• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.170-175
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• 2022

3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3HP) is a platform chemical and can be converted into other valuable C3-based chemicals. Because a large amount of glycerol is produced as a by-product in the biodiesel industry, glycerol is an attractive carbon source in the biological production of 3HP. Although eight 3HP-producing aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) have been reported so far, the low conversion rate from 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3HPA) to 3HP using these enzymes is still a bottleneck for the production of 3HP. In this study, we elucidated the substrate binding modes of the eight 3HP-producing ALDHs through bioinformatic and structural analysis of these enzymes and selected protein engineering targets for developing enzymes with enhanced enzymatic activity against 3HPA. Among ten AbKGSADH variants we tested, three variants with replacement at the Arg281 site of AbKGSADH showed enhanced enzymatic activities. In particular, the AbKGSADH^R281Y variant exhibited improved catalytic efficiency by 2.5-fold compared with the wild type.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.693-699
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• 2001

An intracellular levansucrase gene, lscR from Rahnella aquatilis ATCC 15552, was cloned and its nucleotide sequence was determined. Nucleotide sequence analysis of this gene revealed a 1,238 bp open reading frame coding for a protein of 415 amino acids. The levansucrase was expressed by using a T7 promoter in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and the enzyme activity was detected in the cytoplasmic fraction. The optimum pH and temperature of this enzyme for levan formation was pH 6 and $30^{\circ}C$, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence of the lscR gene showed a high sequence similarity (59-89%) with Gram-negative levansucrses, while the level of similarity with Gram-positive enzymes was less than 42%. Multiple alignments of levansucrase sequences reported from Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria revealed seven conserved regions. A comparison of the catalytic properties and deduced amino acid sequence of lscR with those of other bacterial levansucrases strongly suggest that Gram-negative and Gram-positive levansucrases have an overall different structure, but they have a similar structure at the active site.

• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.268-273
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• 2001

In addition to the recognition site for glutamate, the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-preferring glutamate receptor subtype shows a binding site for glycine. In this paper, we present the effects of 3-(4,6-dichloro-2-carboxymethylamino-5,7-dichloroquinoline-2-carboxylic acid (MDL 29951), a potent inhibitor of glycine binding to the NMDA receptor, on glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) from bovine brains. The incubation of GDH isoproteins from bovine brains with MDL 29951 resulted in a dose-dependent loss of enzyme activity Separately or together, 2-oxoglutarate and NADH did not give an efficient protection against the inhibition, indicating that GDH isoproteins saturated with NADH or 2-oxoglutarate are still open to attack by MDL 29951. MDL 29951 was an uncompetitive inhibitor with respect to both 2-oxoglutarate and NADH for GDH isoproteins. These results suggest that the binding site of MDL 29951 is not directly located at the catalytic site, and the inhibition of GDH isoproteins by MDL 29951 is probably due to a steric hindrance, or a conformational change altered upon the interaction of the enzyme with its inhibitor. The inhibitory effects of MDL 29951 on GDH isoproteins were significantly diminished in the presence of ADP. GDH I reacted more sensitively with ADP than GDH II on the inhibition by MDL 29951. Our results suggest a possibility that the two types of GDHs are differently regulated by MDL 29951, depending on the physiological concentrations of ADP.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.649-655
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• 2013

Methanol was directly produced by the partial oxidation of methane with perovskite and mixed oxide catalysts. Perovskite ($ABO_3$) catalysts were prepared by the malic acid method with changing A and B site components. Three-component mixed oxide catalysts that have Mo and Bi as a main component were prepared by the co-precipitation method. Among the perovskite catalysts, $SrCrO_3$ showed the highest methanol selectivity of 11% at $400^{\circ}C$. For the three-component mixed oxide catalysts, there were no remarkable changes in methane conversion. Among the mixed oxide catalysts, Mo-Bi-Cr mixed oxide catalyst showed the highest methanol selectivity of 15.3% at $400^{\circ}C$. The catalytic activity and methanol selectivity of the three-component mixed oxide catalysts were directly proportional to the surface area of the catalysts.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.619-625
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• 2023

In order to solve problems caused by the heat load of hypersonic aircraft, this study examined the optimization of the Si/Al ratio of the catalyst and nickel ion exchange to improve the performance of the hydrocarbon decomposition reaction (endothermic reaction). It was confirmed that the catalysts prepared through Si/Al ratio optimization and nickel ion exchange showed about 10% improvement in heat absorption performance compared to thermal cracking at 4 MPa and 550 ℃. FT-IR and NH₃-TPD analyses were found to identify factors affecting activity changes, and it was observed that the Si/Al ratio of the HZSM-5 catalyst was closely correlated with acid site development and catalytic activity. In addition, TGA and O₂-TPO analyses were conducted to observe the carbon deposition inhibition properties of the nickel-added catalyst.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.185-190
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• 2018

The dimer of bicyclo [2.2.1] hepta-2,5-diene (norbornadiene) can be used as a high-energy-density fuel. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Co loading on the acid properties of HY zeolite catalyst and the catalytic activity in norbornadiene dimerization. When the cobalt was loaded on the HY zeolite catalyst, the amount of acid sites did not change, but the acid strength weakened. This can be attributed to the decrease in $Br{\ddot{o}}nsted$ acid site and the increase in Lewis acid site. The norbornadiene conversion and yield of norbornadiene dimer over the Co/HY catalyst showed higher than those over the HY zeolite catalyst. The higher activity of the Co/HY catalyst can be ascribed to the higher amount of Lewis acid sites over the Co/HY catalyst. Density and calorific values of the norbornadiene dimer prepared by using the Co/HY catalyst agreed well with the known values in the literature. It was confirmed that the norbornadiene dimer prepared in this study can be used as a high-energy-density fuel.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2013

In the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ${\alpha}$-amylase (BAA), the loop (residues 176-185; region I) that is the part of the calcium-binding site (CaI, II) has two more amino acid residues than the ${\alpha}$-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis (BLA). Arg176 in this region makes an ionic interaction with Glu126 from region II (residues 118-130), but this interaction is lost in BLA owing to substitution of R176Q and E126V. The goal of the present work was to quantitatively estimate the effect of ionic interaction on the overall stability of the enzyme. To clarify the functional and structural significance of the corresponding salt bridge, Glu126 was deleted (${\Delta}$E126) and converted to Val (E126V), Asp (E126D), and Lys (E126K) by site-directed mutagenesis. Kinetic constants, thermodynamic parameters, and structural changes were examined for the wild-type and mutated forms using UV-visible, atomic absoption, and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. Wild-type exhibited higher $k_{cat}$ and $K_m$ but lower catalytic efficiency than the mutant enzymes. A decreased thermostability and an increased flexibility were also found in all of the mutant enzymes when compared with the wild-type. Additionally, the calcium content of the wild-type was more than ${\Delta}E126$. Thus, it may be suggested that ionic interaction could decrease the mobility of the discussed region, prevent the diffusion of cations, and improve the thermostability of the whole enzyme. Based on these observations, the contribution of loop destabilization may be compensated by the formation of a salt bridge that has been used as an evolutionary mechanism or structural adaptation by the mesophilic enzyme.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.351-356
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• 2018

L-Serine dehydratase (LSD) is an iron-sulfur containing enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of L-serine to pyruvate and ammonia. Among the bacterial amino acid dehydratases, it appears that only the L-serine specific enzymes utilize an iron-sulfur cluster at their catalytic site. Moreover, bacterial LSDs are classified into four types based on structural characteristics and domain arrangement. To date, only the LSD enzymes from a few bacterial strains have been studied, but more detailed investigations are required to understand the catalytic mechanism of various bacterial LSDs. In this study, LSD type II from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtLSD) H37Rv was expressed and purified to elucidate the biochemical and catalytic properties using the enzyme kinetic method. The L-serine saturation curve of MtLSD exhibited a typically sigmoid character, indicating an allosteric cooperativity. The values of $K_m$ and $k_{cat}$ were estimated to be $59.35{\pm}1.23mM$ and $18.12{\pm}0.20s^{-1}$, respectively. Moreover, the plot of initial velocity versus D-serine concentration at fixed L-serine concentrations showed a non-linear hyperbola decay shape and exhibited a competitive inhibition for D-serine with an apparent $K_i$ value of $30.46{\pm}5.93mM$ and with no change in the $k_{cat}$ value. These results provide insightful biochemical information regarding the catalytic properties and the substrate specificity of MtLSD.

• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.429-434
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• 2017

To investigate the effect of magnesium oxide addition, $Cu/ZnO/MgO/Al_2O_3$ (CZMA) catalysts were prepared using co-precipitation method with fixed molar ratio of Cu/Zn/Mg/Al as 45/45/5/5 mol% for low-temperature water gas shift reaction. Synthesized catalysts were characterized by using BET, $N_2O$ chemisorption, XRD, $H_2-TPR$ and $NH_3-TPD$ analysis. The catalytic activity tests were carried out at a GHSV of $28,000h^{-1}$ and a temperature range of $200{\sim}320^{\circ}C$. At the same condition, magnesium oxide added catalyst (CZMA 400) showed that the lowest reduction temperature and stable presence of $Cu^+$, that is active species and abundant weak acid site. Also magnesium oxide added catalysts (CZMA) showed higher catalytic activity at temperature range above $240^{\circ}C$ than the catalyst without magnesium oxide (CZA). Consequently, CZMA 400 catalyst is considered to be excellent catalyst showing CO conversion of 77.59% without deactivation for about 75 hours at $240^{\circ}C$, GHSV $28,000h^{-1}$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.1075-1080
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• 2004

Dextransucrase (DSRB742) from Leuconostoc mesenteroides NRRL B-742CB is a glucosyltransferase that catalyzes the synthesis of dextran using sucrose, or the synthesis of oligosaccharides when acceptor molecules, like maltose, are present. The DSRB742 gene (dsrB742) was cloned and the properties were characterized. In order to identify critical amino acid residues, the DSRB742 amino acid sequence was aligned with glucosyltransferase sequences, and three amino acid residues reported as sucrose binding amino acids in Streptococcus glucosyltransferases were selected for site-directed mutagenesis experiments. Asp-533, Asp-536, and His-643 were independently replaced with Ala or Asn. D533A and D536A dextransucrases showed reduced dextran synthesis activities, 2.3% and 40.8% of DSRB742 dextransucrase, respectively, and D533N, D536N, H643A, end H643N dextransucrases showed complete suppression of dextran synthesis activities altogether. Additionally, D536N dextransucrase showed complete suppression of oligosaccharide synthesis activities. However, modifications at Asp-533 or at His-643 retained acceptor reaction activities in the range of 8.4% to 21.3% of DSRB742 acceptor reaction activity. Thus at least two carboxyl groups of Asp-533 and Asp-536, and His-643 as a proton donor, are essential for the catalysis process.