• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.934-944
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• 2007

Paenibacillus polymyxa E681 is known to be able to suppress plant diseases by producing antimicrobial compounds and to promote plant growth by producing phytohormones, and secreting diverse degrading enzymes. In spite of these capabilities, little is known regarding the flow of information from the bacterial strain to the barley roots. In an attempt to determine the flow of information from the bacterial strain to barley roots, the strain was grown in the presence and absence of barley, and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry were used. 2D-PAGE detected approximately 1,000 spots in the cell and 1,100 spots in the supernatant at a pH 4-10 gradient. Interestingly, about 80 spots from each sample showed quantitative variations. Fifty-three spots from these were analyzed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and 28 proteins were identified. Most of the cytosolic proteins expressed at higher levels were found in P. polymyxa E681 cells grown in the presence of barley rather than in the absence of barley. Proteins detected at a lower level in the surpernatant of P. polymyxa E68l cells grown in the presence of barley were lipoprotein, glucose-6-phosphate 1-dehydrogenase, heat-shock protein HtpG, spermidine synthase, OrfZ, ribonuclease PH, and coenzyme PQQ synthesis protein, and flagellar hook-associated protein 2 whereas proteins detected at a higher level in the surpernatant of P. polymyxa E681 cells grown in the presence of barley included D-alanyl-D-alanine ligase A, isopentenyl-diphosphate delta-isomerase, ABC transporter ATP-binding protein Uup, lipase. Many of the proteins belonging to plant-induced stimulons are associated with biosynthetic metabolism and metabolites of proteins and transport. Some of these proteins would be expected to be induced by environmental changes resulting from the accumulation of plant-secreted substances.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.334-342
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• 2013

Proteases and protease inhibitors play key roles in most physiological processes, including cell migration, cell signaling, and cell surface and tissue remodeling. Among these, the matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) pathway is one of the most efficient biosynthetic pathways for controlling the activation of enzymes responsible for protein degradation. This also indicates the association of MMPs with the maturation of spermatozoa. In an attempt to investigate the effect of MMP activation and inhibitors in cultures with various hormones during sperm capacitation, we examined and monitored the localization and expression of MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP-2 and TIMP-3), as well as their expression profiles. Matured spermatozoa were collected from cultures with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and Lutalyse at 1 h, 6 h, 18 h, and 24 h. ELISA detected the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-2, and TIMP-3 in all culture media, regardless of medium type (FSH-supplemented fertilization Brackett-Oliphant medium (FFBO), LH-supplemented FBO (LFBO), or Lutalyse-supplemented FBO (LuFBO)). TIMP-2 and TIMP-3 expression patterns decreased in LFBO and LuFBO. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity in FBO and FFBO progressively increased from 1 h to 24 h but was not detected in LFBO and LuFBO. The localization and expression of TIMP-2 and TIMP-3 in sperm heads was also measured by immunofluorescence analysis. However, MMPs were not detected in the sperm heads. MMP and TIMP expression patterns differed according to the effect of various hormones. These findings suggest that MMPs have a role in sperm viability during capacitation. In conjunction with hormones, MMPs play a role in maintaining capacitation and fertilization by controlling extracellular matrix inhibitors of sperm.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.297-301
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• 2003

An inhibitor of squalene synthase, a key enzyme in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathways and a target for improved agents to lower plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein, was sequentially purified from Curcuma longa by acetone extraction, silica gel column chromatography, and sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Active compound, YUF-01, was successfully purified and analyzed as $C_{20}H_{21}O_6$ by electron ionization mass spectrum. Through $^1H-NMR$ and $^{13}C-NMR$ analyses, YUF-01 was identified as curcumin, which showed strong inhibition of squalene synthase.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.169-179
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• 2014

Intracellular antioxidants include low molecular weight scavengers of oxidizing species, and enzymes which degrade superoxide and hydroperoxides. Such antioxidants systems prevent oxidative damage to cellular component by scavenging free radicals and activated oxygen species. Hydrophobic scavengers are found in cell membrane where they interrupt chain reactions of lipid peroxidation. The three major lipophilic antioxidant classes for human health are carotenoids, vitamin E and coenzyme Q10. The biofortification of staple crops with these lipid soluble antioxidants is an attractive strategy to increase the nutritional quality of human food. Here, we have summarized the biosynthetic pathways of three lipid soluble antioxidants in plants and current status of genetic engineered plants for elevated levels of each lipophilic antioxidant.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2019

The flavonoid, isokaempferide, has various biological activities such as hepatoprotective, antimicrobial and antiproliferative effect and is extracted from Amburana cearensis and Cirsium rivulare (Jacq.). Biotransformation is an alternative tool for the synthesis of value-added flavonoids with inexpensive substrates. Here, to synthesize isokaempferide from naringenin, two genes, PFLS and Rice O-mthyltransferae-9 were introduced in Escherichia coli. Although isokaempferide was successfully synthesized, the amount of biosynthesis was no high. In order to increase the yields of isokaempferide, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) used as a methyl donor was increased by deleting MetJ, which is a transcriptional regulator related to SAM biosynthetic pathway. Next we optimized the cell concentration and substrate feed concentration with the engineered E. coli strain. Through these strategies, the biosynthesis of isokaempferide was increased up to 87 mg/L.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.174-180
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• 2021

Chalcones exhibit multiple biological activities. Various studies have attempted to modify the structure of chalcones with a special focus on the addition of substituents to the benzene rings. However, these chemical modifications did not improve the water solubility and bioavailability of chalcones. Glycosylation can markedly affect the physical and chemical properties of hydrophobic compounds. Here, we evaluated the ability of a highly promiscuous glycosyltransferase (GT) BsGT1 from Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 to biosynthesize chalcone glucosides. Purified BsGT1 catalyzed the conversion of 4'-hydroxychalcone (compound 1), 4'-hydroxy-4-methylchalcone (compound 2), and 4-hydroxy-4'-methoxychalcone (compound 3), into chalcone 4'-O-β-D-glucoside (compound 1a), 4-methylchalcone 4'-O-β-D-glucoside (compound 2a), and 4'-methoxychalcone 4-O-β-D-glucoside (compound 3a), respectively. To avoid the addition of expensive uridine diphosphate glucose (UDP-Glc), a whole-cell biotransformation system was employed to provide a natural intracellular environment for in situ co-factor regeneration. The yields of compounds 1a, 2a, and 3a were as high as 90.38%, 100% and 74.79%, respectively. The successful co-expression of BsGT1 with phosphoglucomutase (PGM) and UDP-Glc pyrophosphorylase (GalU), which are involved in the biosynthetic pathway of UDP-Glc, further improved the conversion rates of chalcones (the yields of compounds 1a and 3a increased by approximately 10%). In conclusion, we demonstrated an effective whole-cell biocatalytic system for the enzymatic biosynthesis of chalcone β-D-glucoside derivatives.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.50
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• pp.70-75
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• 2023

In legumes, soyasaponins, one of triterpenoid saponins, are major components of secondary metabolites with a more diverse array of bioactive chemicals. Although the biosynthetic pathway of soyasaponins has been largely studied in soybean, the study on the soyasaponin contents and biosynthesis-related gene expression in pea (Pisum sativum L.) is poorly understood. Here, we found the accumulation of only soyasaponin Bb component in the sprouts of two Korean domestic pea cultivars (Dachung and Sachul). This pattern was consistent with our observation that increased expression of PsUGT73P2 and PsUGT91H4 genes, but not PsCYP72A69, could be responsible for biosynthesis of only soyasaponin Bb in pea by examining their gene expression. However, gradual accumulation of soyasaponin Bb at developmental stages was not consistent with the expression of PsUGT73P2 and PsUGT91H4, suggesting that the changes of their protein activities may affect the accumulation patterns of soyasaponin Bb. We also revealed that the increased expression levels of PsUGT73P2 and PsUGT91H4 during light to dark transition led to increase of soyasaponin Bb contents. Collectively, our results provided a molecular basis of metabolic engineering for enhancing useful soyasaponin Bb metabolites in Korean domestic pea cultivars.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.136-142
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• 2006

Haematococcus pluvialis is a great producer of astaxanthin (3,3'-dihydroxy-$\beta$,$\beta$-carotene-4,4'-dione). The activities of astaxanthin include potential cancer prevention, immune response enhancement, antioxidant activity, and so on. Nevertheless, it tried to manipulate by mutation for overcoming low growth rate of wild type and limited production of astaxanthin. Mutated colony that is lager and more reddish one than wild type was selected by attempting to expose strains to UV irradiation and to treat chemical such as EMS and colchicines as mutagen. Selected mutants were further screened using inhibitors of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway. Inhibitors used were nicotine and diphenylamine and both had decreased the survival rate by 40-50%. Among over 50,000 mutant colonies screened, two strains were selected. One selected mutant strain (U15-5) from UV treatment showed 1.68-fold higher total carotenoid contents per cell than that of the wild type strain. On the other hand, the other selected mutant strains (DS, M4-3) from colchicine treatment showed 20$\sim$30% faster cell growth than the wild type strain.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.104-110
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• 2011

Actinomycetes, Gram positive soil bacteria, are valuable microorganisms which produce useful secondary metabolites including antibiotics, antiparasitic substances, anti-cancer drugs, and immunosuppressants. Although a major family of actinomycetes, known as streptomycetes, has been intensively investigated at the molecular level for several decades, a potentially valuable and only recently isolated non-streptomycetes rare actinomycetes (NSRA) family has been poorly characterized due to lack of proper genetic manipulation systems. Here we report that a PCR-based genome screening strategy was performed with approximately 180 independently isolated actinomycetes strains to isolate potentially valuable NSRA strains. Thanks to this simple PCR-based genome screening strategy we were able to identify only seven NSRA strains, followed by 16S rRNA sequencing for confirmation. Through further bioassays, one potentially valuable NSRA strain (tentatively named Nocardiopsis species MMBL010) was identified which possessed both antifungal and antibacterial activities, along with the presence of polyketide synthase and non-ribosomal peptide synthase genes. Moreover, Nocardiopsis species MMBL010, which was intrinsically recalcitrant to genetic manipulation, was successfully transformed via E. coli-driven conjugation. These results suggest that PCR-based genome screening, followed by the establishment of an E. coli-driven conjugation system, is an efficient strategy to maximize potentially valuable compounds and their biosynthetic genes from NSRA strains isolated from various environments.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.211-215
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• 2006

AfsR2 is a global regulatory protein involved in the stimulation of secondary metabolite biosynthesis in various Streptomyces species including avermectin-producing S. avermitilis. Among several AfsR2-dependent genes identified from the comparative proteomics, the polyribonucleotide nucleotidyltransferase (PNP) and the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) genes were previously proposed to regulate the actinorhodin production in S. lividans upon afsR2 over-expression positively and negatively, respectively. To show the biological significance of the PNP and GPD genes in the S. avermitilis strains, these two genes were functionally expressed in both the wild-type and the avermectin-overproducing mutant strains. The PNP gene expression stimulated secondary metabolite production in the wild-type S. avermitilis ATCC31267, but not in the avermectin-overproducing S. avermitilis ATCC31780. Interestingly, the GDP gene expression stimulated secondary metabolite production by 4-fold in the wild-type S. avermitilis ATCC31267 and by 2.5-fold in the avermectin-overproducing S. avermitilis ATCC31780, respectively. These results suggest that the biological significance of the afsR2-dependent PNP and GPD gene expressions on antibiotic biosynthetic regulation could be significantly different depending on Streptomyces species.