N-Acetyl-isoleucine in Streptomyces avermitilis

Abstract N-Acetyl-isoleucine was identified during growth of Streptomyces avermitilis in a chemically defined medium supplemented with isoleucine.     

Random insertion of Tn4560 in Streptomyces lividans and Streptomyces avermitilis

Summary Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to show that insertions of transposon Tn4560 in Streptomyces lividans 66 and the avermectin-producer S. avermitilis are randomly distributed. DNA from the latter strain suffered degradation during electrophoresis that could be avoided by modification of the buffer. Inverse PCR primers were developed for Tn4560.     

Endospore formation by Streptomyces avermitilis in submerged culture

The capability of streptomycetes to form endospores during their life cycle was studied in submerged cultures of Streptomyces avermitilis. Submerged S. avermitilis spores were most intensely formed (1) during the culture development cycles on synthetic medium CP1 with glucose under phosphate limitation, and (2) in autolysing cell suspensions of high density obtained by tenfold concentration of a stationary-phase culture grown in a synthetic medium resuspended in phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) with 0.2% CaCl2. Endospores of S. avermitilis formed in submerged cultures shared the major characteristics of specialized microbial resting forms: heat resistance, resistance to lysozyme, ability to pertain to the main species-defining features, and ultrastructural organization characteristic of endospores. They can be considered a resting form of streptomycetes alternative to the spores formed exogenously on aerial mycelium in a surface culture.     

Biosynthesis of avermectins and lipids in Streptomyces avermitilis

Abstract The gene coding for a β- d -xylosidase (E.C. 3.2.1.37) of the thermophile Caldocellum saccharolyticum was isolated previously as part of a gene cluster which has been cloned in Escherichia coli . The enzyme characteristics were determined in E. coli using toluenized cell extracts. The pH optimum was 6.5 and temperature optimum 70°C. The enzyme was stable at 60°C and the half life at 80°C was 45 minutes. The temperature optimum and the temperature stability exceed those reported for other bacterial or fungal β- d -xylosidases. The enzyme showed no other detectable xylanolytic or cellulolytic enzyme activity.     

Genetic studies of avermectin biosynthesis in Streptomyces avermitilis

A genetic recombination study of an industrial strain of Streptomyces avermitilis which produces avermectin is described. A genetic map has been constructed by analysis of haploid recombinants and linkage relationships of 16 marker loci. Fifteen avermectin-nonproducing mutants, produced by mutagenesis, were classified into two phenotypically different groups, of which one produced avermectin aglycon and the other was able to convert avermectin aglycon to avermectins. Two different mutants were found to map closely to each other.     

Optimization of transformation procedures in avermectin high-producing Streptomyces avermitilis

The optimal pH conditions for efficient transformation of protoplasts and intact cells were established in avermectin high-producing mutants, ATCC31780 and L-9. Among all factors tested, protoplast buffer pH was elucidated as the most important factor influencing transformation efficiency. The optimal pH of the protoplast buffer for the regeneration of ATCC31780 was 6.5, and using this condition, 4.5 × 10⁶ transformants per g of pIJ702 were produced. At pH 6.3, the maximal number of L-9 transformants was 1.6 × 10⁵ per g of the same plasmid. However, the protoplasting process decreased avermectin productivity to half or one-sixth of ATCC31780 or L-9, respectively. To avoid the productivity loss, electroporation of intact cells without lysozyme treatment was developed for these mutant strains even though this method was approximately 100-fold less efficient. In this method, the initial pH of culture medium was elucidated as a critical factor and optimized for both transformation efficiency and avermectin productivity.     

发酵液中多拉菌素的提取和萃取条件研究

采用单因素实验,分别研究提取试剂、发酵液放置时间、pH值和温度对发酵液中多拉菌素提取效果的影响;然后以乙酸乙酯为萃取试剂,研究萃取次数及萃取体积对多拉菌素萃取效果的影响。结果显示,甲醇为最佳提取试剂;发酵液在pH为3～11、温度为20～80℃的条件下放置144 h,多拉菌素均能稳定存在,提取得到的多拉菌素的质量浓度没有显著变化;浓缩提取液液经2倍体积乙酸乙酯萃取2次即可。该条件下多拉菌素的质量浓度和萃取率分别为151.78μg/mL和98.00%。     

Deletion of ku homologs increases gene targeting frequency in Streptomyces avermitilis

Streptomyces avermitilis is an industrially important soil bacterium known for production of avermectins, which are antiparasitic agents useful in animal health care, agriculture, and treatment of human infections. ku genes play a key role in the non-homologous end-joining pathway for repair of DNA double strand breaks. We identified homologs of eukaryotic ku70 and ku80 genes, termed ku1 and ku2, in S. avermitilis. Mutants with deletion of ku1, ku2, and both genes were constructed and their phenotypic changes were characterized. Deletion of ku genes had no apparent adverse effects on growth, spore formation, or avermectin production. The ku mutants, in comparison to wild-type strain, were slightly more sensitive to the DNA-damaging agent ethyl methanesulfonate, but not to UV exposure or to bleomycin. Gene targeting frequencies by homologous recombination were higher in the ku mutants than in wild-type strain. We conclude that ku-deleted strains will be useful hosts for efficient gene targeting and will facilitate functional analysis of genes in S. avermitilis and other industrially important bacterial strains.     

Characterization of a unique methyl-specific restriction system in Streptomyces avermitilis.

Streptomyces avermitilis contains a unique restriction system that restricts plasmid DNA containing N6-methyladenine or 5-methylcytosine. Shuttle vectors isolated from Escherichia coli RR1 or plasmids isolated from modification-proficient Streptomyces spp. cannot be directly introduced into S. avermitilis. This restriction barrier can be overcome by first transferring plasmids into Streptomyces lividans or a modification-deficient E. coli strain and then into S. avermitilis. The transformation frequency was reduced greater than 1,000-fold when plasmid DNA was modified by dam or TaqI methylases to contain N6-methyladenine or by AluI, HhaI, HphI methylases to contain 5-methylcytosine. Methyl-specific restriction appears to be common in Streptomyces spp., since either N6-methyladenine-specific or 5-methylcytosine-specific restriction was observed in seven of nine strains tested.     

Nitrogen regulation of fatty acids and avermectins biosynthesis in Streptomyces avermitilis

Fatty acid composition was analysed in the producer of avermectins, Streptomyces avermitilis C-18 grown in chemically defined medium with different nitrogen sources. Significant differences in nitrogen regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis were found in this strain in comparison with other streptomycetes studied so far. This finding could be explained at the level of regulation of branched-chain amino acid metabolism.     

Alternative production of avermectin components in Streptomyces avermitilis by gene replacement

The avermectins are composed of eight compounds, which exhibit structural differences at three positions. A family of four closely-related major components, A1a, A2a, B1a and B2a, has been identified. Of these components, B1a exhibits the most potent antihelminthic activity. The coexistence of the "1" components and "2" components has been accounted for by the defective dehydratase of aveAI module 2, which appears to be responsible for C22-23 dehydration. Therefore, we have attempted to replace the dehydratase of aveAI module 2 with the functional dehydratase from the erythromycin eryAII module 4, via homologous recombination. Erythromycin polyketide synthetase should contain the sole dehydratase domain, thus generating a saturated chain at the C6-7 of erythromycin. We constructed replacement plasmids with PCR products, by using primers which had been derived from the sequences of avermectin aveAI and the erythromycin eryAII biosynthetic gene cluster. If the original dehydratase of Streptomyces avermitilis were exchanged with the corresponding erythromycin gene located on the replacement plasmid, it would be expected to result in the formation of precursors which contain alkene at C22-23, formed by the dehydratase of erythromycin module 4, and further processed by avermectin polyketide synthase. Consequently, the resulting recombinant strain JW3105, which harbors the dehydratase gene derived from erythromycin, was shown to produce only C22,23-unsaturated avermectin compounds. Our research indicates that the desired compound may be produced via polyketide gene replacement.     

Natural biocombinatorics in the polyketide synthase genes of the actinobacterium Streptomyces avermitilis

Modular polyketide synthases (PKSs) of bacteria provide an enormous reservoir of natural chemical diversity. Studying natural biocombinatorics may aid in the development of concepts for experimental design of genes for the biosynthesis of new bioactive compounds. Here we address the question of how the modularity of biosynthetic enzymes and the prevalence of multiple gene clusters in Streptomyces drive the evolution of metabolic diversity. The phylogeny of ketosynthase (KS) domains of Streptomyces PKSs revealed that the majority of modules involved in the biosynthesis of a single compound evolved by duplication of a single ancestor module. Using Streptomyces avermitilis as a model organism, we have reconstructed the evolutionary relationships of different domain types. This analysis suggests that 65% of the modules were altered by recombinational replacements that occurred within and between biosynthetic gene clusters. The natural reprogramming of the biosynthetic pathways was unambiguously confined to domains that account for the structural diversity of the polyketide products and never observed for the KS domains. We provide examples for natural acyltransferase (AT), ketoreductase (KR), and dehydratase (DH)–KR domain replacements. Potential sites of homologous recombination could be identified in interdomain regions and within domains. Our results indicate that homologous recombination facilitated by the modularity of PKS architecture is the most important mechanism underlying polyketide diversity in bacteria.     

阿维链霉菌中aveD基因缺失对阿维菌素合成的影响

利用aveD基因的缺失载体pCZ8(pKC1139∷△aveD)对阿维菌素(Avermectin)产生菌阿维链霉菌(Streptomyces avermitilis)76\|9的aveD基因进行缺失获得aveD缺失突变株。经摇瓶发酵和HPLC检测,发现该突变株只产生阿维菌素B组分。说明将阿维链霉菌的aveD基因缺失,并不影响下游aveF的表达。缺失突变株的阿维菌素的总产量与出发菌株的总产量基本相同,突变株中B1的产量略有提高,阿维菌素B2的含量显著提高。     

Fatty-acid biosynthesis in a branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase mutant of Streptomyces avermitilis

Fatty-acid biosynthesis by a branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase (bkd) mutant of Streptomyces avermitilis was analyzed. This mutant is unable to produce the appropriate precursors of branched-chain fatty acid (BCFA) biosynthesis, but unlike the comparable Bacillus subtilis mutant, was shown not to have an obligate growth requirement for these precursors. The bkd mutant produced only straight-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) with membrane fluidity provided entirely by unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), the levels of which increased dramatically compared to the wild-type strain. The levels of UFAs increased in both the wild-type and bkd mutant strains as the growth temperature was lowered from 37 degrees C to 24 degrees C, suggesting that a regulatory mechanism exists to alter the proportion of UFAs in response either to a loss of BCFA biosynthesis, or a decreased growth temperature. No evidence of a regulatory mechanism for BCFAs was observed, as the types of these fatty acids, which contribute significantly to membrane fluidity, did not alter when the wild-type S. avermitilis was grown at different temperatures. The principal UFA produced by S. avermitilis was shown to be delta 9-hexadecenoate, the same fatty acid produced by Escherichia coli. This observation, and the inability of S. avermitilis to convert exogenous labeled palmitate to the corresponding UFA, was shown to be consistent with an anaerobic pathway for UFA biosynthesis. Incorporation studies with the S. avermitilis bkd mutant demonstrated that the fatty acid synthase has a remarkably broad substrate specificity and is able to process a wide range of exogenous branched chain carboxylic acids into unusual BCFAs.     

Cloning of a DNA fragment involved in pigment production in Streptomyces avermitilis

Streptomyces avermitilis has the ability to synthesize a diffusible, brown, melanin-like pigment, a common property among many Streptomyces species. A region of the S. avermitilis chromosome involved in the production of this pigment was cloned in Escherichia coli. Production of the brown pigment was attained in E. coli, and is optimal when medium is supplemented with copper ions, tyrosine and IPTG. The cloned S. avermitilis pigment-producing DNA fragment is under the control of the lac promoter carried in the E. coli vector. The gene involved in pigment production could be used as a tool to analyse gene expression in S. avermitilis, and as an alternative cloning marker in Streptomyces-Escherichia coli vectors.     

Targeted gene disruption of the avermectin B O-methyltransferase gene in Streptomyces avermitilis

The biological activity of avermectin B components is superior to that of avermectin A components, which are derived from avermectin B by avermectin B 5-O-methyltransferase. Gene disruption, targeting avermectin B 5-O-methyltransferase gene in Streptomyces avermitilis, was carried out to obtain a strain of avermectin B producer. Phenotype analysis of the mutant with the disrupted O-methyltransferase gene showed that only avermectin B components were produced with a significant increase in production