Cover Image

Synthetic microbial communities have become a focus of biotechnological research since they can overcome several of the limitations of single-specie cultures. A paradigmatic example is Clostridium cellulovorans DSM 743B, which can decompose lignocellulose but cannot produce butanol. Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 however, is unable to use lignocellulose but can produce high amounts of butanol from simple sugars. In our previous studies, both organisms were cocultured to produce butanol by consolidated bioprocessing. However, such consolidated bioprocessing implementation strongly depends on pH regulation. Since low pH (pH 4.5–5.5) is required for butanol fermentation, C. cellulovorans cannot grow well and saccharify sufficient lignocellulose to feed both strains at a pH below 6.4. To overcome this bottleneck, this study engineered C. cellulovorans by adaptive laboratory evolution, inactivating cell wall lyases genes (Clocel_0798 and Clocel_2169), and overexpressing agmatine deiminase genes (augA, encoded by Cbei_1922) from C. beijerinckii NCIMB 8052. The generated strain WZQ36: 743B*6.0*3△lyt0798△lyt2169-(pXY1-P_thl-augA) can tolerate a pH of 5.5. Finally, the alcohol aldehyde dehydrogenase gene adhE1 from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 was introduced into the strain to enable butanol production at low pH, in coordination with solvent fermentation of C. beijerinckii in consortium. The engineered consortium produced 3.94 g/L butanol without pH control within 83 hr, which is more than 5-fold of the level achieved by wild consortia under the same conditions. This exploration represents a proof of concept on how to combine metabolic and evolutionary engineering to coordinate coculture of a synthetic microbial community.     

Cyanobacterial bioactive metabolites—A review of their chemistry and biology

Cyanobacterial blooms occur when algal densities exceed baseline population concentrations. Cyanobacteria can produce a large number of secondary metabolites. Odorous metabolites affect the smell and flavor of aquatic animals, whereas bioactive metabolites cause a range of lethal and sub-lethal effects in plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates, including humans. Herein, the bioactivity, chemistry, origin, and biosynthesis of these cyanobacterial secondary metabolites were reviewed. With recent revision of cyanobacterial taxonomy by Anagnostidis and Komárek as part of the Süβwasserflora von Mitteleuropa volumes 19(1–3), names of many cyanobacteria that produce bioactive compounds have changed, thereby confusing readers. The original and new nomenclature are included in this review to clarify the origins of cyanobacterial bioactive compounds.Due to structural similarity, the 157 known bioactive classes produced by cyanobacteria have been condensed to 55 classes. This review will provide a basis for more formal procedures to adopt a logical naming system. This review is needed for efficient management of water resources to understand, identify, and manage cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom impacts.     

胍基丁胺在离体豚鼠乳头肌的电生理效应

应用细胞内微电极技术,观察了胍基丁胺（ａｇｍａｔｉｎｅ,ＡＧＭ）对豚鼠乳头肌细胞的电生理效应。结果表明：（１）ＡＧＭ浓度依赖地缩短正常乳头肌动作电位的时程;（２）对部分去极化的乳头肌,ＡＧＭ（１ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ）除缩短动作电位时程外,还抑制动作电位零相最大上升速度,并降低其幅值和超射值;（３）预先应用一氧化氮合酶抑制剂ＬＮＡＭＥ（０５ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ）,不能影响ＡＧＭ（１ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ）的电生理效应;（４）预先应用咪唑啉受体（ｉｍｉｄａｚｏｌｉｎｅｒｅｃｅｐｔｏｒ,ＩＲ）和α２肾上腺素能受体（ａｌｐｈａ２ａｄｒｅｎｅｒｇｉｃｒｅｃｅｐｔｏｒ,α２ＡＲ）拮抗剂ｉｄａｚｏｘａｎ（０１ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ）,则可完全阻断ＡＧＭ（１ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ）的电生理效应。以上结果提示,ＡＧＭ对乳头肌的电生理效应似由α２ＡＲ和ＩＲ介导,并与胞浆内Ｃａ２＋减少有关。     

Crystal structure and biochemical properties of putrescine carbamoyltransferase from Enterococcus faecalis: Assembly, active site, and allosteric regulation

Putrescine carbamoyltransferase (PTCase) catalyzes the conversion of carbamoylputrescine to putrescine and carbamoyl phosphate (CP), a substrate of carbamate kinase (CK). The crystal structure of PTCase has been determined and refined at 3.2 Å resolution. The trimeric molecular structure of PTCase is similar to other carbamoyltransferases, including the catalytic subunit of aspartate carbamoyltransferase (ATCase) and ornithine carbamoyltransferase (OTCase). However, in contrast to other trimeric carbamoyltransferases, PTCase binds both CP and putrescine with Hill coefficients at saturating concentrations of the other substrate of 1.53 ± 0.03 and 1.80 ± 0.06, respectively. PTCase also has a unique structural feature: a long C‐terminal helix that interacts with the adjacent subunit to enhance intersubunit interactions in the molecular trimer. The C‐terminal helix appears to be essential for both formation of the functional trimer and catalytic activity, since truncated PTCase without the C‐terminal helix aggregates and has only 3% of native catalytic activity. The active sites of PTCase and OTCase are similar, with the exception of the 240′s loop. PTCase lacks the proline‐rich sequence found in knotted carbamoyltransferases and is unknotted. A Blast search of all available genomes indicates that 35 bacteria, most of which are Gram‐positive, have an agcB gene encoding PTCase located near the genes that encode agmatine deiminase and CK, consistent with the catabolic role of PTCase in the agmatine degradation pathway. Sequence comparisons indicate that the C‐terminal helix identified in this PTCase structure will be found in all other PTCases identified, suggesting that it is the signature feature of the PTCase family of enzymes Proteins 2012; © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Purification and Characterization of γ-Hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH) Dehydrochlorinase (LinA) from Pseudomonas paucimobilis

The linA gene from Pseudomonas paucimobilis was highly expressed in Escherichia coli, and the linA product (LinA), named γ-HCH dehydrochlorinase, was purified to homogeneity. LinA released three chloride ions per one molecule of γ-HCH. Degradation assay of halogenated compounds by purified LinA showed that the substrate specificity of LinA is very narrow.     

Repression of arginase and agmatine amidinohydrolase by urea in the lichen Evernia prunastri

Two forms of arginase (EC 3.5.3.1) have been found in Evernia prunastri: (1) a light-arginase (M_r, 180 000) induced by l-arginine—urea causes repression which is reversed by cyclic AMP; (2) a constitutive heavy-arginase (M_r, 330 000) which is not affected by cyclic AMP. Agmatine amidinohydrolase (EC 3.5.3.11) is also repressed by urea but this effect is carried out at catabolite concentrations higher than those required to prevent the synthesis of the light-arginase. This repression is also relieved by cyclic AMP.     

Accumulation of putrescine and related amino acids in potassium deficient Sesamum

Sesamum indicum was grown in complete or potassium deficient nutrient solution and amino acids, amines, nitrogen and potassium were determined weekly in the leaves. The incorporation of l-arginine-[U-¹⁴C] into protein was also followed. The interconversions of the amino acids of the ordithine-urea cycle, and their contribution to the formation of amines, were studied in cell-free extracts and intact leaves using labelled amino acids. As the level of potassium in the leaves decreased, the levels of the amino acids ornithine, citrulline and arginine, and of the amines putrescine, N-carbamylputrescine and agmatine increased. Potassium deficiency also reduced the rate of protein synthesis. Putrescine appears to be formed preferentially from citrulline with N-carbamylputrescine as intermediate.     

胍丁胺对大鼠海马 CA1区神经元放电的影响

应用细胞外记录单位放电技术,在大鼠海马脑片上观察了胍丁胺(agmatine,Agm)对CAl区神经元放电的影响。实验结果如下：(1)在47个海马脑片放电单位上灌流Agm(0．1—1．0μmol／L)2min,有38个单位(80．9％)自发放电频率明显降低,且呈剂量依赖性,9个单位(19．1％)无明显的反应;(2)预先用0．2mmol／L的L-谷氨酸(L-glutamate,L-Glu)灌流12个海马脑片放电单位,有9个单位(75％)放电频率明显增加,表现为癫痫样放电,在此基础上灌流Agm(1．0μmol／L)2min,其癫痫样放电被抑制;(3)在7个海马脑片放电单位上给予L型钙通道激动剂Bay K8644(0．1μmoL／L)时,有6个单位(85．7％)放电频率明显增加,另外1个单位(14．3％)无明显变化,再给予Agm(1．0μmol／L)2min,其放电频率被明显抑制;(4)13个CAl放电单位,灌流50μmoL／L一氧化氮合酶(NOS)抑制剂N^G-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester。(L-NAME)5min后其放电频率明显增加,在此基础上再给予Agm(1．0μmol／L)2min,有11个单位(84．6％)的放电频率被抑制,有2个单位(15．4％)的变化不明显。上述结果提示：胍丁胺能抑制海马CAl区神经元自发放电以及由谷氨酸、BayK8644和L-NAME诱发的放电,这一抑制效应可能与胍丁胺阻断CAl区锥体细胞上的NMDA受体,并减少钙离子内流有关。     

Amine levels in Lathyrus sativus seedlings during development

In growing Lathyrus sativus seedlings, the levels of DNA, RNA and protein markedly decreased in the cotyledons and progressively increased in the embryo-axis. In cotyledons, spermidine and spermine contents were substantially reduced while those of agmatine and putrescine were sharply increased. By contrast the embryo-axis progressively accumulated relatively larger amounts of agmatine, homoagmatine. putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine and spermine in parallel with similar changes in its DNA, RNA and protein content. While the cotyledons contained ca 50% of the total agmatine and putrescine present in the plant embryo by day 10, the embryo-axis, though representing less than 20% of the dry wt, contained 90 and 75% of total cadaverine and homoagmatine respectively of the seedlings. Spermidine and spermine levels of this tissue were also comparatively higher, being of the order of 80 and 50% respectively of the total. The root and shoot portions of the embryo-axis also exhibited a similar relationship between changes in DNA, RNA and protein and all the above amines during development. However, the polyamine content of the shoots was relatively higher than those of the roots during the growth period.