• 환경분석과 독성보건
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.243-251
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• 2018

Pharmaceuticals in wastewater effluents have been recognized as emerging pollutants threatening freshwater organisms. To extend understanding for bioaccumulation and toxicity in those organisms, information on biotransformation products (or metabolites) and their metabolic pathway are crucial. The aim of the present study is to identify and elucidate metabolites of pharmaceuticals formed in exposed organisms using suspect and nontarget screening approach using LC-HRMS. As the target pharmaceuticals, carbamazepine, ketoprofen, metoprolol, propranolol, and verapamil were selected whereas Daphnia magna and Gammarus pulex were used as test organisms. After 24h exposure, metabolites formed in the organisms were identified using LC-HRMS. The structures of metabolites were elucidated via analysis of MS/MS fragment pattern and the comparison with fragment database. As the results, a total of 10 metabolites were identified for 5 parent compounds (C253/C356 for carbamazepine, K211 for ketoprofen, M256 for metoprolol, P218/P276/P306 for propranolol, V196/V291/V441 for verapamil). Among them, the presence of C253 and V291 was confirmed using standard materials. Most of the identified metabolites were formed through oxidative reactions such as hydroxylation, N-demethylation, and dealkylation. Cysteine conjugation (phase II reaction) metabolite (C356) for carbamazepine was found in daphnia. The metabolic pathway of verapamil showed similar metabolic pathways and metabolic pathways for both species. Although the toxicological information on the identified metabolites could not be confirmed, the molecular structure information of the proposed metabolites can be used for future evaluation and prediction of toxicity.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.168-170
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• 2009

The explosion in biological data resulting from high-throughput experiments requires new software tools to manipulate and display pathways in a way that can integrate disparate sources of information. A visual Java-based CAD tool for drawing and annotating biological pathways with semiautomatic image-processing features is described in this paper. The result of the image-editing process is an XML file for the appropriate links. This tool integrates the pathway images and XML file sources. The system has facilities for linking graphical objects to external databases and is capable of reproducing existing visual representations of pathway maps.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.543-549
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• 2006

DNA microarray was used to study the transcription profiling of Escherichia coli adapting to acetate as a sole carbon source. Bacteria grown in glucose minimal media were used as a reference. The dynamic expression levels of 3,497 genes were monitored at seven time points during this adaptation. Among the central metabolic genes, the glycolytic and glucose phosphotransferase genes were repressed as the bacteria entered stationary phase, whereas the glyoxylate pathway, TCA cycle, and gluconeogenic genes were induced. Distinct induction or repression patterns were recognized among different pathway genes. For example, the repression of glycolytic genes and the induction of gluconeogenic ones started immediately after glucose was depleted. On the other hand, the regulation of the pentose phosphate pathway genes and glyoxylate genes gradually responded to the glucose depletion or was more related to growth in acetate. When the whole genome was considered, many of the CRP, FadR, and Cra regulons were immediately responsive to the glucose depletion, whereas the $\sigma^s$, Lrp, and IHF regulons were gradually responsive to the glucose depletion. The expression profiling also provided differential regulations between isoenzymes; for example, malic enzymes A (sfcA) and B (maeB). The expression profiles of three genes were confirmed with RT-PCR.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.299-306
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• 2009

Dissolved oxygen (DO) has a significant effect on the molecular weight of hyaluronic acid (HA) during the fermentation of Streptococcus zooepidemicus. Therefore, to further investigate the effect of DO on the yield and molecular weight of HA, this study compared the metabolic flux distribution of S. zooepidemicus under aerobic conditions at various DO levels. The metabolic flux analysis demonstrated that the HA synthesis pathway, considered a dependent network, was little affected by the DO level. In contrast, the fluxes of lactate and acetate were greatly influenced, and more ATP was generated concomitant with acetate at a high DO level. Furthermore, the has gene expression and HA synthase activity were both repressed under anaerobic conditions, yet not obviously affected under aerobic conditions at various DO levels. Therefore, it was concluded that the HA molecular weight would seem to depend on the concomitant effect of the generation of ATP and reactive oxygen species. It is expected that this work will contribute to a better understanding of the effect of the DO level on the mechanism of the elongation of HA chains.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제45권4호
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• pp.203-206
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• 2002

${\gamma}-Tocopherol$ methyltransferase(TMT)는 토코페롤 생합성 대사의 마지막 단계인 감마 토코페롤을 알파 토코페롤로 변환하는데 관여하는 효소이다. 들깨의 미성숙 종자 cDNA유전자 은행에서 TMT로 추정되는 유전자를 분리하였으며 이 유전자는 1369개의 염기와 367개의 아미노산으로 구성되었으며 분자량은 약 42kDa의 추정된다. 이 cDNA는 Genbank와 상동성 분석결과 애기장대의 TMT유전자와 아미노산 수준에서 60% 정도의 상동성을 가지고 있으며 methyltransferase domain과 S-adenosyl methionine binding domain을 가지고 있으므로 TMT 유전자로 추정했다. 이 유전자의 특성을 알기 위하여 완전한 크기를 가지는 TMT유전자를 대장균에서 발현하고 invitro에서 효소의 활성을 측정하였다.

• 한국미생물생명공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국미생물생명공학회 2004년도 Annual Meeting BioExibition International Symposium
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• pp.60-61
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• 2004

Metabolic engineering is now a well established discipline, used extensively to determine and execute rational strategies of strain development to improve the performance of micro-organisms employed in industrial fermentations. The basic principle of this approach is that performance of the microbial catalyst should be adequately characterised metabolically so as to clearlyidentify the metabolic network constraints, thereby identifying the most probable targets for genetic engineering and the extent to which improvements can be realistically achieved. In order to harness correctly this potential, it is clear that the physiological analysis of each strain studied needs to be undertaken under conditions as close as possible to the physico-chemical environment in which the strain evolves within the full-scale process. Furthermore, this analysis needs to be undertaken throughoutthe entire fermentation so as to take into account the changing environment in an essentially dynamic situation in which metabolic stress is accentuated by the microbial activity itself, leading to increasingly important stress response at a metabolic level. All too often these industrial fermentation constraints are overlooked, leading to identification of targets whose validity within the industrial context is at best limited. Thus the conceptual error is linked to experimental design rather than inadequate methodology. New tools are becoming available which open up new possibilities in metabolic engineering and the characterisation of complex metabolic networks. Traditionally metabolic analysis was targeted towards pre-identified genes and their corresponding enzymatic activities within pre-selected metabolic pathways. Those pathways not included at the onset were intrinsically removed from the network giving a fundamentally localised vision of pathway functionality. New tools from genome research extend this reductive approach so as to include the global characteristics of a given biological model which can now be seen as an integrated functional unit rather than a specific sub-group of biochemical reactions, thereby facilitating the resolution of complexnetworks whose exact composition cannot be estimated at the onset. This global overview of whole cell physiology enables new targets to be identified which would classically not have been suspected previously. Of course, as with all powerful analytical tools, post-genomic technology must be used carefully so as to avoid expensive errors. This is not always the case and the data obtained need to be examined carefully to avoid embarking on the study of artefacts due to poor understanding of cell biology. These basic developments and the underlying concepts will be illustrated with examples from the author's laboratory concerning the industrial production of commodity chemicals using a number of industrially important bacteria. The different levels of possibleinvestigation and the extent to which the data can be extrapolated will be highlighted together with the extent to which realistic yield targets can be attained. Genetic engineering strategies and the performance of the resulting strains will be examined within the context of the prevailing experimental conditions encountered in the industrial fermentor. Examples used will include the production of amino acids, vitamins and polysaccharides. In each case metabolic constraints can be identified and the extent to which performance can be enhanced predicted

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.758-764
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• 2019

${\beta}$-Glucan is a chief structural polymer in the cell wall of yeast. ${\beta}$-Glucan has attracted intensive attention because of its wide applications in health protection and cosmetic areas. In the present study, the ${\beta}$-glucan biosynthesis pathway in S. Cerevisiae was engineered to enhance ${\beta}$-glucan accumulation. A newly identified bacterial ${\beta}-1$, 6-glucan synthase GsmA from Mycoplasma agalactiae was expressed, and increased ${\beta}$-glucan content by 43%. In addition, other pathway enzymes were investigated to direct more metabolic flux towards the building of ${\beta}$-glucan chains. We found that overexpression of Pgm2 (phosphoglucomutase) and Rho1 (a GTPase for activating glucan synthesis) significantly increased ${\beta}$-glucan accumulation. After further optimization of culture conditions, the ${\beta}$-glucan content was increased by 53.1%. This study provides a new approach to enhance ${\beta}$-glucan biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.154-162
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• 2021

L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) is one of the biological active forms of folate, which is widely used as a nutraceutical. However, low yield and serious pollution associated with the chemical synthesis of 5-MTHF hampers its sustainable supply. In this study, 5-MTHF production was improved by engineering the 5-MTHF biosynthesis pathway and NADPH supply in Lactococcus lactis for developing a green and sustainable biosynthesis approach. Specifically, overexpressing the key rate-limiting enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase led to intracellular 5-MTHF accumulation, reaching 18 ㎍/l. Next, 5-MTHF synthesis was further enhanced by combinatorial overexpression of 5-MTHF synthesis pathway enzymes with methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, resulting in 1.7-fold enhancement. The folate supply pathway was strengthened by expressing folE encoding GTP cyclohydrolase I, which increased 5-MTHF production 2.4-fold to 72 ㎍/l. Furthermore, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was overexpressed to improve the redox cofactor NADPH supply for 5-MTHF biosynthesis, which led to a 60% increase in intracellular NADPH and a 35% increase in 5-MTHF production (97 ㎍/l). To reduce formation of the by-product 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, overexpression of 5-formyltetrahydrofolate cyclo-ligase converted 5-formyltetrahydrofolate to 5,10-methyltetrahydrofolate, which enhanced the 5-MTHF titer to 132 ㎍/l. Finally, combinatorial addition of folate precursors to the fermentation medium boosted 5-MTHF production, reaching 300 ㎍/l. To the best of our knowledge, this titer is the highest achieved by L. lactis. This study lays the foundation for further engineering of L. lactis for efficient 5-MTHF biosynthesis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.659-667
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• 2012

2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BDO) is an organic compound with a wide range of industrial applications. Although Escherichia coli is often used for the production of organic compounds, the wild-type E. coli does not contain two essential genes in the 2,3-BDO biosynthesis pathway, and cannot ferment 2,3-BDO. Therefore, a 2,3-BDO biosynthesis mutant strain of Escherichia coli was constructed and cultured. To determine the optimum culture factors for 2,3-BDO production, experiments were conducted under different culture environments ranging from strongly acidic to neutral pH. The extracellular metabolite profiles were obtained using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the intracellular metabolite profiles were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography and quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS). Metabolic flux analysis (MFA) was used to integrate these profiles. The metabolite profiles showed that 2,3-BDO production favors an acidic environment (pH 5), whereas cell mass favors a neutral environment. Furthermore, when the pH of the culture fell below 5, both the cell growth and 2,3-BDO production were inhibited.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국생물공학회 2001년도 추계학술발표대회
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• pp.70-73
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• 2001

Isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) is the common, five-carbon building block in the biosynthesis of all isoprenoids. IPP in Escherichia coli is synthesized through the non-mevalonate pathway. The first reaction of IPP biosynthesis in E. coli is the formation of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate(DXP), catalyzed by DXP synthase and encoded by dxs. The second reaction in the pathway is the reduction of DXP to 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate, catalyzed by DXP reductoismerase and encoded by dxr. To determine if one of more of the reactions in the non-mevalonate pathway controlled flux to IPP, dxs and dxr were placed on several expression vectors under the control of three different promoters and transformed into three E. coli strains ($DH5{\alpha}$, XL1-Blue, and JM101) that had been engineered to produce lycopene, a kind of isoprenoids. Lycopene production was improved significantly in strains transformed with the dex expression vectors. At arabinose concentrations between 0 and 1.33 mM, cells expressiong both dxs and from $P_{BAD}$ on a midium-copy plasmid produced 1.4 -2.0 times more lycopene than cells expressing dxs only. However, at higher arabinose concentrations lycopene production in cell expressing both dxs and dxr was lower than in cells expression dxs only. A comparison of the three E. coli strains trasfomed with the arabinose-inducible dxs on a medium-copy plasmid revealed that lycopene production was highest in XL1-Blue.