Cloning and nucleotide sequence of the gene coding for enzymatically active fragments of the Bacillus polymyxa beta-amylase.

The gene encoding beta-amylase was cloned from Bacillus polymyxa 72 into Escherichia coli HB101 by inserting HindIII-generated DNA fragments into the HindIII site of pBR322. The 4.8-kilobase insert was shown to direct the synthesis of beta-amylase. A 1.8-kilobase AccI-AccI fragment of the donor strain DNA was sufficient for the beta-amylase synthesis. Homologous DNA was found by Southern blot analysis to be present only in B. polymyxa 72 and not in other bacteria such as E. coli or B. subtilis. B. polymyxa, as well as E. coli harboring the cloned DNA, was found to produce enzymatically active fragments of beta-amylases (70,000, 56,000, or 58,000, and 42,000 daltons), which were detected in situ by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the cloned 3.1-kilobase DNA revealed that it contains one open reading frame of 2,808 nucleotides without a translational stop codon. The deduced amino acid sequence for these 2,808 nucleotides encoding a secretory precursor of the beta-amylase protein is 936 amino acids including a signal peptide of 33 or 35 residues at its amino-terminal end. The existence of a beta-amylase of larger than 100,000 daltons, which was predicted on the basis of the results of nucleotide sequence analysis of the gene, was confirmed by examining culture supernatants after various cultivation periods. It existed only transiently during cultivation, but the multiform beta-amylases described above existed for a long time. The large beta-amylase (approximately 160,000 daltons) existed for longer in the presence of a protease inhibitor such as chymostatin, suggesting that proteolytic cleavage is the cause of the formation of multiform beta-amylases.     

Cloning and characterization of an exoinulinase from Bacillus polymyxa

A gene encoding an exoinulinase (inu) from Bacillus polymyxa MGL21 was cloned and sequenced. It is composed of 1455 nucleotides, encoding a protein (485 amino acids) with a molecular mass of 55522 Da. Inu was expressed in Escherichia coli and the His-tagged exoinulinase was purified. The purified enzyme hydrolyzed sucrose, levan and raffinose, in addition to inulin, with a sucrose/inulin ratio of 2. Inulinase activity was optimal at 35°C and pH 7, was completely inactivated by 1 mM Ag⁺ or Hg²⁺. The K _m and V _max values for inulin hydrolysis were 0.7 mM and 2500 M min^–1 mg^–1 protein. The enzyme acted on inulin via an exo-attack to produce fructose mainly.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of the beta-amylase gene from Bacillus circulans

A gene encoding the β-amylase of Bacillus circulans was isolated from a lambda library and sequenced. The structural gene consists of a 1725 bp open reading frame encoding a polypeptide with a predicted molecular wt of 62830 Daltons. Two active forms of the enzyme were found when the gene was expressed In E. coli. The larger 60 kD form was approximately 3 kD larger than the mature β-amylase secreted from B. circulans, suggesting that processing of this protein is different between the two species. The smaller 49 kD form is also present at a low level in B. circulans and may result from proteolytic cleavage. The enzyme has a temperature optimum of 50°C. Two other genes, one encoding an α-amylase and one a pullulanase, were also isolated from the lambda library.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of the beta-amylase gene from Bacillus circulans

A gene encoding the beta-amylase of Bacillus circulans was isolated from a lambda library and sequenced. The structural gene consists of a 1725 bp open reading frame encoding a polypeptide with a predicted molecular wt of 62830 Daltons. Two active forms of the enzyme were found when the gene was expressed in E. coli. The larger 60 kD form was approximately 3 kD larger than the mature beta-amylase secreted from B. circulans, suggesting that processing of this protein is different between the two species. The smaller 49 kD form is also present at a low level in B. circulans and may result from proteolytic cleavage. The enzyme has a temperature optimum of 50 degrees C. Two other genes, one encoding an alpha-amylase and one a pullulanase, were also isolated from the lambda library.     

Structural and functional roles of cysteine residues of Bacillus polymyxa beta-amylase.

Bacillus polymyxa beta-amylase contains three cysteine residues at positions 83, 91, and 323, which can react with sulfhydryl reagents. To determine the role of cysteine residues in the catalytic reaction, cysteine residues were mutated to construct four mutant enzymes, C83S, C91V, C323S, and C-free. Wild-type and mutant forms of the enzyme were expressed in, and purified to homogeneity from, Bacillus subtilis. A disulfide bond between Cys83 and Cys91 was identified by isolation of tryptic peptides bearing a fluorescent label, IAEDANS, from wild-type and C91 V enzymes followed by amino acid sequencing. Therefore, only Cys323 contains a free SH group. Replacement of cysteine residues with serine or valine residues resulted in a significant decrease in the kcat/Km value of the enzyme. C323S, containing no free SH group, however, retained a high specific activity, approximately 20% of the wild-type enzyme. None of the cysteine residues participate directly in the catalytic reaction.     

Cloning of the beta-amylase gene from Bacillus cereus and characteristics of the primary structure of the enzyme.

The gene encoding the beta-amylase of Bacillus cereus BQ10-S1 (SpoII) was cloned into Escherichia coli JM 109. A sequenced DNA fragment of 2,001 bp contains the beta-amylase gene. The N-terminal sequences (AVNGKG MNPDYKAYLMAPLKKI), the C-terminal sequences (SHTSSW), and the amino acid sequences of the five regions in the beta-amylase molecules were determined. The mature beta-amylase contains 514 amino acid residues with a molecular mass of 57,885 Da. The amino acid sequence homology with those of known beta-amylases was 52.7% for Bacillus polymyxa, 52.0% for Bacillus circulans, 43.4% for Clostridium thermosulfurogenes, 31.8% for Arabidopsis thaliana, 31.5% for barley, 29.9% for sweet potato, and 28.9% for soybean. Ten well-conserved regions were found between the N terminus and the area around residue 430, but the C-terminal region of 90 residues has no similarity with those of the plant beta-amylases. The homology search revealed that this C-terminal region has homology with C-terminal regions of the beta-amylase from C. thermosulfurogenes, some bacterial alpha-amylases, cyclodextrin glucanotransferase, and glucoamylase. Some of these sequences are known as the raw-starch-binding domain. These results suggest that B. cereus beta-amylase has an extra domain which has raw-starch-binding ability and that the domain has considerable sequence homology with those of other amylases or related enzymes from a wide variety of microorganisms.     

Cloning and characterization of two genes from Bacillus polymyxa expressing beta-glucosidase activity in Escherichia coli.

DNA fragments from Bacillus polymyxa which encode beta-glucosidase activity were cloned in Escherichia coli by selection of yellow transformants able to hydrolyze the artificial chromogenic substrate p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside. Restriction endonuclease maps and Southern analysis of the cloned fragments showed the existence of two different genes. Expression of either one of these genes allowed growth of E. coli in minimal medium with cellobiose as the only carbon source. One of the two enzymes was found in the periplasm of E. coli, hydrolyzed arylglucosides more actively than cellobiose, and rendered glucose as the only product upon cellobiose hydrolysis. The other enzyme was located in the cytoplasm, was more active toward cellobiose, and hydrolyzed this disaccharide, yielding glucose and another, unidentified compound, probably a phosphorylated sugar.     

Cloning and characterization of two genes from Bacillus polymyxa expressing beta-glucosidase activity in Escherichia coli

DNA fragments from Bacillus polymyxa which encode beta-glucosidase activity were cloned in Escherichia coli by selection of yellow transformants able to hydrolyze the artificial chromogenic substrate p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside. Restriction endonuclease maps and Southern analysis of the cloned fragments showed the existence of two different genes. Expression of either one of these genes allowed growth of E. coli in minimal medium with cellobiose as the only carbon source. One of the two enzymes was found in the periplasm of E. coli, hydrolyzed arylglucosides more actively than cellobiose, and rendered glucose as the only product upon cellobiose hydrolysis. The other enzyme was located in the cytoplasm, was more active toward cellobiose, and hydrolyzed this disaccharide, yielding glucose and another, unidentified compound, probably a phosphorylated sugar.     

坚强芽孢杆菌β-淀粉酶基因的核苷酸序列分析

淀粉水解酶广泛用于淀粉加工业中,何秉旺等在选育产耐热β-淀粉酶菌株中得到一株坚强芽孢杆菌（Bacillusfirmus）725,该菌株产生的淀粉酶有较好的热稳定性,水解淀粉的主要产物为麦芽糖。自然菌株产生的淀粉酶往往是多种淀粉酶的混合,为进一步研究该菌株产生的淀粉酶的性质和在工业上应用的可能性,分离了三个淀粉酶基因,在大肠杆菌中克隆和表达[1]。其中重组质粒pBA150产生的淀粉酶的淀粉水解产物主要是麦芽糖［1］。β-淀粉酶（EC.3．2.1．2）水解淀粉的主要产物是麦芽糖,工业上可用于生产高麦芽糖浆,近年来又有β-淀粉酶用于啤酒工业的报道[2]。本文报道重组质粒pBA150的β-淀粉酶基因的序列分析及推导出的氨基酸序列同己知β-淀粉酶的氨基酸序列比较。     

Cloning and characterization of the metE gene encoding S-adenosylmethionine synthetase from Bacillus subtilis.

The metE gene, encoding S-adenosylmethionine synthetase (EC 2.5.1.6) from Bacillus subtilis, was cloned in two steps by normal and inverse PCR. The DNA sequence of the metE gene contains an open reading frame which encodes a 400-amino-acid sequence that is homologous to other known S-adenosylmethionine synthetases. The cloned gene complements the metE1 mutation and integrates at or near the chromosomal site of metE1. Expression of S-adenosylmethionine synthetase is reduced by only a factor of about 2 by exogenous methioinine. Overproduction of S-adenosylmethionine synthetase from a strong constitutive promoter leads to methionine auxotrophy in B. subtilis, suggesting that S-adenosylmethionine is a corepressor of methionine biosynthesis in B. subtilis, as others have already shown for Escherichia coli.     

Purification and characterization of an arabinofuranosidase from Bacillus polymyxa expressed in Bacillus subtilis

Two polypeptides showing -l-arabinofuranosidase activity have been purified to homogeneity from culture supernatants of a Bacillus subtilis clone harbouring the xynD gene [Gosalbes et al. (1991) J Bacteriol 173: 7705–7710] from Bacillus polymyxa. Both polypeptides, with determined molecular masses of 64 kDa and 53 kDa, share the same sequence at their N termini, which also coincides with the sequence deduced for the mature protein from the previously determined sequence of nucleotides (Gosalbes et al. 1991). The two polypeptides have been biochemically characterized. Arabinose is the unique product released from arabinose-containing xylans which are substrates for both enzyme forms. Other natural arabinose-containing polysaccharides, such as arabinogalactans, are not attacked by them but some artificial arabinose derivatives are good substrates for both polypeptides. Their arabinose-releasing activity on arabinoxylans facilitates the hydrolysis of the xylan backbone by some endoxylanases from Bacillus polymyxa.     

Cloning, sequencing, and disruption of a levanase gene of Bacillus polymyxa CF43.

The Bacillus polymyxa CF43 lelA gene, expressing both sucrose and fructan hydrolase activities, was isolated from a genomic library of B. polymyxa screened in Bacillus subtilis. The gene was detected as expressing sucrose hydrolase activity; B. subtilis transformants did not secrete the lelA gene product (LelA) into the extracellular medium. A 1.7-kb DNA fragment sufficient for lelA expression in Escherichia coli was sequenced. It contains a 548-codon open reading frame. The deduced amino acid sequence shows 54% identity with mature B. subtilis levanase and is similar to other fructanases and sucrases (beta-D-fructosyltransferases). Multiple-sequence alignment of 14 of these proteins revealed several previously unreported features. LelA appears to be a 512-amino-acid polypeptide containing no canonical signal peptide. The hydrolytic activities of LelA on sucrose, levan, and inulin were compared with those of B. subtilis levanase and sucrase, confirming that LelA is indeed a fructanase. The lelA gene in the chromosome of B. polymyxa was disrupted with a chloramphenicol resistance gene (cat) by "inter-gramic" conjugation: the lelA::cat insertion on a mobilizable plasmid was transferred from an E. coli transformant to B. polymyxa CF43, and B. polymyxa transconjugants containing the lelA::cat construct replacing the wild-type lelA gene in their chromosomes were selected directly. The growth of the mutant strain on levan, inulin, and sucrose was not affected.     

Cloning and characterization of the HPr kinase/phosphorylase gene from Bacillus stearothermophilus No. 236

The Bacillus stearothermophilus no. 236 gene encoding the bifunctional enzyme HprK/P, the key regulator of carbon catabolite repression/activation (CCR/CCA) in most Gram-positive bacteria, was cloned and the (His)(6)-tagged gene product was characterized in detail. The nucleotide sequence of the hprK/P gene corresponded to an open reading frame of 951 bp that encoded a polypeptide of 316 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 35,458 Da. The deduced amino acid sequence of the B. stearothermophilus no. 236 HprK/P showed 64.5% identity with the B. subtilis enzyme, allowing us to identify two highly conserved motifs, the nucleotide binding P-loop (Walker motif A) and the HprK/P family signature sequence in the C-terminal half of the protein. Furthermore, complementation experiments showed that the cloned hprK/P gene product was functionally active in the B. subtilis cells. The purified (His)(6)-tagged B. stearothermophilus no. 236 HprK/P migrated on SDS-PAGE gel as a single species with a molecular mass of about 36 kDa, and behaved in gel filtration like a hexameric protein. The recombinant protein catalyzes the pyrophosphate (PPi)-dependent (highest activity at pH 7.0 and 40 degrees C) as well as the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of Ser46 in HPr (maximum activity at pH 8.0 and 45 degrees C). It also catalyzes the inorganic phosphate-dependent dephosphorylation (phosphorolysis) of seryl-phosphorylated HPr, optimally at pH 6.5 and 40 degrees C. BIAcore surface resonance analysis confirmed that a divalent cation, preferentially Mg(2+), was an indispensable cofactor for the three activities of the HprK/P. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) was observed to stimulate ATP-dependent kinase activity, while inorganic phosophate (Pi) inhibited ATP-dependent kinase activity. Mutations in the Walker motif A simultaneously abolished both types of kinase and phosphorylase activities. On the other hand, the conserved signature residues were confirmed to be involved in the PPi-dependent kinase and phosphorylase reactions.     

Cloning and sequencing of the gene encoding thermophilic beta-amylase of Clostridium thermosulfurogenes.

A gene coding for thermophilic beta-amylase of Clostridium thermosulfurogenes was cloned into Bacillus subtilis, and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The nucleotide sequence suggested that the thermophilic beta-amylase is translated from monocistronic mRNA as a secretory precursor with a signal peptide of 32 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of the mature beta-amylase contained 519 residues with a molecular weight of 57,167. The amino acid sequence of the C. thermosulfurogenes beta-amylase showed 54, 32, and 32% homology with those of the Bacillus polymyxa, soybean, and barley beta-amylases, respectively. Twelve well-conserved regions were found among the amino acid sequences of the four beta-amylases. To elucidate the mechanism rendering the C. thermosulfurogenes beta-amylase thermophilic, its amino acid sequence was compared with that of the B. polymyxa beta-amylase. The C. thermosulfurogenes beta-amyulase contained more Cys residues and fewer hydrophilic amino acid residues than the B. polymyxa beta-amylase did. Several regions were found in the amino acid sequence of the C. thermosulfurogenes beta-amylase, where the hydrophobicity was remarkably high as compared with that of the corresponding regions of the B. polymyxa beta-amylase.     

Cloning and characterization of the Bacillus licheniformis gene coding for alkaline phosphatase.

The structural gene for alkaline phosphatase (orthophosphoric monoester phosphohydrolase; EC 3.1.3.1) of Bacillus licheniformis MC14 was cloned into the Pst1 site of pMK2004 from chromosomal DNA. The gene was cloned on an 8.5-kilobase DNA fragment. A restriction map was developed, and the gene was subcloned on a 4.2-kilobase DNA fragment. The minimum coding region of the gene was localized to a 1.3-kilobase region. Western blot analysis was used to show that the gene coded for a 60,000-molecular-weight protein which cross-reacts with anti-alkaline phosphatase prepared against the salt-extractable membrane alkaline phosphatase of B. licheniformis MC14 .     

Cloning, characterization, and inactivation of the Bacillus brevis lon gene.

A gene of Bacillus brevis HPD31 analogous to the Escherichia coli lon gene has been cloned and characterized. The cloned gene (B. brevis lon gene) encodes a polypeptide of 779 amino acids with a molecular weight of 87,400 which resembles E. coli protease La, the lon gene product. Fifty-two percent of the amino acid residues of the two polypeptides were identical. The ATP-binding sequences found in E. coli protease La were highly conserved. The promoter of the B. brevis lon gene resembled that recognized by the major RNA polymerase of Bacillus subtilis and did not contain sequences homologous to the E. coli heat shock promoters. The B. brevis lon gene was inactivated by insertion of the neomycin resistance gene. A mutant B. brevis carrying the inactivated lon gene showed diminished ability for the degradation of abnormal polypeptides synthesized in the presence of puromycin.     

Cloning, characterization, and expression of xylanase gene from Bacillus lyticus in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.

A genomic library of Bacillus lyticus was constructed in lambda GEM 11 vector and screened for the xylanase gene using Congo red plate assay. A 16-kb fragment containing the xylanase gene was obtained which was further subcloned using Mbo I partial digestion in an E. coli pUC 19 vector. A 1.3-kb sub-fragment was obtained which coded for a xylanase gene of Mr 23,650 Da. This fragment was sequenced and the homology was checked with known xylanases. The maximum homology was 97%, which was obtained with an endo xylanase gene from Bacillus species at the DNA level, while the translated sequence showed only one amino acid change from alanine to serine at position number 102. Expression was checked in E. coli, using the native promoter, and an extracellular activity of 5.25 U/mL was obtained. Cloning of the gene was done in Bacillus subtilis using a shuttle vector pHB 201, which resulted in increasing the basal level xylanase activity from 14.02 to 22.01 U/mL.