• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2018

The aims of this work were to characterize and determine bioactivities of crude exopolysaccharide (EPS) extract from Bacillus tequilensis PS21 isolated from milk kefir from Kampaeng Petch, Thailand. B. tequilensis PS21 produced 112.1 mg dried EPS/l from initial 80 g/l lactose in modified TSB media at 52 h, with EPS product yield of 8.9 mg EPS/g lactose and specific product yield of 0.3 mg EPS/mg biomass. The FTIR result confirmed EPS to be a protein-bound polysaccharide and SEM analysis showed the morphology to be a grainy appearance with an uneven surface, covered with pores. HPLC analysis determined EPS as a heteropolysaccharide consisting of five sugar units with the following molar ratios; xylose (17.65), glucose (2.54), ribose (1.83), rhamnose (1.23), and galactose (1). Chemical components of this EPS were predominantly carbohydrate at 697.8 mg/g EPS (65%), protein 361.4 mg/g EPS (34%), and nucleic acid 12.5 mg/g EPS (1%). The EPS demonstrated antioxidant activities at 57.5% DPPH scavenging activity, $37.2{\mu}M\;Fe(II)/mg$ EPS and $34.9{\mu}M\;TEAC\;{\mu}M/mg$ EPS using DPPH, FRAP and ABTS assays, respectively. EPS also exhibited anti-tyrosinase activity at 34.9% inhibition. This work represents the first finding of EPS produced by Bacillus sp. from Thai milk kefir which shows potential applications in the production of antioxidant functional foods and whitening cosmetics. However, optimization of EPS production for industrial exploitation requires further study to ascertain the economic potential.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1221-1228
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• 2013

Two lipase genes (bpl1 and bpl3) from Antarctic Bacillus pumilus strains were expressed in Bacillus subtilis. Both recombinant lipases BPL1 and BPL2 were secreted to the culture medium and their activities reached 3.5 U/ml and 5.0 U/ml, respectively. Their molecular masses apparent using SDS-PAGE were 23 kDa for BPL1 and 19 kDa for BPL3. Both lipases were purified to homogeneity using ammonium sulfate precipitation and HiTrap SP FF column and Superose 12 column chromatographies. The final specific activities were estimated to be 328 U/mg for BPL1 and 310 U/mg for BPL3. Both lipases displayed an optimum temperature of $35^{\circ}C$, similar to other mesophilic enzymes. However, they maintained as much as 70% and 80% of the maximum activities at $10^{\circ}C$. Accordingly, their calculated activation energy at a temperature range of $10-35^{\circ}C$ was 5.32 kcal/mol for BPL1 and 4.26 kcal/mol for BPL3, typical of cold-adapted enzymes. The optimum pH of BPL1 and BPL3 was 8.5 and 8.0, respectively, and they were quite stable at pH 7.0-11.0, showing their strong alkaline tolerance. Both lipases had a preference toward medium chain length ($C_6-C_{10}$) fatty acid substrates. These results indicate the potential for the two Antarctic B. pumilus lipases as catalysts in bioorganic synthesis, food, and detergent industries.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.527-533
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• 2008

For preparation of high quality kochujang by the traditional fermentation method, 4 types of kochujang were prepared with brick- or grain-shaped meju fermented with different strains (Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus oryzae+Bacillus subtilis). After 100 days of fermentation at $25^{\circ}C$, the moisture, pH, salt, and ethanol content of kochujang were 40.52-43.20%, 4.71-4.82, 8.7-9.1%, and 0.75-0.94%, respectively, showing slight differences according to the strains and shapes of meju. Titratable acidities were slightly increased for up to 60 days of fermentation. The amino-type nitrogen content of kochujang prepared with brick-shaped meju (A. oryzae+B. subtilis) was the highest (164.20 mg%) among all of the kochujang types. The redness (a) value of kochujang prepared with brick-shaped meju (A. sojae) were higher (19.08) than those of other treatments (18.37-18.59). Sensory evaluation of kochujang prepared with grain-shaped meju (A. sojae) showed the highest scores for color and overall acceptability, 'at $6.43{\pm}1.87$ and $6.29{\pm}1.44$, respectively. It was estimated that high quality kochujang could be made by using meju fermented with selected strains.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.1446-1454
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• 2021

Herein, we cloned and expressed an endo-β-1,4-glucanase gene (celA1805) from Bacillus subtilis B111 in Escherichia coli. The recombinant celA1805 contains a glycosyl hydrolase (GH) family 8 domain and shared 76.8% identity with endo-1,4-β-glucanase from Bacillus sp. KSM-330. Results showed that the optimal pH and temperature of celA1805 were 6.0 and 50℃, respectively, and it was stable at pH 3-9 and temperature ≤50℃. Metal ions slightly affected enzyme activity, but chemical agents generally inhibited enzyme activity. Moreover, celA1805 showed a wide substrate specificity to CMC, barley β-glucan, lichenin, chitosan, PASC and avicel. The K_m and V_max values of celA1805 were 1.78 mg/ml and 50.09 µmol/min/mg. When incubated with cellooligosaccharides ranging from cellotriose to cellopentose, celA1805 mainly hydrolyzed cellotetrose (G4) and cellopentose (G5) to cellose (G2) and cellotriose (G3), but hardly hydrolyzed cellotriose. The concentrations of reducing sugars saccharified by celA1805 from wheat straw, rape straw, rice straw, peanut straw, and corn straw were increased by 0.21, 0.51, 0.26, 0.36, and 0.66 mg/ml, respectively. The results obtained in this study suggest potential applications of celA1805 in biomass saccharification.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.585-591
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• 2014

To evaluate the potential utility of pretreatment of raw biomass with a complex microbial system, we investigated the degradation of rice straw by BMC-9, a lignocellulose decomposition strain obtained from a biogas slurry compost environment. The degradation characteristics and corresponding changes in the bacterial community were assessed. The results showed that rapid degradation occurred from day 0 to day 9, with a peak total biomass bacterium concentration of $3.3{\times}10^8$ copies/ml on day 1. The pH of the fermentation broth declined initially and then increased, and the mass of rice straw decreased steadily. The highest concentrations of volatile fatty acid contents (0.291 mg/l lactic acid, 0.31 mg/l formic acid, 1.93 mg/l acetic acid, and 0.73 mg/l propionic acid) as well as the highest xylanse activity (1.79 U/ml) and carboxymethyl cellulase activity (0.37 U/ml) occurred on day 9. The greatest diversity among the microbial community also occurred on day 9, with the presence of bacteria belonging to Clostridium sp., Bacillus sp., and Geobacillus sp. Together, our results indicate that BMC-9 has a strong ability to rapidly degrade the lignocelluloses of rice straw under relatively inexpensive conditions, and the optimum fermentation time is 9 days.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.467-470
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• 2003

The endoxylanase (642 bp; 213 amino acids) and ${\beta}-xylosidase$ (1,602 bp; 533 amino acids) genes from Bacillus sp. were amplified by PCR and separately inserted downstream of the yeast ADH1 promoters, resulting in the pAEDX-1 and pAEX plasmid. When the yeast transformants, S. cerevisiae SEY2102 harboring pAEDX-1 or pAEX, were grown on YPD medium, the total activities of the enzymes reached about 9.8 unit/mL for endoxylanase and 2.9 unit/mL for ${\beta}-xylosidase$. When the three kinds of xylan from oat spelts, birch wood, and corncob were hydrolyzed by treatment of recombinant endoxylanase and ${\beta}-xylosidase$, it was found that xylose, xylobiose and xylotriose were produced and xylose was the major product after 12 h reaction. In addition, with the higher amount of enzymes, the more amount of xylose was produced.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.76-83
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• 1999

Studies were conducted during 2 months from May of 1997 to evaluate the effects of pig manure compost(PMC) on soil microbial flora. To do so, a field experiment of Chinese cabbage(Brassica campestris L.) was conducted in a randomized block design on a sandy loam soil and microbial floral characteristics in soils were analyzed. Treatments to control included the application of PMC at (A) $8Mg\;ha^{-1}$CM-8), (B) $29Mg\;ha^{-1}$(CM-2,9), and (C) $57Mg\;ha^{-1}$(CM-57), and of chemical fertilizer(D) at $320N-80P_2O_5-200K_2O\;kg\;ha^{-1}$(NPK). In each treatment, the rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils were tested for the analysis of microbial populations. The populations of bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi increased in soils with the applications of PMC and chemical fertilizer, but that of Bacillus sp. decreased. However, the population of fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. was reduced in NPK plots only. With increasing application rates of PMC, the number of colony forming units(cfu) of bacteria (Pseudomonas sp. and actinomycetes) and fungi increased. in all PMC-treated plots, the population density peaked at early growth stage for bacteria(including Bacillus sp.), at late growth for fluorscent Pseudomonas sp., and at harvest for fungi and actinomycetes. The rhizosphere effect was greatest for fluorscent Pseudomonas sp. As the application rates of PMC increased, Total N, organic matter, available phosphate, and exchangeable -K, -Ca, and -Mg increased compared to control, but soil pH was lowered. In NPK plots, EC was 3.4-fold and exchangeable K was 5-fold higher than control.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.332-338
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• 2009

A xylan-decomposing bacterium, HY-20, was isolated from the gut of a honeybee, Apis mellifera, and identified as Bacillus sp. The extracellular GH11 xylanase (XylP) gene (687-bp) of strain HY-20 encoded a protein of 228 amino acids with a deduced molecular mass of 25,522 Da and a calculated pI of 9.33. The primary structure of XylP was 97% identical to that of B. pumilus xylanase (GenBank accession no.: AY526092) that has not been characterized yet. The recombinant His-tagged enzyme (rXylP) overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 harboring pET-28a(+)/xylP was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by cation exchange and gel permeation chromatographies. The purified enzyme exhibited the highest catalytic activity toward birchwood xylan at pH 6.5 and $50^{\circ}C$ and retained approximately 50% of its original activity when pre-incubated at $55^{\circ}C$ for 15 min. The recombinant enzyme was completely inactivated by $Hg^{2+}$ (1 mM) and N-bromosuccinimide (5 mM), while its activity was slightly stimulated by approximately 10% in the presence of $Mn^{2+}$ (1 mM), $Fe^{2+}$ (1 mM), and sodium azide (5 mM). rXylP was able to efficiently degrade various polymeric xylose-based substrates but PNP-sugar derivatives and glucose-based polymers were not susceptible to the enzyme.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.588-596
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• 2018

An endo-${\beta}$-1,4-glucanase gene, cel9K, was cloned using the shot-gun method from Paenibacillus sp. X4, which was isolated from alpine soil. The gene was 2,994 bp in length, encoding a protein of 997 amino acid residues with a predicted signal peptide composed of 32 amino acid residues. Cel9K was a multimodular enzyme, and the molecular mass and theoretical pI of the mature Cel9K were 103.5 kDa and 4.81, respectively. Cel9K contains the GGxxDAGD, PHHR, GAxxGG, YxDDI, and EVxxDYN motifs found in most glycoside hydrolase family 9 (GH9) members. The protein sequence showed the highest similarity (88%) with the cellulase of Bacillus sp. BP23 in comparison with the enzymes with reported properties. The enzyme was purified by chromatography using HiTrap Q, CHT-II, and HiTrap Butyl HP. Using SDS-PAGE/activity staining, the molecular mass of Cel9K was estimated to be 93 kDa, which is a truncated form produced by the proteolytic cleavage of its C-terminus. Cel9K was optimally active at pH 5.5 and $50^{\circ}C$ and showed a half-life of 59.2 min at $50^{\circ}C$. The CMCase activity was increased to more than 150% in the presence of 2 mM $Na^+$, $K^+$, and $Ba^{2+}$, but decreased significantly to less than 50% by $Mn^{2+}$ and $Co^{2+}$. The addition of Cel9K to a commercial enzyme set (Celluclast 1.5L + Novozym 188) increased the saccharification of the pretreated reed and rice straw powders by 30.4% and 15.9%, respectively. The results suggest that Cel9K can be used to enhance the enzymatic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to reducing sugars as an additive.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.307-313
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• 2008

The yeast surface expression system, pCTXYN (6.8 kb), of Bacillus endoxylanase gene (xynB, 642 bp) was constructed and introduced into Saccharomyces cerevisiae EBY100 cell. The transformed yeast cell showing the highest endoxylanase activity was selected through the active staining of colonies grown on YPDG medium containing xylan. With the yeast transformant, EBY100/pCTXYN, grown on galactose containing medium, it was found that the endoxylanase was successfully displayed on the yeast cell surface and the xylooligosaccharides were efficiently produced from xylan. The most of endoxylanase activity was detected in the cell fraction and reached about 1.9 unit/mL after 48 h cultivation. The optimized conditions for xylooligosaccharides production from xylan were determined as follows: substrate and its concentration, oat spelt xylan 6%; concentration of yeast whole-cell, 5 unit/mL; temperature, $50^{\circ}C$, and reaction time $2{\sim}4\;h$. When the oat spelts xylan and corncob xylan were hydrolyzed by treatment with cell surface-displayed endoxylanase, xylotriose was formed as a main product.