Purification and characterization of thermostable pectate-lyases from a newly isolated thermophilic bacterium, Thermoanaerobacter italicus sp. nov.

A novel thermophilic spore-forming anaerobic microorganism (strain Ab9) able to grow on citrus pectin and polygalacturonic acid (pectate) was isolated from a thermal spa in Italy. The newly isolated strain grows optimally at 70°C with a growth rate of 0.23 h⁻¹ with pectin and 0.12 h⁻¹ with pectate as substrates. Xylan, starch, and glycogen are also utilized as carbon sources and thermoactive xylanolytic (highest activity at 70°–75°C), amylolytic as well as pullulolytic enzymes (highest activity at 80°–85°C) are formed. Two thermoactive pectate lyases were isolated from the supernatant of a 300-l culture of isolate Ab9 after growth on citrus pectin. The two enzymes (lyases a and b) were purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate treatment, anion exchange chromatography, hydrophobic chromatography and finally by preparative gel electrophoresis. After sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) gel electrophoresis, lyase a appeared as a single polypeptide with a molecular mass of 135 000 Da whereas lyase b consisted of two subunits with molecular masses of 93 000 Da and 158 000 Da. Both enzymes displayed similar catalytic properties with optimal activity at pH 9.0 and 80°C. The enzymes were very stable at 70°C and at 80°C with a half-life of more than 60 min. The maximal activity of the purified lyases was observed with orange pectate (100%) and pectate-sodium salt (90%), whereas pectin was attacked to a much lesser extent (50%). The K _m values of both lyases for pectate and citrus pectin were 0.5 g·l⁻¹ and 5.0 g·l⁻¹, respectively. After incubation with polygalacturonic acid, mono-, di-, and tri-galacturonate were detected as final products. A 2.5-fold increase of activity was obtained when pectate lyases were incubated in the presence of 1 mM Ca²⁺. The addition of 1 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) resulted in complete inhibition of the enzymes. These heat-stable enzymes represent the first pectate-lyases isolated and characterized from a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium. On the basis of the results of the 16S rRNA sequence comparisons and the observed phenotypic differences, we propose strain Ab9 as a new species of Thermoanaerobacter, namely Thermoanaerobacter italicus sp. nov. Received: May 25, 1997 / Accepted: June 5, 1997     

Ethanol production from xylose by Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus in batch and continuous culture

The fermentation of xylose by Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus ATCC 31938 was studied in pH-controlled batch and continuous cultures. In batch culture, a dependency of growth rate, product yield, and product distribution upon xylose concentration was observed. With 27 mM xylose media, an ethanol yield of 1.3 mol ethanol/mol xylose (78% of maximum theoretical yield) was typically obtained. With the same media, xylose-limited growth in continuous culture could be achieved with a volumetric productivity of 0.50 g ethanol/liter h and a yield of 0.42 g ethanol/g xylose (1.37 mol ethanol/mol xylose). With extended operation of the chemostat, variation in xylose uptake and a decline in ethanol yield was seen. Instability with respect to fermentation performance was attributed to a selection for mutant populations with different metabolic characteristics. Ethanol production in these T. ethanolicus systems was compared with xylose-to-ethanol conversions of other organisms. Relative to the other systems, T. ethanolicus offers the advantages of a high ethanol yield at low xylose concentrations in batch culture and of a rapid growth rate. Its disadvantages include a lower ethanol yield at higher xylose concentrations in batch culture and an instability of fermentation characteristics in continuous culture.     

Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus gen. nov., spec. nov., a new,extreme thermophilic,anaerobic bacterium

Two strains, JW 200 and JW 201, of an extreme thermophilic, non-spore-forming anaerobic bacterium were isolated from alkaline and slightly acidic hot springs located in Yellowstone National Park. Both strains were peritrichously flagellated rods. Cell size varied from 0.5–0.8 by 4–100 m; coccoid-shaped cells of about 1 m in diameter frequently occurred. Division was often unequal. Spheroplast-like forms were visible at the late logarithmic growth phase. The Gram reaction was variable. The DNA base composition of the two strains was between 37 and 39 mol% guanine plus cytosine as determined by buoyant density measurements and approximately 32% by the thermal denaturation method. The main fermentation products from hexoses were ethanol and CO₂. Growth occurred between 37 and 78°C and from pH 4.4 to 9.8. The name Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus gen. nov., spec. nov. was proposed for the two, new isolates. Strain JW 200 was designated as the type strain.A preliminary account of this work was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Los Angeles, CA, 1979 (J. Wiegel and L. G. Ljungdahl, Abstr. Annu. Meet. Am. Soc. Microbiol., 1979, 163, p. 105) and at the 27th IUPAC Congress Helsinki, 1979 (L. G. Ljungdahl and J. Wiegel, Abstracts p. 546)     

An analysis of the proteomic profile for Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis under optimal culture conditions

The genome of Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis is estimated to encode 2588 theoretical proteins. In this study, we have vitalized approximately 46% of the theoretical proteome experimentally using a proteomic strategy that combines three different methods, shotgun digestion plus high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (shotgun-liquid chromatography (LC)/MS), one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) plus HPLC with ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (one-dimensional electrophoresis (1DE)-LC/MS), and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis plus matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (2DE-MALDI-TOF-MS). Of the 1200 proteins identified, as few as 76 proteins were globally found by all three approaches, and notably, most of these proteins were in the soluble fraction. However, there were a number of unique proteins detected by one method only, suggesting that our strategy provides a means toward obtaining a comprehensive view of protein expression profile. Proteins from the major metabolic pathways are strongly represented on the map, and a number of these enzymes were identified by more than one proteomic method. Based upon the proteins identified in the present study, we are able to broaden the understanding of how T. tengcongensis survives under high temperature environment, whereas several of its properties can not be fully explained by genome data.     

Cloning, purification, and characterization of thermostable hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis

Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT, EC 2.4.2.8) from a newly characterized thermophile Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. Analytical gel filtration suggested that the enzyme exist as a homotetramer in solution. The optimal pH for the forward reaction was found to be 8.0 and the optimal temperature 70 degrees C. The steady-state kinetic characteristics suggest that hypoxanthine is the most effective substrate. This enzyme showed a half-life of 75min at 50 degrees C and no apparent loss of activity after 3 months at 4 degrees C.     

胞内氧化还原水平对嗜热厌氧乙醇菌 发酵代谢的影响

辅酶NADH/NAD+在细胞内氧化还原反应中起着重要的作用,是细胞生长和能量代谢必不可少的辅因子。调节微生物胞内NADH/NAD+的比率是定向改变微生物代谢,高效获得目标代谢产物的有效手段。嗜热厌氧乙醇菌(Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus)是高温厌氧菌中乙醇产量较高的代表性菌株,本文利用不同氧化还原态的碳源改变T.ethanolicus的胞内NADH/NAD+含量和比例,进而研究了其对细胞生长、代谢产物分布的影响。以不同比例的葡萄糖/甘露醇作为混合碳源发酵,胞内氧化还原水平、细胞的生长特性、代谢产物都发生了不同程度的差异,以葡萄糖作为唯一碳源进行培养时,T.ethanolicus生长良好,乙醇产量为0.79g/L,但胞内NADH/NAD+比值和乙醇/乙酸的比值都比较低,分别为0.47和4.82;随着葡萄糖在混合碳源中比例的下降,NADH/NAD+比值增高,发酵产物中乙醇/乙酸比值也呈现上升的趋势。而以甘露醇作为唯一碳源时,发酵产物中乙醇浓度为0.389g/L,NADH/NAD+比值和乙醇/乙酸的比值分别为1.04和16.0。     

C-terminal effect of Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis ribosome recycling factor on its activity and conformation changes

The in vivo activities and conformational changes of ribosome recycling factor from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis (TteRRF) with 12 successive C-terminal deletions were compared. The results showed that TteRRF mutants lacking one to four amino acid residues are inactive, those lacking five to nine are reactivated to a similar or a little higher level than wild-type TteRRF, and those lacking ten to twelve are inactivated again gradually. Conformational studies indicated that only the ANS binding fluorescence change is correlated well with the RRF in vivo activity change, while the secondary structure and local structure at the aromatic residues are not changed significantly. Trypsin cleavage site identification and protein stability measurement suggested that mutation only induced subtle conformation change and increased flexibility of the protein. Our results indicated that the ANS-detected local conformation changes of TteRRF and mutants are one verified direct reason of the in vivo inactivation and reactivation in Escherichia coli.     

Gene expression and molecular characterization of a thermostable trehalose phosphorylase fromThermoanaerobacter tengcongensis

Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide of glucosewidely distributed in microorganisms, plants and in-sects. It usually functions as a compatible solute in thestabilization of biological structures under several en-vironment stresses[1,2]. Trehalose has proved to be anactive stabilizer of enzymes, proteins, biomasses, pharmaceutical preparations and even organs fortransplantation. Thus much attention has been paid tothe synthesis pathway of trehalose and the develop-ment of novel and economic…     

Directed evolution of a thermophilic endoglucanase (Cel5A) into highly active Cel5A variants with an expanded temperature profile

Cel5A is a highly active endoglucanase from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis MB4, displaying an optimal temperature range between 75 and 80 °C. After three rounds of error-prone PCR and screening of 4700 mutants, five variants of Cel5A with improved activities were identified by Congo Red based screening method. Compared with the wild type, the best variants 3F6 and C3-13 display 135 ± 6% and 193 ± 8% of the wild type specific activity for the substrate carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), besides improvements in the relative expression level in Escherichia coli system. Remarkable are especially the improvements in activities at reduced temperatures (50% of maximum activity at 50 °C and about 45 °C respectively, while 65 °C for the wild type). Molecular Dynamics simulations performed on the 3F6 and C3-13 variants show a decreased number of intra-Cel5A hydrogen bonds compared to the wild type, implying a more flexible protein skeleton which correlates well to the higher catalytic activity at lower temperatures. To investigate functions of each individual amino acid position site-directed (saturation) mutagenesis were generated and screened. Amino acid positions Val249 and Ile321 were found to be crucial for improving activity and residue Ile13 (encoded by rare codon AUA) yields an improved expression level in E. coli.     

一株高效降解木糖的耐酸、嗜热厌氧杆菌的生理特性及产物分析

【目的】分离高效降解木糖的嗜热厌氧杆菌菌株,用于发酵生产生物燃料乙醇,为后继的构建基因工程菌株及联合生物工艺提供材料。【方法】运用亨盖特厌氧操作技术从胜利油田油层采出液两年的富集样中分离到一株嗜热厌氧杆菌xyl-d。采用形态学观察、生理生化指标鉴定及基于16S rRNA的系统发育学分析确定其分类地位。【结果】菌株xyl-d为革兰氏阴性厌氧杆菌,菌体大小为(1.35-5.08)μm×(0.27-0.40)μm,单生、成对或成簇生长,芽胞圆形,端生。温度生长范围30-85℃(最适温度65℃);pH范围3.0-10.0(最适pH 7.5);NaCl浓度范围0%-4%(最适NaCl浓度2.0%)。发酵D-木糖的产物是乙醇、乙酸、CO2及少量的异丁醇、丙酸。菌株xyl-d的(G+C)mol%含量为45.6%,与热厌氧杆菌属模式菌株威吉利热厌氧杆菌(Thermoanaerobacter wiegelii)DSM10319T及嗜热乙醇杆菌(Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus)DSM2246T的16S rRNA序列相似性均为99.3%。菌株利用D-木糖产乙醇的最佳初始pH为8.5;少量酵母粉能刺激生长并显著提高发酵D-木糖的产醇率,使乙醇成为主要的发酵产物;培养基中乙醇浓度达到7%(V/V)时菌体生长受到抑制,最佳生长条件下D-木糖的降解率可达91.37%,最佳产醇条件下发酵1摩尔D-木糖可产生1.29摩尔的乙醇。【结论】菌株xyl-d是从特殊生境(油藏)中分离到的一株高效降解D-木糖的耐酸、嗜热的厌氧杆菌,其为半纤维素降解产乙醇的联合生物工艺提供了菌源。