• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.183-188
• /
• 2004

Stenotrophomonas sp. OK-5 capable of degrading TNT has been found to have three nitroreductase fractions designated as NTR fractions I, II, and III. NTR in a previous study. This study was attempted to reveal physiological and molecular characteristics of NTR fractions I, II, and III in strain OK-5. Several chemicals (e.g., EDTA, NaCl, dithiothreitol, $\beta$-mercaptoethanol) were tested for their effect on enzyme activity of NTRs, demonstrating that enzyme activities of NTR fractions I, II, and III from OK-5 were inhibited in the presence of $\beta$-mercaptoethanol. Substrate specificity test showed that NTR fractions I, II, and III all have over 70% enzyme activities for nitrobenzene or RDX as a substrate. N-terminal amino acid sequence of NTR fraction I from Stenotrophomonas sp. OK-5 was $^1MSDLLNADAVVQLFRTARDS^20$ and exhibited 70% sequence homology with that of NTR from Xanthomonas campestris. NTR I gene from Stenotrophomonas sp. OK-5 (SmOK5nrI) shared extensive sequence homology in deduced amino acid sequence of PCR product with NTRs from Xanthomonas campestris (81 %), X. axonopodis (75%), Streptomyces avermitilis(30%), whereas they had low homology with that from P. putida KT2440 (pnrB) (16%).

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.105-111
• /
• 2002

The biological removal of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was studied in a bench-scale bioreactor using a bacterial culture of strain OK-5 originally Isolated from soil samples contaminated with TNT. The TNT was completely removed within 4 days of incubation in a 2.5 L bench-scale bioreactor containing a newly developed medium. The TNT was catabolized in the presence of different supplemented carbons. Only minimal growth was observed in the killed controls and cultures that only received TNT during the incubation period. This catabolism was affected by the concentration ratio of the substrate to the biomass. The addition of various nitrogen sources produced a delayed effect for the TNT degradation. Tween 80 enhanced the degradation of TNT under these conditions. Two metabolic intermediates were detected and identified as 2-amino-4, 6-dinitrotoluene and 4-amino-2, 6-dinitrotoluene based on HPLC and GC-MS analyses, respectively. Strain OK-5 was characterized using the BIOLOG system and fatty acid profile produced by a microbial identification system equipped with a Hewlett Packard HP 5890 II gas chromatograph. As such, the bacterium was identified as a Stenotrophomonas species and designated as Stenotrophomonas sp. OK-5.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.247-253
• /
• 2002

The cellular responses of TNT-degrading bacterium, Stenotrophomonas sp. OK-5 to explosive 2,4,6-trini-trotoluene (TNT) as an environmental contaminant were examined. Survival of the strain OK-5 with time in the presence of different concentrations of TNT under sublethal conditions was monitored, and viable counts paralleled the production of the stress shock proteins in this bacterium. Total cellular fatty acids analysis showed that strain OK-5 produced or disappeared several different kinds of lipids when grown on TNT media than when grown on TSA. Under scanning electron microscope, the cells treated with 0.5 mM TNT for 12 hrs showed irregular rod shapes with wrinkled surfaces. Analyses of SDS-PAGE and Western blot using anti-DnaK and anti-GroEL revealed that several stress shock proteins including 70 kDa DnaK and 60 kDa GroEL in strain OK-5 were newly synthesized at different TNT concentrations in exponentially growing cultures. 2-D PAGE of soluble protein fractions from the culture of OK-5 exposed to TNT demonstrated that approximately 300 spots were observed on the silver stained gel ranging from pH 3 to pH 10. Among them, 10 spots significantly induced and expressed in response to TNT were selected and analyzed. As the result of internal amino acid sequencing with ESI-Q TOF, two proteins, spot #1 and spot #10 were assigned the DnaK protein XF2340 of Xylella fastidiosa and stress-induced protein of Mesorhizobium loti, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.223-229
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this work was to perform the characterization of NAD(P)H-nitroreductase isolated from Stenotrophomonas sp. OK-5 capable of degrading 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). Initially, NADP(H)-nitroreductase by a series of purification processes including ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-sepharose, andQ-sepharose was prepared. From samples harvested from fraction collector, three different fractions (I, II & III)having the enzyme activity of NAD(P)H-itroreductase were detected. Specific activities of three fractions I, II,and III of NAD(P)H-nitroreductase were determined to approximately 5.06 unit/mg, 4.95 unit/mg and 4.86 unit/mg, and concentrated to 10.5, 9.8, and 8.9-fold compared to crude extract, respectively. Among these three fractions,the fraction I of NAD(P)H-nitroreductase demonstrated the highest specific activity in this experiment. Several factors affecting on the enzyme activity of NAD(P)H-nitroreductase (fractions I, II & III) were investigated.The optimum temperature of all NAD(P)H-nitroreductase (fractions I, II & III) was 30oC, and the optimal pH was approximately 7.5. Metal ions such as Ag+, Cu2+, Hg2+ inhibited approximately 80% enzyme activity of all NAD(P)H-nitroreductase, and the enzyme activities were decreased about 30-40% inhibition in the presence of Mn2+ or Ca2+. However, Fe3+ showed stimulatory effect on the enzyme activity. The molecular weights of NAD(P)H-nitroreductase (fractions I, II & III) were measured about 27 kDa on the SDS-PAGE.