• Molecules and Cells
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• 제39권6호
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• pp.495-500
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• 2016

We have solved the crystal structure of a predicted fructose-specific enzyme $IIB^{fruc}$ from Escherichia coli ($EcEIIB^{fruc}$) involved in the phosphoenolpyruvate-carbohydrate phosphotransferase system transferring carbohydrates across the cytoplasmic membrane. $EcEIIB^{fruc}$ belongs to a sequence family with more than 5,000 sequence homologues with 25-99% amino-acid sequence identity. It reveals a conventional Rossmann-like ${\alpha}-{\beta}-{\alpha}$ sandwich fold with a unique ${\beta}$-sheet topology. Its C-terminus is longer than its closest relatives and forms an additional ${\beta}$-strand whereas the shorter C-terminus is random coil in the relatives. Interestingly, its core structure is similar to that of enzyme $IIB^{cellobiose}$ from E. coli ($EcIIB^{cel}$) transferring a phosphate moiety. In the active site of the closest $EcEIIB^{fruc}$ homologues, a unique motif CXXGXAHT comprising a P-loop like architecture including a histidine residue is found. The conserved cysteine on this loop may be deprotonated to act as a nucleophile similar to that of $EcIIB^{cel}$. The conserved histidine residue is presumed to bind the negatively charged phosphate. Therefore, we propose that the catalytic mechanism of $EcEIIB^{fruc}$ is similar to that of $EcIIB^{cel}$ transferring phosphoryl moiety to a specific carbohydrate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권11호
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• pp.1591-1600
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• 2021

Streptomyces coelicolor is a filamentous soil bacterium producing several kinds of antibiotics. S. coelicolor abs8752 is an abs (antibiotic synthesis deficient)-type mutation at the absR locus; it is characterized by an incapacity to produce any of the four antibiotics synthesized by its parental strain J1501. A chromosomal DNA fragment from S. coelicolor J1501, capable of complementing the abs- phenotype of the abs8752 mutant, was cloned and analyzed. DNA sequencing revealed that two complete ORFs (SCO6992 and SCO6993) were present in opposite directions in the clone. Introduction of SCO6992 in the mutant strain resulted in a remarkable increase in the production of two pigmented antibiotics, actinorhodin and undecylprodigiosin, in S. coelicolor J1501 and abs8752. However, introduction of SCO6993 did not show any significant difference compared to the control, suggesting that SCO6992 is primarily involved in stimulating the biosynthesis of antibiotics in S. coelicolor. In silico analysis of SCO6992 (359 aa, 39.5 kDa) revealed that sequences homologous to SCO6992 were all annotated as hypothetical proteins. Although a metalloprotease domain with a conserved metal-binding motif was found in SCO6992, the recombinant rSCO6992 did not show any protease activity. Instead, it showed very strong β-glucuronidase activity in an API ZYM assay and toward two artificial substrates, p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucuronide and AS-BI-β-D-glucuronide. The binding between rSCO6992 and Zn²⁺ was confirmed by circular dichroism spectroscopy. We report for the first time that SCO6992 is a novel protein with β-glucuronidase activity, that has a distinct primary structure and physiological role from those of previously reported β-glucuronidases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제32권9호
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• pp.1195-1208
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• 2022

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have potential applications in medicine, photocatalysis, agriculture, and cosmetic fields due to their unique physicochemical properties and strong antimicrobial activity. Here, AgNPs were synthesized using actinobacterial SL19 strain, isolated from acidic forest soil in Poland, and confirmed by UV-vis and FTIR spectroscopy, TEM, and zeta potential analysis. The AgNPs were polydispersed, stable, spherical, and small, with an average size of 23 nm. The FTIR study revealed the presence of bonds characteristic of proteins that cover nanoparticles. These proteins were then studied by using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and identified with the highest similarity to hypothetical protein and porin with molecular masses equal to 41 and 38 kDa, respectively. Our AgNPs exhibited remarkable antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The combined, synergistic action of these synthesized AgNPs with commercial antibiotics (ampicillin, kanamycin, streptomycin, and tetracycline) enabled dose reductions in both components and increased their antimicrobial efficacy, especially in the case of streptomycin and tetracycline. Furthermore, the in vitro activity of the AgNPs on human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, A375, A549, and HepG2) showed cancer-specific sensitivity, while the genotoxic activity was evaluated by Ames assay, which revealed a lack of mutagenicity on the part of nanoparticles in Salmonella Typhimurium TA98 strain. We also studied the impact of the AgNPs on the catalytic and photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO). The decomposition of MO was observed by a decrease in intensity of absorbance within time. The results of our study proved the easy, fast, and efficient synthesis of AgNPs using acidophilic actinomycete SL19 strain and demonstrated the remarkable potential of these AgNPs as anticancer and antibacterial agents. However, the properties and activity of such particles can vary by biosynthesized batch.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제50권4호
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• pp.563-573
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• 2022

Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis (Xaj) is a globally important bacterial pathogen of walnut trees that causes substantial economic losses in commercial walnut production. Although prophages are common in bacterial plant pathogens and play important roles in bacterial diversity and pathogenicity, there has been limited investigation into the distribution and function of prophages in Xaj. In this study, we identified and characterized 13 predicted prophages from the genomes of 12 Xaj isolates from around the globe. These prophages ranged in length from 11.8 kb to 51.9 kb, with between 11-75 genes and 57.82-64.15% GC content. The closest relatives of these prophages belong to the Myoviridae and Siphoviridae families of the Caudovirales order. The phylogenetic analysis allowed the classification of the prophages into five groups. The gene constitution of these predicted prophages was revealed via Roary analysis. Amongst 126 total protein groups, the most prevalent group was only present in nine prophages, and 22 protein groups were present in only one prophage (singletons). Also, bioinformatic analysis of the 13 identified prophages revealed the presence of 431 genes with an average length of 389.7 bp. Prokka annotation of these prophages identified 466 hypothetical proteins, 24 proteins with known function, and six tRNA genes. The proteins with known function mainly comprised prophage integrase IntA, replicative DNA helicase, tyrosine recombinase XerC, and IS3 family transposase. There was no detectable insertion site specificity for these prophages in the Xaj genomes. The identified Xaj prophage genes, particularly those of unknown function, merit future investigation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.211-218
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• 2023

A cryptic plasmid (pTH32) was characterized from Tetragenococcus halophilus 32, an isolate from jeotgal, Korean traditional fermented seafood. pTH32 is 3,198 bp in size with G+C content of 35.84%, and contains 4 open reading frames (ORFs). orf1 and orf2 are 456 bp and 273 bp in size, respectively, and their translation products showed 65.16% and 69.35% similarities with RepB family plasmid replication initiators, respectively, suggesting the rolling-circle replication (RCR) mode of pTH32. orf3 and orf4 encodes putative hypothetical protein of 186 and 76 amino acids, respectively. A novel Tetragenococcus-Escherichia coli shuttle vector, pMJ32E (7.3 kb, Em^r), was constructed by ligation of pTH32 with pBluescript II KS(+) and an erythromycin resistance gene (ErmC). pMJ32E successfully replicated in Enterococcus faecalis 29212 and T. halophilus 31 but not in other LAB species. A pepA gene, encoding aminopeptidase A (PepA) from T. halophilus CY54, was successfully expressed in T. halophilus 31 using pMJ32E. The transformant (TF) showed higher PepA activity (49.8 U/mg protein) than T. halophilus 31 cell (control). When T. halophilus 31 TF was subculturd in MRS broth without antibiotic at 48 h intervals, 53.8% of cells retained pMJ32E after 96 h, and only 2.4% of cells retained pMJ32E after 14 days, supporting the RCR mode of pTH32. pMJ32E could be useful for the genetic engineering of Tetragenococcus and Enterococcus species.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• 제50권
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

고구마(Ipomoea batatas L. Lam)는 영양소, 가공 식품, 동물 사료 및 색소 재료의 유용한 공급원으로 이용 가능한 경제적으로 중요한 대표적인 뿌리 작물이다. 일반적으로 고구마의 저장 뿌리는 수확 후 저장 기간 동안 다양한 미생물과 질병에 의한 부패에 노출되기 쉽다. 수확 후 큐어링은 저장기간 동안 상처를 치유하고 미생물에 의한 부패를 방지하기 위한 가장 적합한 수단으로 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 큐어링과 연관된 분자적 기작에 관여하는 단백질들을 확인하기 위해, 큐어링 처리 후 저장기간 동안 단백질체의 변화를 분석하였다. 33℃ (큐어링) 및 15℃ (대조군)에서 3일 동안 처리하고 8주의 저장 기간이 지난 후 2D 전기영동 분석을 통해 단백질 spot의 변화를 확인한 결과, 31개 단백질 spot의 발현량이 차이 나는 것을 확인하였으며, 이들 중 15개의 단백질 spot을 동정하여 그 특성을 분석하였다. 동정된 단백질 중 alphaamylase (spot 1)는 큐어링 처리구에서만 발현량이 증가하였으며, probable aldo-keto reductase 2-like (spot 3) 및 hypothetical protein CHGG_01724 (spot 4)는 큐어링 및 대조구에서 동시에 발현량이 증가하였으나, sporamin A (spot 10)는 큐어링 및 대조구에서 발현량이 감소하였다. 한편, 대조구에서 enolase (spot 14)는 발현량이 증가하였으나, chain A of actinidin-E-64 complex+ (spot 19), ascorbate peroxidase (spot 22) 및 여러 sporamin 단백질들(spot 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 29, 30 및 31)은 발현량이 감소하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 고구마 저장 뿌리에서 큐어링 처리와 관련된 단백질의 동정 및 수확 후 저장 기간동안 병 저항성과 관련된 기작에 대한 이해를 높이며, 향후 저온 저장 능력이 향상된 신품종 개발을 위한 후보 유전자의 도출에도 기여할 수 있을 것이다.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제61권3호
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• pp.239-247
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• 2006

연구배경: Mycobacteria 배양액 여과 단백질은 결핵에 대한 세포성 면역반응 및 진단 연구에 중요한 역할을 하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 새로운 결핵균 특이 유전자를 클로닝하여 약 14-kDa의 결핵균 재조합 단백질(TB-14)을 분리 정제 한 뒤 전혈 배양(whole blood culture)을 통해 재조합 단백질 항원의 자극에 따른 IFN-${\gamma}$ 분비 유도를 PPD와 비교 측정하여 TB-14 단백질이 결핵균에 대한 숙주의 세포성 면역반응 유도에 어떤 역할을 하는 지를 알아보고자 하였다. 방 법: M. avium 배양 여과액에서 항혈청과 강하게 반응하는 하나의 M. avium 특이 단백질을 확인하여 아미노산 서열을 규명한 뒤 이 단백질과 높은 상동성을 나타내는 M. tuberculosis 유전자를 클로닝하여 다량의 결핵균 재조합 단백질(TB-14)을 분리 정제하였다. 재조합 단백질 TB-14에 대한 세포성 면역 반응 유도를 알아보기 위해 결핵 환자(9명), PPD 양성 정상인(7명) 및 PPD 음성 정상인(7명)들로부터 얻은 전혈(whole blood)를 RPMI로 희석한 뒤 $10{\mu}g$의 PPD와 TB-14 단백질로 48 시간 동안 자극하여 상층액에 분비된 IFN-${\gamma}$ 농도를 ELISA로 측정하였다. 결 과: 1. M. avium LR114F 균주의 배양 여과액 내에서 M. intracellulare 항혈청에 강하게 반응하는 새로운 M. avium 특이 단백질을 규명하여 아미노산 서열을 확인하였다. 2. M. avium 특이 단백질과 상동성을 보이는 M. tuberculosis 특이 재조합 단백질인 TB-14은 148개의 아미노산으로 구성되어 있고 30개의 아미노산으로 이루어진 signal peptides를 가지며 M. avium과 78%의 상동성을 보였다. 3. PPD 양성인의 전혈 배양에서 TB-14 단백질 항원으로 자극된 군에서 PPD로 자극된 군보다 월등히 높은 IFN-${\gamma}$ 분비를 나타내었다. 반면 결핵환자에서는 질환의 양상이나 치료 정도에 따라 IFN-${\gamma}$의 분비 양상이 일정하지 않았다. 결 론: 새로운 결핵균 특이 재조합 단백질 TB-14는 결핵에 대한 인체 내 세포성 면역반응 유도에 중요한 역할을 할 수 있는 단백질이라 생각되며 특히 PPD 양성자에서 높은 IFN-${\gamma}$의 분비 양상을 보여 정상인과 결핵 감염자의 감별진단에도 활용될 수 있으리라 생각된다. 또한 TB-14 단백질에 대한 항혈청을 제작하여 환자의 가검물에 분비되는 결핵균 특이 단백질을 탐색하는 결핵의 진단 연구에도 활용될 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.223-227
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• 2008

Human embryonic stem (ES) cells retain the capacity for self-renewal, are pluripotent and differentiate into the three embryonic germ layer cells. The regulatory transcription factors Oct4, Nanog and Sox2 play an important role in maintaining the pluripotency of human ES cells. The aim of this research was to identify unknown genes upregulated in human ES cells along with Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2. This study characterizes an unknown gene, named chromosome 1 open reading frame 31 (C1orf31) mapping to chromosome 1q42.2. The product of C1orf31 is the hypothetical protein LOC388753 having a cytochrome c oxidase subunit VIb (COX6b) motif. In order to compare expression levels of C1orf31 in human ES cells, human embryoid body cells, vascular angiogenic progenitor cells (VAPCs), cord-blood endothelial progenitor cells (CB-EPCs) and somatic cell lines, we performed RT-PCR analysis. Interestingly, C1orf31 was highly expressed in human ES cells, cancer cell lines and SV40-immortalized cells. It has a similar expression pattern to the Oct4 gene in human ES cells and cancer cells. Also, the expression level of C1orf31 was shown to be upregulated in the S phase and early G2 phase of synchronized HeLa cells, leading us to purpose that it may be involved in the S/G2 transition process. For these reasons, we assume that C1orf31 may play a role in on differentiation of human ES cells and carcinogenesis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제25권5호
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• pp.662-671
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• 2015

To enrich the genetic resource of microbial xylanases with high activity and stability under alkaline conditions, a xylanase gene (xynSL4) was cloned from Planococcus sp. SL4, an alkaline xylanase-producing strain isolated from the sediment of soda lake Dabusu. Deduced XynSL4 consists of a putative signal peptide of 29 residues and a catalytic domain (30-380 residues) of glycosyl hydrolase family 10, and shares the highest identity of 77% with a hypothetical protein from Planomicrobium glaciei CHR43. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that deduced XynSL4 is closely related with thermophilic and alkaline xylanases from Geobacillus and Bacillus species. The gene xynSL4 was expressed heterologously in Escherichia coli and the recombinant enzyme showed some superior properties. Purified recombinant XynSL4 (rXynSL4) was highly active and stable over the neutral and alkaline pH range from 6 to 11, with maximum activity at pH 7 and more than 60% activity at pH 11. It had an apparent temperature optimum of 70℃ and retained stable at this temperature in the presence of substrate. rXynSL4 was highly halotolerant, retaining more than 55% activity with 0.25-3.0 M NaCl and was stable at the concentration of NaCl up to 4M. The enzyme activity was significantly enhanced by β-mercaptoethanol and Ca²⁺ but strongly inhibited by heavy-metal ions and SDS. This thermophilic and alkaline- and salt-tolerant enzyme has great potential for basic research and industrial applications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.224-228
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• 2010

The encapsulation of bacteria may be used to harness them for longer periods of time in order to make them viable, whereas antibiotic treatment would result in controlled release of therapeutic molecules. Encapsulated Escherichia coli GFP (green fluorescent protein) (E. coli GFP) was used here as a model for therapeutic substance - GFP fragments release (model of bioactive substances). Our aim was to evaluate the performance of bacteria encapsulated in hollow fibers (HFs) treated with antibiotic for induction of cell death. The polypropylene-surface-modified HFs were applied for E. coli encapsulation. The encapsulated bacteria were treated with tetracycline in vitro or in vivo during subcutaneous implantation into mice. The HF content was evaluated in a flow cytometer, to assess the bacteria cell membrane permeability changes induced by tetracycline treatment. It was observed that the applied membranes prevented release of bacteria through the HF wall. The E. coli GFP culture encapsulated in HF in vitro proved the tetracycline impact on bacteria viability and allows the recognition of the sequence of events within the process of bacteria death. Treatment of the SCID mice with tetracycline for 8 h proved the tetracycline impact on bacteria viability in vivo, raising the necrotic bacteria-releasing GFP fragments. It was concluded that the bacteria may be safely enclosed within the HF at the site of implantation, and when the animal is treated with antibiotic, bacteria may act as a local source of fragments of proteins expressed in the bacteria, a hypothetical bioactive factor for the host eukaryotic organism.