• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1586-1592
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• 2016

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a gram-negative, non-motile, rod-shaped, and encapsulated bacterium in the normal flora of the intestines, mouth, skin, and food, and has decarboxylation activity, which results in generation of diamines (cadaverine, agmatine, and putrescine). However, there is no specific information on the exact mechanism of decarboxylation in K. pnuemoniae. Specifically lysine decarboxylases that generate cadaverine with a wide range of applications has not been shown. Therefore, we performed a functional study of lysine decarboxylases. Enzymatic characteristics such as optimal pH, temperature, and substrates were examined by overexpressing and purifying CadA and LdcC. CadA and LdcC from K. pneumoniae had a preference for L-lysine, and an optimal reaction temperature of 37℃ and an optimal pH of 7. Although the activity of purified CadA from K. pneumoniae was lower than that of CadA from E. coli, the activity of K. pneumoniae CadA in whole cell bioconversion was comparable to that of E. coli CadA, resulting in 90% lysine conversion to cadaverine with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate L-lysine.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2019

Background: Ginsenosides, which are bioactive components in ginseng, can be converted to smaller compounds for improvement of their pharmacological activities. The conversion methods include heating; acid, alkali, and enzymatic treatment; and microbial conversion. The aim of this study was to determine the bioconversion of ginsenosides in fermented red ginseng extract (FRGE). Methods: Red ginseng extract (RGE) was fermented using Lactobacillus plantarum KCCM 11613P. This study investigated the ginsenosides and their antioxidant capacity in FRGE using diverse methods. Results: Properties of RGE were changed upon fermentation. Fermentation reduced the pH value, but increased the titratable acidity and viable cell counts of lactic acid bacteria. L. plantarum KCCM 11613P converted ginsenosides $Rb_2$ and $Rb_3$ to ginsenoside Rd in RGE. Fermentation also enhanced the antioxidant effects of RGE. FRGE reduced 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and reducing power; however, it improved the inhibition of ${\beta}$-carotene and linoleic acid oxidation and the lipid peroxidation. This suggested that the fermentation of RGE is effective for producing ginsenoside Rd as precursor of ginsenoside compound K and inhibition of lipid oxidation. Conclusion: This study showed that RGE fermented by L. plantarum KCCM 11613P may contribute to the development of functional food materials.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.570-578
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• 2012

Compound K(ginsenoside M1) is one of saponin metabolites and has many benefits for human health. This study was to investigate Compound K produced from ginseng crude saponin extract with commercial cellulolytic complex enzyme(cellulase, ${\beta}$-glucanase, and hemicellulase) obtained from Trichoderma reesei. The effect factors(temperature, pH, ginseng crude saponin extract and enzyme concentration, and reaction time) on production of Compound K from ginseng crude saponin extract were determined by one factor at a time method. The selected major factor variables were ginseng crude saponin extract of 2%(w/v), enzyme of 7%(v/v), reaction time of 48 hr. Based on the effect factors, response surface method was proceeded to optimize the enzymatic bioconversion conditions for the desirable Compound K production under the fixed condition of pH 5.0 and $50^{\circ}C$. The optimal reaction condition from RSM was ginseng crude saponin extract of 2.38%, enzyme of 6.06%, and reaction time of 64.04 hr. The expected concentration of Compound K produced from that reaction was 840.77 mg/100 g. Production of Compound K was 1,017.93 mg/100 g and 862.31 mg/100 g, by flask and bench-scale bioreactor($2.5{\ell}$) system, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1859-1864
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• 2018

Synthesis of flavonoid glycoside is difficult due to diverse hydroxy groups in flavonoids and sugars. As such, enzymatic synthesis or biotransformation is an approach to solve this problem. In this report, we used stepwise biotransformation to synthesize two quercetin bisglycosides (quercetin 3-O-glucuronic acid 7-O-rhamnoside [Q-GR] and quercetin 3-O-arabinose 7-O-rhamnoside [Q-AR]) because quercetin O-rhamnosides contain antiviral activity. Two sequential enzymatic reactions were required to synthesize these flavonoid glycosides. We first synthesized quercetin 3-O-glucuronic acid [Q-G], and quercetin 3-O-arabinose [Q-A] from quercetin using E. coli harboring specific uridine diphopsphate glycosyltransferase (UGT) and genes for UDP-glucuronic acid and UDP-arabinose, respectively. With each quercetin 3-O-glycoside, rhamnosylation using E. coli harboring UGT and the gene for UDP-rhamnose was conducted. This approach resulted in the production of 44.8 mg/l Q-GR and 45.1 mg/l Q-AR. This stepwise synthesis could be applicable to synthesize various natural product derivatives in case that the final yield of product was low due to the multistep reaction in one cell or when sequential synthesis is necessary in order to reduce the synthesis of byproducts.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Applied Microbiology Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.68-75
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• 2000

D-Tagatose is a potential bulking agent in food as a non-calorific sweetener. To produce D-tagatose from cheaper resources, plasmids harboring the L-arabinose isomerase gene (araA) from Escherichia coli was constructed because L-arabinose isomerase was previously suggested as an enzyme that mediates the bioconversion of galactose to tagatose as well as that of arabinose to ribulose. In the cultures of recombinant E.coli with pTC101, which harboring araA of E.coli, tagatose was produced from galactose in 9.9 % yield. The enzyme extract of E.coli containing pTC101 also converted galactose into tagatose in 96.4 % yield. For the economic production of D-tagatose, an L-arabinose isomerase of E.coli was immobilized using covalent binding on agarose. While the free L-arabinose isomerase produced tagatose with the rate of 0.48 mg/U$.$day, the immobilized one stably converted galactose into average 7.5 g/l$.$day of tagatose during 7 days with higher productivity of 0.87 mg/U$.$day. In the scaled up immobilized enzyme system, 99.9 g/l of tagatose was produced from galactose with 20 % equilibrium in 48 hrs. The process was stably repeated additional 2 times with tagatose production of 104.1 and 103.5 g/l.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2011

Secondary walls have recently drawn research interest as a primary source of sugars for liquid biofuel production. Secondary walls are composed of a complex mixture of the structural polymers cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. A matrix of hemicellulose and lignin surrounds the cellulose component of the plant's cell wall in order to protect the cell from enzymatic attacks. Such resistance, along with the variability seen in the proportions of the major components of the mixture, presents process design and operating challenges to the bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuel. Expanding bioenergy production to the commercial scale will require a significant improvement in the growth of feedstock as well as in its quality. Plant biotechnology offers an efficient means to create "targeted" changes in the chemical and physical properties of the resulting biomass through pathway-specific manipulation of metabolisms. The successful use of the genetic engineering approach largely depends on the development of two enabling tools: (1) the discovery of regulatory genes involved in key pathways that determine the quantity and quality of the biomass, and (2) utility promoters that can drive the expression of the introduced genes in a highly controlled manner spatially and/or temporally. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the transcriptional regulatory network that controls secondary wall biosynthesis and discuss experimental approaches to developing-xylem-specific utility promoters.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.47-51
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• 2014

The transformation of ginsenoside Rb1 into a specific minor ginsenoside using Aspergillus niger KCCM 11239, as well as the identification of the transformed products and the pathway via thin layer chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography were evaluated to develop a new biologically active material. The conversion of ginsenoside Rb1 generated Rd, Rg3, Rh2, and compound K although the reaction rates were low due to the low concentration. In enzymatic conversion, all of the ginsenoside Rb1 was converted to ginsenoside Rd and ginsenoside Rg3 after 24 h of incubation. The crude enzyme (b-glucosidase) from A. niger KCCM 11239 hydrolyzed the ${\beta}$-($1{\rightarrow}6$)-glucosidic linkage at the C-20 of ginsenoside Rb1 to generate ginsenoside Rd and ginsenoside Rg3. Our experimental demonstration showing that A. niger KCCM 11239 produces the ginsenoside-hydrolyzing b-glucosidase reflects the feasibility of developing a specific bioconversion process to obtain active minor ginsenosides.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.289-296
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• 2017

Lysine decarboxylase (CadA) converts ${\small{L}}-lysine$ into cadaverine (1,5-pentanediamine), which is an important platform chemical with many industrial applications. Although there have been many efforts to produce cadaverine through the soluble CadA enzyme or Escherichia coli whole cells overexpressing the CadA enzyme, there have been few reports concerning the immobilization of the CadA enzyme. Here, we have prepared a cross-linked enzyme aggregate (CLEA) of E. coli CadA and performed bioconversion using $CadA^{CLEA}$. $CadA^{free}$ and $CadA^{CLEA}$ were characterized for their enzymatic properties. The optimum temperatures of $CadA^{free}$ and $CadA^{CLEA}$ were $60^{\circ}C$ and $55^{\circ}C$, respectively. The thermostability of $CadA^{CLEA}$ was significantly higher than that of $CadA^{free}$. The optimum pH of both enzymes was 6.0. $CadA^{free}$ could not be recovered after use, whereas $CadA^{CLEA}$ was rapidly recovered and the residual activity was 53% after the $10^{th}$ recycle. These results demonstrate that $CadA^{CLEA}$ can be used as a potential catalyst for efficient production of cadaverine.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.905-912
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• 2019

Bioethanol has attracted much attention in recent decades as a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative energy source. In this study, we compared the production of bioethanol by Candida molischiana and Saccharomyces cerevisiae at different initial concentrations of cellobiose and glucose. The results showed that C. molischiana can utilize both glucose and cellobiose, whereas S. cerevisiae can only utilize glucose. The ethanol yields were 43-51% from different initial concentrations of carbon source. In addition, different concentrations of microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel) were directly converted to ethanol by a combination of Trichoderma reesei and two yeasts. Cellulose was first hydrolyzed by a fully enzymatic saccharification process using T. reesei cellulases, and the reducing sugars and glucose produced during the process were further used as carbon source for bioethanol production by C. molischiana or S. cerevisiae. Sequential culture of T. reesei and two yeasts revealed that C. molischiana was more efficient for bioconversion of sugars to ethanol than S. cerevisiae. When 20 g/l Avicel was used as a carbon source, the maximum reducing sugar, glucose, and ethanol yields were 42%, 26%, and 20%, respectively. The maximum concentrations of reducing sugar, glucose, and ethanol were 10.9, 8.57, and 5.95 g/l, respectively, at 120 h by the combination of T. reesei and C. molischiana from 50 g/l Avicel.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1477-1486
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• 2016

Lactulose (4-O-${\beta}$-D-galactopyranosyl-D-fructose) is a non-digestible synthetic ketose disaccharide which can used in food and pharmaceutical fields due to its useful functions for encephalopathy, chronic constipation, hyperammonemia, etc. Therefore, the lactulose is regarded as one of the most important disaccharides and have been concentrated much interesting as an attractive functional material in the current industry. From this reason, the research related on the production of lactulose has been carried out various academic and industrial research groups. To produce lactulose, two main methods, chemical production and enzymatic production have been used. Commercially lactulose produced by alkaline isomerization of lactose as chemical production method but it has many disadvantages such as rapid lactulose degradation, purification, and waste management. From these reasons, lactulose produced by enzymatic method which solves these problems has been suggested as a proper method for lactulose production. Two different enzymatic methods have been reported as methods for lactulose production. Lactulose can be obtained through hydrolysis and transfer reaction catalyzed by a ${\beta}$-galactosidase which requires fructose as co-substrate and exhibits a low conversion. Alternatively, lactulose can be produced by direct isomerization of lactose to lactulose catalyzed by cellobiose 2-epimerase which requires lactose as a single substrate and achieves a high lactulose yield. This review summarizes the current state of lactulose production by chemical and biological methods.