, respectively, in 70 % (v/v) HW SSL. In defined liquid media containing acetic acid, the WT strain grew in 0.70 % (w/v) acetic acid, while third round acetic acid mutants (designated UAA301, UAA302 and UAA303) grew in 0.80 % (w/v) acetic acid, with one isolate (UAA302) growing in 0.90 % (w/v) acetic acid. Cross-tolerance of HW SSL-tolerant mutants to acetic acid and vice versa was observed with UHW303 able to grow in 0.90 % (w/v) acetic acid and UAA302 growing in 60 % (v/v) HW SSL. The UV-induced mutants retained the ability to ferment glucose and xylose to ethanol in defined media. These mutants of P. tannophilus are of considerable interest for bioconversion of the sugars in lignocellulosic hydrolysates to ethanol.     

Acetic acid tolerance in Drosophila is a prerequisite for ethanol tolerance

Acetic acid tolerance compared with ethanol tolerance of Drosophila simulans and six Drosophila melanogaster strains shows a curvilinear relation with apparent asymptotic hyperbolic profile. The upper limit of acetic acid tolerance is lower than that for ethanol. We compared strains which had pairwise identical alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) coding regions but different genetic backgrounds. A positive regression existed for ethanol tolerance on ADH activity. Adh-null mutants with very low ethanol tolerances had appreciable acetic acid tolerances and as a consequence did not fit the curve. ADH-F and ADH-S strains selected for high ethanol tolerances had the ability to tolerate high ethanol concentrations even after selection had been relaxed for several years. These selected lines tolerated higher acetic acid concentrations than the non-selected original strains. We propose that intake of high concentrations of ethanol and oxidation into acetic acid induces esterification of ethanol and acetic acid into ethylacetate. This cannot take place after the intake of acetic acid only, which also gives a lower energy yield.     

Cultivation and preservation of vinegar bacteria

Ten strains of acetic acid bacteria were investigated for their characteristics of growth and metabolism. The strains were identified as those presently in use for industrial vinegar production in southern Germany. At the time of isolation from industrial acetators the total concentrations, i.e. acetic acid (w/v) plus ethanol (v/v), of the fermenting vinegars were 6.1–14.9%. The applicability of a previously described method for starter preparation was examined for the various isolates as well as for the type strains of species of the genera Gluconobacter and Acetobacter. Isolates from cider or wine vinegar fermentations grew readily in RAE-medium to total counts of >1×10⁹ cells ml⁻¹. For the cultivation of strains isolated from spirit vinegar fermentations AE-medium proved most suitable. Cultures of these strains exhibited lag phases of 2–5 days and grew up to total counts of <1×10⁹ cells ml⁻¹. All type strains could be grown on RAE-agar. The use of 20% malt extract as cryo-protectant was effective for the preservation of all strains. Upon revitalization the cultures were suitable as inoculum for starting fermentations in pilot acetators. 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes were constructed which were species specific for Gluconobacter oxydans or Acetobacter aceti or group specific for Acetobacter europaeus/Acetobacter xylinum. The probes hybridized with the DNA of the respective type strains. Four isolates were allotted to A. europaeus/A. xylinum applying the group specific probe. The DNA of six of the Acetobacter sp. hybridized with none of the probes.     

Effects of acetic acid on the temperature profile of ethanol tolerance inSaccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary In a strain ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae, acetic acid at concentrations up to 1% (v/v) depressed the tolerance to added ethanol, from 11% (v/v) down to zero, and simultaneously narrowed the temperature range of growth from 3–42°C to 19–26°C. In addition, acetic acid shifted the associative temperature profile of growthand death to lower temperatures, and depressed the growth yield on glucose.