Characterization and high-level expression of a metagenome-derived alkaline pectate lyase in recombinant Escherichia coli

Alkaline pectate lyases (PLs) play an important role in mild and eco-friendly bioscouring pretreatment processes in the textile industry. However, to date, only a few PLs can be applied in industrial-scale production, and many of them exhibit high production cost, low activity, and/or do not meet the treatment requirements. In this study, an alkaline PL gene was cloned from the metagenomic DNA of alkaline environment soils. The gene pelB consisted of 1263 nucleotides and encoded a mature protein (PelB) of 399 amino acids, which was expressed in Escherichia coli. The maximum catalytic activity of the enzyme exhibited a bimodal distribution at pH 8.1 and 9.8 and an optimal temperature of 55 °C. The K_m and V_max values of PelB were 1.78 g/L and 1084.8 μmol/(L min) at 45 °C, respectively. Substrate specificity analysis demonstrated the high cleavage capability of PelB on a broad range of substrates of natural methylated pectin. Based on the degradation products, PelB was considered to be an endo-acting lyase. Using high-cell-density cultivation in 7-L bioreactor, the highest PL activity (1816.2 U/mL) was achieved. Thus, the recombinant PelB, with promising properties for use in bioscouring in the textile pretreatment process, should be a potential enzyme for industrial applications.     

Cytological and physiological behaviour of Euglena gracillis cells entrapped in a calcium alginate gel

The immobilisation of Euglena gracilis Z cells in a calcium alginate matrix maintained respiratory and photosynthetic activities and ultrastructural integrity. Moreover, immobilization did not prevent Euglena cells from greening inside the gel beads. Electron microscopy demonstrated that the immobilized cells were fixed in the same cellular state as they were when the immobilization occurred. This can he explained by simultaneous reaction of both Ca2⁺ and the alginate with the cells. Some hypotheses about the role of C2⁺ are discussed. In addition, long term storage (2 years) in calcium alginate has been performed permitting applications in algal storage.     

Optimum melanin production using recombinant Escherichia coli

AIMS: A parametric study was conducted to define optimum conditions to achieve high yields in the conversion of tyrosine to eumelanin (EuMel) using recombinant Escherichia coli. METHODS AND RESULTS: Escherichia coli W3110 (pTrcMutmelA) expressing the tyrosinase coding gene from Rhizobium etli and glucose-mineral media were used to transform tyrosine into EuMel. Batch aerobic fermentor cultures were performed to study the effect of temperature, pH and inducer concentration (isopropyl-D-thio-galactopyranoside) on melanin production. Under optimum conditions, 0.1 mmol l(-1) of isopropyl-D-thio-galactopyranoside, temperature of 30 degrees C, and changing pH from 7.0 to 7.5 during the production phase, a 100% conversion of tyrosine into EuMel is obtained. Furthermore, tyrosine feeding allowed us to obtain the highest level (6 g l(-1)) of EuMel produced by recombinant E. coli reported until now. CONCLUSIONS: The most important factors affecting melanin formation and hence influencing the rate and efficiency in the conversion of tyrosine into EuMel in this system, are the temperature and pH. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Maximum theoretical yield was obtained using a simple culture process and mineral media to convert tyrosine (a medium value compound) into melanin, a high value compound. The process reported here avoids the use of purified tyrosinase, expensive chemical methods or the cumbersome extraction of this polymer from animal or plant tissues.     

Optimization of calcium pectinate gel beads for sustained-release of catechin using response surface methodology

Response surface methodology was used to optimize bead preparation conditions, including CaCl₂ concentration (X₁), hydroxypropylmethylcellulose concentration (X₂), and bead-hardening time (X₃), for the sustained-release of catechin from the calcium pectinate gel beads reinforced with liposomes and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose into simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and intestinal fluid (SIF). The optimized values of X₁, X₂, and X₃ were found to be 5.82%, 0.08%, and 10.29 min, respectively. The beads prepared according to the optimized conditions released only about half of the entrapped catechin into SGF while most of the entrapped catechin was released into SIF after 24 h incubation.     

Synthesis of functional proteins using Escherichia coli extract entrapped in calcium alginate microbeads

In this report, we describe the construction and analysis of a cell-free protein synthesis system immobilized in calcium alginate microbeads. When incubated in a feeding solution that contained amino acids and other low-molecular-weight substrates, the microbeads transcribed and translated coimmobilized DNA into functional proteins. Protein synthesis continued for more than 15 h with the diffusional supply of substrates and removal of by-products. In addition, functional proteins were generated from PCR-amplified genes as efficiently as from plasmid, suggesting that these cell-like microbeads could be used for functional screening of genomic libraries.     

Arterial Po2, acid-base status, and red cell nucleoside triphosphates in rainbow trout transferred from fresh water to 20‰ sea water

Transfer of rainbow trout from fresh water to 20‰ sea water decreased dorsal aortic Po₂ from 90 to 60 mmHg within 1 h. Arterial Po₂ was depressed for 24 h before it returned to control values. The internal hypoxia rapidly reduced the red cell nucleoside triphosphate content, suggesting prompt regulation of blood O₂ affinity. The extracellular acid-base status changed towards a small mixed metabolic and respiratory acidosis.     

Polyhydroxyalkanoate production in recombinant Escherichia coli

Abstract The bacterial species Escherichia coli has proven to be a powerful tool in the molecular analysis of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biosynthesis. In addition, E. coli holds promise as a source for economical PHA production. Using this microorganism, clones have been developed in our laboratory which direct the synthesis of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) to levels as high as 95% of the cell dry weight. These clones have been further enhanced by the addition of a genetically mediated lysis system that allows the PHB granules to be released gently and efficiently. This paper describes these developments, as well as the use of an E. coli strain to produce the copolymer poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate- co -3-hydroxyvalerate (PHB- co -3-).     

Diffusion of Cu2+ in calcium alginate gel beads: further analyses

The diffusivity of Cu(2+), as determined by previous authors from analysis of experimental data in terms of the shrinking core (SCM) and linear absorption (LAM) models, is examined in light of the ability of the models to curve fit all the data. It is concluded from this further analysis that previous conclusions depicting the LAM to have an advantage over the SCM for predictive value are not justified. It is also shown that equally good curve fits can be obtained with a recent absorption/desorption model of diffusion which considers directly, through distribution theory, the effect of heterogeneity of material properties on the rate of diffusion. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Practical protocols for production of very high yields of recombinant proteins using Escherichia coli

The gram‐negative bacterium Escherichia coli offers a mean for rapid, high yield, and economical production of recombinant proteins. However, high‐level production of functional eukaryotic proteins in E. coli may not be a routine matter, sometimes it is quite challenging. Techniques to optimize heterologous protein overproduction in E. coli have been explored for host strain selection, plasmid copy numbers, promoter selection, mRNA stability, and codon usage, significantly enhancing the yields of the foreign eukaryotic proteins. We have been working on optimizations of bacterial expression conditions and media with a focus on achieving very high cell density for high‐level production of eukaryotic proteins. Two high‐cell‐density bacterial expression methods have been explored, including an autoinduction introduced by Studier (Protein Expr Purif 2005;41:207–234) recently and a high‐cell‐density IPTG‐induction method described in this study, to achieve a cell‐density OD₆₀₀ of 10–20 in the normal laboratory setting using a regular incubator shaker. Several practical protocols have been implemented with these high‐cell‐density expression methods to ensure a very high yield of recombinant protein production. With our methods and protocols, we routinely obtain 14–25 mg of NMR triple‐labeled proteins and 17–34 mg of unlabeled proteins from a 50‐mL cell culture for all seven proteins we tested. Such a high protein yield used the same DNA constructs, bacterial strains, and a regular incubator shaker and no fermentor is necessary. More importantly, these methods allow us to consistently obtain such a high yield of recombinant proteins using E. coli expression.     

Increased production of low molecular weight recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli.

A general method for obtaining high-level production of low molecular weight proteins in Escherichia coli is described. This method is based on the use of a novel Met-Xaa-protein construction which is formed by insertion of a single amino acid residue (preferably Arginine or Lysine) between the N-terminal methionine and the protein of interest. The utility of this method is illustrated by examples for achieving high-level production of human insulin-like growth factor-1, human proinsulin, and their analogs. Furthermore, highly produced insulin-like growth factor-1 derivatives and human proinsulin analogs are converted to their natural sequences by removal of dipeptides with cathepsin C.     

Cell-free synthesis of functional proteins using transcription/translation machinery entrapped in silica sol-gel matrix

Herewith we report the encapsulation of functional protein synthesis machinery in a silica sol-gel matrix. When the sol-gel reaction using alkoxysilane monomers was carried out in the presence of Escherichia coli cell extract, macromolecular protein synthesis machinery in the cell extract was successfully immobilized within a silica gel matrix, catalyzing the translation of co-immobilized DNA when supplied with small-molecular-weight substrates for protein synthesis. The efficiency of protein synthesis was affected by the pore size of the gel structure, which was controlled through the use of appropriate additives during the sol-gel reactions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the reproduction of the entire set of complicated biological process within an inorganic gel matrix, and we expect that the developed technology will find many applications in numerous fields such as high-throughput gene expression and the development of multifunctional biosensors.     

Entrapment of Lavandula vera cells and production of pigments by entrapped cells

Finely suspended cells of Lavandula vera were obtained by cultivating the cells in the presence of 50 mM CaCl₂ and entrapped homogeneously in gels formed from natural polysaccharides, agar, alginate and κ-carrageenan. The gel-entrapped cells grew well inside the gel matrices, the growth being confirmed by the increases in oxygen uptake, cell number and chlorophyll content. Blue pigments were synthesized de novo in the presence of l-cysteine by the gel-entrapped cells as well as by the free counterparts. Calcium alginate gel-entrapped cells were employed for the repeated production of the pigments for over 7 months by alternating growth and production phases. Entrapment with adequate gels stabilized markedly the viability and the pigment productivity of the plant cells.     

L(-)-carnitine production using a recombinant Escherichia coli strain

The L(-)-carnitine production by biotransformation using the recombinant strain Escherichia coli pT7-5KE32 has been studied and optimized with crotonobetaine and D(+)-carnitine as substrates. A resting rather than a growing cells system for L(-)-carnitine production was chosen, crotonobetaine being the best substrate. High biocatalytic activity was obtained after growing the cells under anaerobic conditions at 37°C and with crotonobetaine or L(-)-carnitine as inducer. The growth incubation temperature (37°C) was high enough as to activate the heat-inducible λp_L promoter inserted in the plasmid pGP1-2. The best biotransformation conditions were with resting cells, under aerobiosis, with 4 g l⁻¹ and 100 mM biomass and substrate concentrations respectively. Under these conditions the biotransformation time (1 h) was shorter and the L(-)-carnitine yield (70%) higher than previously reported. Consequently productivity value (11.3 g l⁻¹h⁻¹) was highly improved when comparing with other published works. The resting cells could be reused until eight times maintaining product yield levels well over 50% that meant to increase ten times the L(-)-carnitine obtained per gram of biomass.     

Process control for enhanced L-phenylalanine production using different recombinant Escherichia coli strains

A novel fed-batch approach for the production of L-phenylalanine (L-Phe) with recombinant E. coli is presented concerning the on-line control of the key fermentation parameters glucose and tyrosine. Two different production strains possessing either the tyrosine feedback resistant aroF(fbr) (encoding tyrosine feedback resistant DAHP-synthase (3-desoxy-D-arabino-heptusonate-7-phosphate)) or the wild-type aroF(wt) were used as model systems to elucidate the necessity of finding an individual process optimum for each genotype. With the aid of tyrosine control, wild-type aroF(wt) could be used for L-Phe production achieving higher final L-Phe titers (34 g/L) than the aroF(fbr) strain (28 g/L) and providing higher DAHP-synthase activities. With on-line glucose control, an optimum glucose concentration of 5 g/L could be identified that allowed a sufficient carbon supply for L-Phe production while at the same time an overflow metabolism leading to acetate by-product formation was avoided. The process approach is suitable for other production strains not only in lab-scale but also in pilot-scale bioreactors.     

响应面分析法优化重组大肠杆菌生物合成谷胱甘肽的条件

通过响应面分析法和典型性分析得出重组大肠杆菌酶法合成谷胱甘肽的最优条件:菌体量249 mg/mL,磷酸钾缓冲液145 mmol/L,MgCl243 mmol/L和ATP 34 mmol/L,预测谷胱甘肽最大量为16.50 mmol/L。验证性实验证明在优化条件下,重组大肠杆菌酶法合成谷胱甘肽达16.42 mmol/L。响应面分析还表明,在重组大肠杆菌酶法合成谷胱甘肽各因素中,MgCl2和ATP,以及菌体量与磷酸钾缓冲液之间的交互作用较显著。     

Diffusivity of Cu(2+) in calcium alginate gel beads

A linear absorption model (LAM) is used to describe the process of metal binding to spherically shaped biopolymers particles. The LAM was solved using a numerical algorithm which calculates diffusivities of metal ion in biopolymer gels. It assumes attainment of rapid metal-biopolymer binding equilibrium accompanied by rate limiting diffusion of the metal ions through the gel. The model was tested using batch experiments in which copper (Cu(2+)) binding with calcium alginate beads was investigated. Biopolymer density in the beads was varied between 2% and 5%. The diffusion coefficient of Cu(2+) calculated from the LAM ranged from 1.19 x 10(-9) to 1.48 x 10(-9) m(2) s(-1) (average 1.31 +/- 0.21 x 10(-9) m(2) s(-1)), independent of biopolymer density. The LAM has theoretical advantages over the shrinking core model (shell progressive model). The latter calculated an unreasonable exponential increase in the diffusion coefficient as density of alginate polymer in the bead increased. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Promoter engineering to optimize recombinant periplasmic Fab′ fragment production in Escherichia coli

Fab’ fragments have become an established class of biotherapeutic over the last two decades. Likewise, developments in synthetic biology are providing ever more powerful techniques for designing bacterial genes, gene networks and entire genomes that can be used to improve industrial performance of cells used for production of biotherapeutics. We have previously observed significant leakage of an exogenous therapeutic Fab’ fragment into the growth medium during high cell density cultivation of an Escherichia coli production strain. In this study we sought to apply a promoter engineering strategy to address the issue of Fab’ fragment leakage and its consequent bioprocess challenges. We used site directed mutagenesis to convert the P_tac promoter, present in the plasmid, pTTOD‐A33 Fab’, to a P_tic promoter which has been shown by others to direct expression at a 35% reduced rate compared to P_tac. We characterized the resultant production trains in which either P_tic or P_tac promoters direct Fab’ fragment expression. The P_tic promoter strain showed a 25?30% reduction in Fab’ expression relative to the original P_tac strain. Reduced Fab’ leakage and increased viability over the course of a fed‐batch fermentation were also observed for the P_tic promoter strain. We conclude that cell design steps such as the P_tac to P_tic promoter conversion reported here, can yield significant process benefit and understanding with respect to periplasmic Fab’ fragment production. It remains an open question as to whether the influence of transgene expression on periplasmic retention is mediated by global metabolic burden effects or periplasm overcapacity. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:840–847, 2016     

Recombinant Escherichia coli cells immobilized in Ca-alginate beads for metabolite production

Milligram amounts of metabolites of drug candidates are required to identify toxic products. Human drug metabolites are currently produced selectively in a time- and cost-efficient manner in bioreactor systems containing recombinant Escherichia coli co-expressing a human cytochrome P450 isoenzyme/NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase (hCYP/HR) complex. For further optimization, immobilization of the catalytic system in Ca-alginate microbeads was considered. This new concept was designed for CYP3A4 with testosterone as substrate. Immobilized E. coli cells had a high maximal and homogeneously distributed biomass. Viability was stable over at least 1 week of culture and even longer during storage. Gene expression was ideally initiated 6 h after immobilization. Although immobilized E. coli cells expressed a highly functional enzyme system after 2 days, they did not metabolize testosterone, probably due to cell permeability problems resulting from immobilization. Therefore, immobilized cell membranes displaying testosterone bioconversion activity, even after long-term storage, will be used in bioreactors with high organic solvent content.     

温度调节基因开关调控大肠杆菌发酵合成L-丙氨

【目的】L-丙氨酸的存在导致Escherichia coli的生长速率显著降低,最终会降低发酵过程中L-丙氨酸的体积合成速率。用温度调节基因开关(λpR-pL)高效、动态调控重组E. coli菌株菌体生长与L-丙氨酸合成过程,使两者相协调。【方法】以野生型E. coli B0016为出发菌株,敲除乙酸、甲酸、乙醇、琥珀酸、乳酸代谢产物合成途径以及丙氨酸消旋酶编码基因(ackA-pta、pflB、adhE、frdA、ldhA、dadX),获得菌株B0016-060B。将嗜热脂肪地芽孢杆菌(Geobacillus stearothermophilus)来源的L-丙氨酸脱氢酶基因(alaD)克隆于pL启动子下游,并在B0016-060B菌株中表达,获得菌株B0016-060B/pPL-alaD,进行摇瓶和发酵罐发酵考察菌体生长和L-丙氨酸发酵性能。【结果】竞争代谢途径的敲除显著降低了副产物合成量,仅形成极少量的乙酸、琥珀酸和乙醇。28 °C下菌株B0016-060B/pPL-alaD几乎不合成L-丙氨酸,可保证菌体快速生长;而在42 °C下可高效合成L-丙氨酸。经发酵罐发酵,可合成67.2 g/L L-丙氨酸,体积生产强度达到2.06 g/(L·h)。【结论】通过发酵培养温度的简单切换,分阶段实现了细胞的快速增量和L-丙氨酸的高强度合成。     

温度调控大肠杆菌发酵合成L-丙氨酸

正L-丙氨酸是最小的手性分子之一,被用于医药和兽药行业,与其他L-型氨基酸共同用作手术前和手术后的营养剂[1]。由于L-丙氨酸具有甜味,也被用于食品添加剂[2]。目前,L-丙氨酸全球需求年增长率为20%,主要增长地区是亚洲、北美等。然而,L-丙氨酸产量和价格基本被日本垄断和控制。国内企业生产规模小,生产菌种陈旧低效,L-丙氨酸的供应量远低于市场需求量。