Study of the lytic activity of actinomycetes isolated from various soils in Georgia]

The lytic activities of 310 cultures from the Collection of Actinomycetes of the Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, National Academy of Sciences of Georgia, were studied; 18% of these strains appeared capable of lysing the yeast cell wall. The active producer of the enzyme was selected. This culture was isolated from chestnut soil in Gardabani raion (Central Georgia). Its cultural-morphological, biochemical, and antagonistic properties allowed the culture to be ascribed to the species Geodermatophilus obseurus Luedemann, 1968. The maximal lytic activity under deep cultivation conditions, exceeding twofold the activity of Actinomyces griseinus, was observed during the logarithmic growth phase.     

Red Yeast Cell Lysis by Red Yeast Cell Wall Lytic Enzyme and Protease

The purified red yeast cell wall lytic enzyme of Penicillium lilacinum No. 2093 has a potent saccharifying activity against cell walls, but the living cell lytic activity of it is considerably lower than that of the culture filtrate. Therefore, the living cell lytic factors in the culture filtrate were examined. The alkaline protease of Pen. lilacinum played an important role for living cell lysis. The synergistic effect on living cell lysis was also detected, when acid proteases from various origins were combined with the cell wall lytic enzyme. These results indicated that the protein layers of red yeast cell surface inhibited the action of a glycanase,cell wall lytic enzyme, and the protein molecule contributed to retain the rigid structure of the wall.     

Purification and Properties of Pectinesterase from Acrocylindrium

The crude enzyme fraction of precipitates resulting from the addition of 70% alcohol to the culture filtrate of A. lunatus was separated by CM-Sephadex and Sephadex G-75 chromatography into 13 fractions having lytic activity for M. radiodurans, M. lysodeikticus and P. radiora. Five of the fractions showed similar lytic activity spectra, but the other fractions were separated by the specificities of their lytic activities. This result indicates that the wide lytic spectrum of the crude enzyme against microorganisms is attributable to the action of many lytic enzymes. All fractions, except for P2-2 fraction (designated as the P2-2. enzyme), contained at least two proteins as determined by disc gel electrophoresis. The P2-2 enzyme was purified 34-fold by rechromatography on Sephadex G-75, and appeared to be homogeneous on disc gel electrophoresis. The enzyme was able to lyse intact cells of M. radiodurans and M. lysodeikticus without detergent, and those of P. radiora with detergent, but was not able to digest casein.     

Serratia marcescens-Lytic Enzyme Produced by Micromonospora sp. Strain No. 152

A strain of Micromonospora sp. producing a lytic enzyme toward Serratia marcescens was isolated from soil. The lytic enzyme, called 152-enzyme, was purified from the culture filtrate by salting-out with ammonium sulfate, DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, and gel filtration on Sephadex G-75. The molecular weight of 152-enzyme was 17,000 and the isoelectric point was pH 7.3. The 152-enzyme showed lytic activity toward S. marcescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus subtilis, but was completely intert toward Staphylococcus aureus. The enzyme also showed caseinolytic activity. The lytic and caseinolytic activities of 152-enzyme were maximum around pH 11.0 and at 60°C. Both activities were inhibited by DFP and API-2c. Liberation of amino groups from cell walls of P. aeruginosa by incubation with 152-enzyme suggested that the enzyme was a kind of cell wall-lytic peptidase.     

Bacteriolytic Activity of Enzymes Derived from Streptomyces Species

Streptomyces species H–402 and 1829 possessing high lytic activities against cariogenic streptococci which induce dental plaque and caries, were isolated by the screening from soils and sewers. They were identified as Streptomyces griseus and Streptomyces globisporus respectively. The former strain produced lytic enzyme accompanying spore formation during the surface culture, while the latter strain revealed a high activity in the submerged culture. These enzymes had wide substrate specificity against all groups of cariogenic streptococci. The lytic enzymes may be expected as an useful medicament for the prevention of dental caries.     

Isolation of a yeast-lyzing Arthrobacter species and the production of the lytic enzyme complex in batch and continuous-flow fermentors

A gram-negative bacterium strongly lytic toward living cells of the food yeast Saccharomyces fragilis was isolated by continuous-flow enrichment from compost. The organism was identified as a species of Arthrobacter. The extracellular lytic enzyme complex produced by this bacterium contained β-1,3-glucanase, mannan mannohydrolase, and proteolytic activities. The polysaccharases were inducible by whole yeast cells. In chemostat cultures on chemically defined media, synthesis of the polysaccharases was very slight and only detectable at dilution rates below 0.02 hr^?1. Enzyme production in defined media was not solely dependent on growth rate but also was influenced by the growth limiting substrate and the culture history. The production of individual depolymerases and of the lytic activity was studied in batch and chemostat cultures containing yeast as the limiting substrate. The maximum specific growth rate of the Arthrobacter under these conditions was 0.22 hr^?1. β-1,3-Glucanase and proteolytic activities were synthesized by exponentially growing bacteria but maximum lytic titers did not develop until the specific growth rate was declining, at which time mannan mannohydrolase syntheses was induced. In yeast limited chemostats polysaccharase syntheses were greatest at the lowest dilution rates examined, namely 0.02 hr^?1. Further optimization of enzyme production was achieved by feeding the Arthrobacter culture to a second-stage chemostat. A comparison of lytic enzyme productivities in batch and chemostat cultures has been made.     

Taxonomic Characters and Culture Conditions of a Bacterium which Produces a Lytic Enzyme on Rhizopus Cell Wall

A bacterium R–4 which produces a novel type of lytic enzyme which lyses fungal and yeast cell walls was isolated from the air and was identified to belong to the genus Bacillus.

Production of the enzyme appeared to require a high concentration of nitrogen source in medium. No inducing substance was needed for the enzyme production.

A crude preparation of the enzyme was used to characterize the lytic activity. From the lytic spectrum, the enzyme seemed to have the highest activity toward the cell walls of species in the genus Rhizopus among various fungi and yeasts tested, A proteolytic activity was shown to be parallel with the lytic activity. The lytic activity was also accompanied with the liberation of reducing sugars from Rhizopus cell wall, but no activity on some known carbohydrates tested was detected in the preparation.     

Inhibition by Liposomal Cholesterol of Streptococcus Pneumoniae Induced Lung Epithelial Cell Damage

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae was shown to be capable of lysing A549 cells in culture. Membrane damage to cells as assessed by trypan blue exclusion increased with increasing concentration of bacteria. After 45 min of incubation with 7.5 × 10⁸ bacteria/ml less than 20% of A549 cells excluded trypan blue. The lytic activity of S. pneumoniae was inhibited by phosphatidylcholine liposomes containing cholesterol. Using an haemolysis assay and S. pneumoniae's culture filtrates, the efficiency of the anti-lytic activity of liposomes was found to be distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC) > dipalmitoylphosphatidylcho-line (DPPC) > dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC). Furthermore, the anti-lytic activity also depended on the cholesterol content in a non-trivial manner. There was no protection against haemolytic activity at cholesterol content of less than 20% for DSPC and 35 mole% for DPPC and DMPC liposomes respectively. Above these threshold values inhibition of lytic activity increased sharply. In agreement with the haemolysis results, A549 cells were protected by liposomes against the lytic activity of S. pneumoniae with the efficiency also being DSPC > DPPC > DMPC. Clearly the efficiency of liposomal cholesterol is increased with increasing gel to liquid crystalline phase transition temperature of the lipid matrix. The results suggest that liposomal cholesterol may be used to protect the host against cell damage caused by S. pneumoniae.     

Purification and Properties of a Lytic Enzyme from Streptomyces griseus H-402

A lytic enzyme which was capable of lysing cells of Streptococcus mutans was purified from the culture filtrate of Streplomyces griseus H–402 by Amberlite CG–50 treatment, CM-cellulose and hydroxylapatite column chromatographies, and Sephadex G–150 gelfiltration. The lytic enzyme was obtained in a crystalline form which was homogeneous in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight was estimated to be 2×10⁴ by the thin-layer gel-filtration method on Sephadex G–75, and 2.3 × 10⁴ by the method of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The enzyme was found to be a N-acetylmuramidase whose activity was lost by N-bromosuccinimide as an inhibitor.     

Lysis of yeast cells by Oenococcus oeni enzymes

Oenococcus oeni exhibited extracellular β (1→3) glucanase activity. This activity increased when cells were cultivated with glycosidic cell-wall macromolecules. In addition, the culture supernatant of the organism effectively lysed viable or dead cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This lytic activity appeared in the early stationary phase of bacterial growth. Yeast cells at the end of the log phase of growth were the most sensitive. The optimum temperature for lysis of viable yeast cells was 40°C, which is very different from the temperatures observed in enological conditions (15–20°C). Moreover, the rate of the lytic activity was significantly lower in comparison with yeast cell wall-degrading activities previously measured in various other microorganisms. Therefore, yeast cell death that is sometimes observed during the alcoholic fermentation could hardly be attributed to the lytic activity of O. oeni. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (2000) 25, 193–197. Received 27 December 1999/ Accepted in revised form 14 July 2000     

Purification and Properties of Phage HM 7-Induced Lytic Enzyme of Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum

A lytic enzyme was isolated from phage HM 7-induced lysate of Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum, and purified about 200-fold by precipitation with ammonium sulfate, gel filtration with Sephadex G–75 and ampholine isoelectric focusing. The purified lytic enzyme had an apparent homogeneity on disc-electrophoresis, and the character of acidic protein showing isoelectric point at pH 4.0. The molecular weight of lytic enzyme was estimated to be about 100,000 from the result of SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The optimum pH for the lytic enzyme activity was 6.5. Maximum activity occurred at 30 to 35°C, and at the ionic strength of 0.04 m or above. The lytic enzyme activity was stimulated about 140% by 10?³ m EDTA. The lytic enzyme lysed the living cells, but it had a narrow specificity which was restricted to a certain species of Clostridium such as Cl. saccharoperbutylacetonicum, Cl. butyricum, Cl. botulinum, Cl. sporogenes, and Cl. thiaminolyticum.     

Erzeugung eines zellwandlytischen Enzymkomplexes aus Arthrobacter GJM-I zur Herstellung von Protoplasten aus Candia spec. H

Growing conditions have been found out for the bacterium Arthrobacter GJM-I to produce a lytic enzyme system, which converts cells of the yeast Candida spec. H to protoplasts quickly and in a good yield. Estimating the activities of α-mannanase and β-glucanase we found out the optimal culture time to gain the lytic enzyme system from the culture filtrate. It was shown that radioactive labeling of the yeast cells makes it possible to estimate quantitatively the conversion to protoplasts and the simultaneous lysis. The obtained lytic enzyme system can substitute the snail cnzyme system which was used for cell conversion of Candida spec. H to protoplasts till now.     

Inactivation of lytic enzymes by heat treatment in ultrafiltration-coupled acetonobutylic fermentation

Summary Clostridium acetobutylicum cultures were grown in batch mode, using mineral ultrafiltration membranes to confine the microbial cells in the fermentor while the permeate was subject to heat treatment (70° C for 20 min) before recycling. The extracellular lytic activity in the broth, measured by the initial rate of lysis of a buffered suspension of Clostridium cell walls, was strongly decreased by a factor of 6.7 at pH 5.5, and 3.9 at pH 4.8. This caused an enhancement of the growth rate during the course of fermentation and an increase in the maximal cell concentration, which was practically doubled in heat-treatment assays. The solvent production results obtained were less positive in terms of productivity and final butanol concentration, since there was no significant improvement, despite elimination of lytic enzyme inhibition. The heat-inactivation of lytic enzymes influenced the culture more than the suppression of product inhibition, particularly concerning the activity and orientation of this bacterial metabolism. Offprint requests to: P. Soucaille     

Degradation of Uredospores of the Soybean Rust Fungus (Phakopsora pachyrhizi Syd.) by Cell-Free Culture Filtrates of the Mycoparasite Verticillium Psalliotae Treschow

Verticillium psalliotae isolates Taiw and Thai C are effective parasites of the soybean rust fungus. Cell-free culture filtrates of these fungi, prepared after growth on autoclaved uredospores, contained β-1,3-glucanase, chitinase and protease activities and caused degradations, when rust spores were treated with them for 24 or 72 h. During these lytic processes carbohydrates, amino compounds and N-acetylhexosamine were released. The carbohydrate fraction was composed of mannitol, arabitol, trehalose, glucose and unidentified substances showing low R_f-values during thin layer chromatography. The amino compounds consisted of 10 amino acids (leucine and/or isoleucine, phenylalanine, glutamic acid, valine, arginine, asparagine, glutamine, serine, aspartic acid, histidine) and 5—7 substances which could not be identified. Verticillium lecanii isolate Konz is a weak parasite of soybean rust. During growth on uredospores the fungus produced culture filtrates without chitinase activity and with low total activities of β-1,3-glucanase and protease. Compared with V. psalliotae, culture filtrates of V. lecanii exerted lower lytic activities on soybean rust uredospores. The results are consistent with the aspect that the rapid growth of V. psalliotae on soybean rust fungus is primarily based on the secretion of lytic enzymes which make nutrients available to the mycoparasite.     

Heterocyst and akinete induction with altered pattern in Anabaena cylindrica,caused by neo-peptone

Neo-peptone B119 (Difco) was found to have a significant effect on differentiation of heterocysts and akinetes in Anabaena cylindrica. On adding neopeptone (0.4 g/l) to exponential phase culture of A. cylindrica, the following effects were observed (i) increased heterocyst frequency with altered heterocyst spacing and presence of double and multiple heterocysts after 24 h in cultures grown on N-free medium, (ii) induction of regular pattern of heterocysts after 48 h, in culture grown on medium supplemented with NH₄Cl, (iii) induction of pro-akinetes after 48 h in both N-free and ammonium-grown cultures. The higher concentrations of neo-peptone were lytic to A. cylindrica, and, its lytic and inductive effects could be decreased by acid hydrolysis or supplementation of NH₄Cl. Gel-filtration of neo-peptone showed that the inductive as well as the lytic effect was associated with some active factor(s) with molecular weight between 10,000–20,000. The retention of the inductive effect on autoclavation but its loss on trypsin digestion suggested that active factor(s) may be heat stable polypeptide(s). The heterocyst induction by active factor(s) decreased and akinete induction increased with increasing culture age. The pro-akinetes induced during exponential phase divided before maturation, while those induced during late exponential phase, could achieve full maturity. Growth and nitrogenase activity was unaffected while there was an increase in mean cell length on treatment of A. cylindrica with active factor(s) from neo-peptone, indicating that the effect may be mediated through cell division process(es).Abbreviations used N Nitrogen - chl chlorophyll     

Purification and Properties of Lytic Enzymes from Streptomyces globisporus 1829

Two lytic enzymes capable of lysing Streptococcus mutans have been purified to give a single band on disc-gel electrophoresis, respectively. The M–1 and M–2 enzymes were both proved to be N-acetylmuramidases. However, these enzymes were entirely different on their enzymatic properties. The molecular weights were about 20,000 and 11,000 for M–1 and M–2 enzymes, respectively, The maximal lytic activity of M–1 enzyme was obtained at ionic strength 0.05, while lytic activity of M–2 enzyme did not change within the ionic strength range of 0 to 0.05. The M–1 enzyme constituted the majority of the total lytic activity against the cell walls of Streptococcus mutans BHT of cultured filtrate. The M–2 enzyme showed less specific lytic activity on the cell walls of Streptococcus mutans BHT than M–1 enzyme.     

Cloning, sequencing and expression of a Bacillus bacteriolytic enzyme in Escherichia coli

Summary Several hundred bacterial isolates were screened for bacteriolytic activity by growing them on agar medium containing autoclaved, lyophilized Micrococcus lysodeikticus cells as the substrate. A Bacillus sp. producing the largest lytic zone was selected. A genomic bank of this selected bacterium was constructed in the multi-functional vector pTZ18R, with partial SauIIIA DNA fragments inserted at the SalI restriction site. Screening of 800 colonies of this bank for cell lysis gave 5 recombinants exhibiting lytic activity, as detected by analysis of extracts of sonicated Escherichia coli cells on denaturing polyacrylamide gels containing autoclaved, lyophilized M. lysodeikticus cells as the substrate. One clone (pBH2500), expressed inE. coli strain NM522, was found to code for a lytic enzyme corresponding, in molecular weight, to the 27 kDa Bacillus sp hydrolase. This clone with an insertion of 2.5 kb was then subcloned as a 929 bp EcoRI-SauIIIA fragment in pTZ18R (pBH929) and showed higher cell lytic activity. A unique open reading frame for a protein of 251 amino acids, followed by a putative terminator sequence, was found after a consensus ribosome binding site. A putative leader sequence was identified in the first 37 amino acids. One truncated subclone (pBH703), corresponding to 196 out of 251 residues from the protein N-terminal end, still possessed lytic activity.     

P45, an extracellular 45 kDa protein of Listeria monocytogenes with similarity to protein p60 and exhibiting peptidoglycan lytic activity

A monoclonal antibody obtained by immunization of mice with heat-killed cells of Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4d showed reactivity towards a protein (P45) from L. monocytogenes with an apparent molecular mass of 45 kDa. This protein was detected in the culture supernatant and at the cell surface of L. monocytogenes. Proteins cross-reacting with the monoclonal antibody were present in all Listeria strains investigated, except L. grayi. The structural gene was cloned in Escherichia coli and sequenced. Translation of the gene starts at a TTG initiation codon. The gene was found to code for a protein of 402 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 42.7 kDa. It has a signal peptide of 27 amino acid residues, resulting in a molecular mass for the mature polypeptide of 39.9 kDa. Protein database searches showed that this protein has 55% similarity and 38% identity to protein p60 of L. monocytogenes and exhibits significant sequence similarities to p54 from Enterococcus faecium and Usp45 from Lactococcus lactis. P45 was shown to have peptidoglycan lytic activity and the encoding gene was named spl (secreted protein with lytic property). Revision received: 11 August 1999 / Accepted: 8 September 1999     

Autolytic Enzyme System of Clostridium botulinum

Isolated cell walls of Clostridium botulinum type A strain 190L released an autolysin during autolysis of the cell walls. The autolysin was isolated from the cell walls, and partially purified 18.6-fold by ammonium sulfate precipitation, chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and gel filtration through Sephadex G-100. The purified preparation of the autolysin showed 2 major and 2 minor protein bands on Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Some properties of the autolysin were examined using SDS-treated cell walls of the organisms as a substrate. The autolysin was active over a pH range of 6 to 8, with a maximum near pH 6.8. The lytic activity was stimulated by 10^?4 M each of Co⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺ and Ca⁺⁺ in the order, whereas it was inhibited markedly by Cu⁺⁺. Mercaptoethanol (10^?4–10^?3 M) significantly activated the lytic action. Trypsin and nagarse (10 μg/ml) also stimulated the lytic activity. The lytic spectrum of the autolysin toward the SDS-treated cell walls obtained from various types of C. botulinum and C. perfringens indicated a relatively high specificity. After treatment with hot formamide the cell walls of C. botulinum increased in susceptibility to the autolysin.     

Role of ammonia and calcium in lysis of zoospores ofPhytophthora cactorum byBacillus cereus strain UW85

Cultures and cell-free culture filtrates of the biological control agentBacillus cereus strain UW85 lysed zoospores ofPhytophthora cactorum in vitro. Changes in the ionic composition of the growth medium caused by growth of UW85 account for the lytic activity. UW85 raised the pH, excreted ammonia, and removed calcium from the medium during growth and sporulation. Zoospores lysed when pCa²⁺:pNH₃ was greater than 0.8. The lytic activity was produced in uninoculated growth medium by adding ammonium chloride and base to create a pCa²⁺:pNH₃ ratio similar to that of UW85 culture filtrate.