• KSBB Journal
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.137-142
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• 1995

When Escherichia coli W, which is able to utilize sucrose as a carbon source, harboring a high-copy-number plasmid (pSYL105) containing the Alcaligenes eultrophus polyhydroxyalkanoate(PHA) biosynthetic genes was cultured in a defined medium, the final poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid), PHB, concentration obtained was as low as $0.21g/\ell$. Ten different complex nitrogen sources were, therefore, examined for their ability to enhance PHB synthesis when supplemented to a defined medium. Addition of tryptone, casamino acids, casein hydrolysate, or soy bean hydrolysate enhanced PHB synthesis most significantly, resulting in more than 10 times higher PHB concentration compared with that obtained in a defined medium. Furthermore, PHB yield on sucrose was also increased by more than a 10 fold by the addition of these complex nitrogen sources, which suggested that PHB might be efficiently produced by the recombinant E. coli W(pSYL105) using sucrose as a carbon source.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.123-129
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• 2021

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase is a key enzyme for PHA production in microorganisms. The class IV PHA synthase is composed of two subunits: PhaC and PhaR. The PhaR subunit, which encodes the phaR gene, is only present in class IV PHA synthases. Therefore, the phaR gene is used as a biomarker for bacteria that contain a class IV PHA synthase, such as some Bacillus spp. The phaR gene was developed to screen phaR-containing Bacillus spp. The phaR screening method involved two steps: phaR gene amplification by PCR and phaR amplicon detection using a DNA lateral flow assay. The screening method has a high specificity for phaR-containing Bacillus spp. The lowest amount of genomic DNA of B. thuringiensis ATCC 10792 that the phaR screening method could detect was 10 pg. This novel screening method improves the specificity and sensitivity of phaR gene screening and reduces the time and cost of the screening process, which could enhance the opportunity to discover good candidate PHA producers. Nevertheless, the screening method can certainly be used as a tool to screen phaR-containing Bacillus spp. from environmental samples.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.309-314
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• 1996

Alcaligenes sp. SH-69 can synthesize poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) from a single carbon source such as glucose. To clone the phaC gene from Alcaligenes sp. SH-69, a polymerase chain reaction was performed using the oligomers synthesized based on the conserved regions of the phaC genes from other bacteria. A PCR product (550 bp) was partially sequenced and the deduced amino acid sequence was found to be homologous to that of the phaC gene from Alcaligenes eutrophus. Using the PCR fragment Southern blotting of Alcaligenes sp. SH-69 genomic DNA digested with several restriction enzymes was carried out. To prepare a partial genomic library, about 5-Kb genomic DNA fragments digested with EcoRI, which showed a positive signal in the Southern blotting, were eluted from an agarose gel, ligated with pUC19 cleaved with EcoRI, and transformed into Escherichia coli. The partial library was screened using the PCR fragment as a probe and a plasmid, named pPHA11, showing a strong hybridization signal was selected. Restriction mapping of the insert DNA in pPHA11 was performed. Cotransformation into E. coli of the plasmid pPHA11 and the plasmid pPHA21 which has phaA and phaB from A. eutrophus resulted in turbid E. coli colonies which are indicative of PHA accumulation. This result tells us that the Alcaligenes sp. SH-69 phaC gene in the pPHA11 is functionally active in E. coli and can synthesize PHA in the presence of the A. eutrophus phaA and phaB genes.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.331-334
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• 2004

In vivo characterization of FadB homologous enzymes including PaaG, YdbU and YgfG for medium-chain-length (MCL) polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biosynthesis was carried out in fadB mutant Escherichia coli. Previously, it was reported that amplification of FadB homologous enzymes such as PaaG and YdbU in fadB mutant E. coli resulted in enhanced biosynthesis of MCL-PHA by greater than two fold compared with control strain. In this study, we constructed paaG fadB double mutant E. coli WB114 and ydbU fadB double mutant E. coli WB115 to investigate the roles of PaaG and YdbU in biosynthesis of MCL-PHA. Inactivation of paaG and ydbU genes in fadB mutant E. coli harboring Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 phaC2 gene reduced the MCL-PHA production to 0.16 and 0.16 PHA g/L, respectively from 2 g/L of sodium decanoate, which are much lower than 0.43 PHA g/L obtained with fadB mutant E. coli WB101 harboring the phaC2 gene. Also, we identified new FadB homologous enzyme YgfG, and examined its roles by overexpression of ygfG and construction of ygfG fadB double mutant E. coli WB113.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.13-16
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• 2000

Microorganisms have been widely employed for the production of useful bioproducts including primary metabolites such as ethanol, succinic acid, acetone and butanol, secondary metabolites represented by antibiotics, proteins, polysaccharides, lipids and many others. Since these products can be obtained in small quantities under natural condition, mutation and selection processes have been employed for the improvement of strains. Recently, metabolic engineering strategies have been employed for more efficient production of these bioproducts. Metabolic engineering can be defined as purposeful modification of cellular metabolic pathways by introducing new pathways, deleting or modifying the existing pathways for the enhanced production of a desired product or modified/new product, degradation of xenobiotics, and utilization of inexpensive raw materials. Metabolic flux analysis and metabolic control analysis along with recombinant DNA techniques are three important components in designing optimized metabolic pathways, This powerful technology is being further improved by the genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics. Complete genome sequences are providing us with the possibility of addressing complex biological questions including metabolic control, regulation and flux. In silico analysis of microbial metabolic pathways is possible from the completed genome sequences. Transcriptome analysis by employing ONA chip allows us to examine the global pattern of gene expression at mRNA level. Two dimensional gel electrophoresis of cellular proteins can be used to examine the global proteome content, which provides us with the information on gene expression at protein level. Bioinformatics can help us to understand the results obtained with these new techniques, and further provides us with a wide range of information contained in the genome sequences. The strategies taken in our lab for the production of pharmaceutical proteins, polyhydroxyalkanoate (a family of completely biodegradable polymer), succinic acid and me chemicals by employing metabolic engineering powered by genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics will be presented.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.847-853
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• 1999

A Pseudomonas sp. strain that is capable of utilizing dicarboxylic acids as a sole carbon source was isolated from activated sludge by using the enrichment culture technique. This organism accumulated polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) with an unusual pattern of monomer units that depends on the carbon sources used. Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) homopolyester was synthesized from glucose or small $C_{-even}$ alkanoic acids, such as butyric acid and hexanoic acid. Accumulation of PHB homopolyester was also observed in the cells grown on $C_{-odd}$ dicarboxylic acids, such as heptanedioic acid and nonanedioic acid as the sole carbon sources. In contrast, a copolyester consisting of 6 mol% 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 94 mol% 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) was produced with a PHA content of as much as 36% of the cellular dry matter. This strain produced PHAs consisting both of the short-chain-length (SCL) and the medium-chain-length (MCL) 3-hydroxyacid units when heptanoic acid to undecanoic acid were fed as the sole carbon sources. Most interestingly, polyester consisting of significant amount of relevant fractions, 3HB, 3HV, and 3-hydroxyheptanoate (3HHp), was accumulated from heptanoic acid. According to solvent fractionation experiments, the polymer produced from heptanoic acid was a blend of poly(3HHp) and of a copolyester of 3HB, 3HV, and 3HHp units. The hexane soluble fractions contained only 3HHp units while the hexane-insoluble fractions contained 3HB and 3HV units with a small amount of 3HHp unit. The copolyester was an elastomer with unusual mechanical properties. The maximum elongation ratio of the copolyester was 460% with an ultimate strength of 10 MPa, which was very different from those of poly(3HB-co-3HV) copolyesters having similar compositions produced from other microorganisms.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.404-407
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• 2003

Two recombinant Escherichia coli strains, GCSC6576 harboring a plasmid pSYL107 containing the Ralstonia eutropha polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biosynthesis genes and a fadR atoC mutant LS5218 harboring a plasmid pJC4 containing the Alcaligenes latus PHA biosynthesis genes were compared for their ability to synthesize poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) [P(3HB-co-3HV) from whey. The 3HV fraction could be increased by acetic acid induction and oleic acid supplementation in flask cultures of recombinant E. coli GCSC6576. With the pH-stat fed-batch culture of recombinant E. coli LS5218, we obtained a cell concentration, a P(3HB-co-3HV) concentration, a P(3HB-co-3HV) content, and a 3HV fraction of 31.8 g/L, 10.6 g/L, 33.4%, and 6.26 mol%, respectively in 39 h.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.84-90
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• 2000

Biodegradation of vanous medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (MCL-PHAs) by an extracellular depolymerase system from Pseudomonas sp. RY-1 was investigated under laboratoly conditions. The degradation rate of the polymers was determined by quantitative clem zone technique, enzyme (turbidity) assay, and respirometry assay. Although the enzyme system secreted by Pscudomor~as sp. RY-1 was capable of degrading all MCL-PHAs tested. its secretion was influenced by the availability of secondary carbon sources. The rate of enzymatic degradation of MCL-PHAs was dependent upou the monomeric composition of the polyesters and reduced as the chain lengths of the monomer m t s in the polyesters increased. MCL-PHAs containing C-even monomer units showed faster degradation rate than MCL-PHAs containing C-odd monomer units. Respiration rates of MCL-PHAs with C-even monomer uuts were also much faster than those of MCL-PHAs with C-odd monomer units. The degmdation rate of MCL-PHAs bearing unsaturated substituents was faster than that of mcl-PHAs without functional substituents, which is suggesting the correlation between the degradation rate and the crystallinity of MCL-PHAs.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.119-126
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• 2001

A process for the production of bioplastics from wastewater with an open microbial culture was developed and evaluated. The process consists of a selection reactor to select bacteria in feast/famine regime and an accumulation reactor to produce PHA using selected bacteria. Polyhydroxyalkanoate(PHAs) accumulating bacteria could be efficiently grown in a sequencing batch reactor(SBR) without any growth limitation. For the high production of PHA limitation such as oxygen and nutrients seemed to be needed. Accumulation experiments were performed to evaluate the level of accumulation of PHA. Limited aeration had no effect, but nutrients limitation showed high accumulation. Bacteria which were selected in the SBR could accumulate PHA till 60% of cellular dry weight in accumulation experiments under nitrogen limitation. PHA accumulation rate decreased with increasing PHA content in the cells. Clearly, PHA accumulation rate has a strong correlation with the PHA content of the cells.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.187-194
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• 1998

For mass production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), high cell density cultures of Alcaligenes eutrophus by fed-batch culture under phosphate-limitation condition has been investigated. PHA accumulation by the regulation by the regulation of initial phosphate concentration could be automatically induced, and high density cell culture above 200 g/L also could be successfully produced. The production of Poly-$\beta$-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) and dry cell weight increased with increasing the initial phosphate concentration. When the initial concentrations of phosphate were in the ranges of 1.5~4.5 g-PO$_4$/L, PHB and dry cell weight obtained were 83~266 g/L and 61~216 g/L, respectively, and PHB productivity was in the ranges of 1.35~3.10 g/L.h. When a mixture of glucose and propionic acid is used as carbon sources, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-poly-3-hydroxyvalerate), P(3HB-co-3HV), could be also successfully produced under phosphate limitation condition. When the mole ratio of propionic acid to glucose in the feeding solution is 0.22, a final dry cell weight of 150 g/L and a P(3-HB-co-3HV) of 90 g/L were produced. Morphological changes and size distribution of PHB granules synthesized in A. eutrophus under phosphate-limitation condition are determined by TEM during the course of fed-batch. Mean granule diameters of PHB produced are in the range of 0.36~0.39 $\mu$m, and mean cell size was elongated from 0.54~0.59 $\mu$m$\times$ 1.3~1.5 $\mu$m to 0.83~0.89 $\mu$m $\times$2.0~2.3 $\mu$m. Phosphate concentration in media did not affect size distribution of PHB granule and cell.