• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.123-129
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• 2021

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase is a key enzyme for PHA production in microorganisms. The class IV PHA synthase is composed of two subunits: PhaC and PhaR. The PhaR subunit, which encodes the phaR gene, is only present in class IV PHA synthases. Therefore, the phaR gene is used as a biomarker for bacteria that contain a class IV PHA synthase, such as some Bacillus spp. The phaR gene was developed to screen phaR-containing Bacillus spp. The phaR screening method involved two steps: phaR gene amplification by PCR and phaR amplicon detection using a DNA lateral flow assay. The screening method has a high specificity for phaR-containing Bacillus spp. The lowest amount of genomic DNA of B. thuringiensis ATCC 10792 that the phaR screening method could detect was 10 pg. This novel screening method improves the specificity and sensitivity of phaR gene screening and reduces the time and cost of the screening process, which could enhance the opportunity to discover good candidate PHA producers. Nevertheless, the screening method can certainly be used as a tool to screen phaR-containing Bacillus spp. from environmental samples.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1141-1147
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• 2012

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a class of biodegradable plastics that have great potential applications in the near future. In this study, the micro-biodiversity and productivity of PHA-accumulating bacteria in activated sludge from a domestic wastewater treatment plant were investigated. A previously reported primer set and a self-designed primer set (phaCF1BO/phaCR2BO) were both used to amplify the PHA synthase (phaC) gene of isolated colonies. The new primers demonstrated higher sensitivity for phaC, and combining the PCR results of the two primer sets was able to widen the range of detected genera and raise the sensitivity to nearly 90%. Results showed that 85.3% of the identified bacteria were Gram-negative, with Ralstonia as the dominant genus, and 14.7% were Gram-positive. In addition, Zoogloea and Rhizobium contained the highest amounts of intracellular PHA. It is apparent that glucose was a better carbon source than pentone or tryptone for promoting PHA production in Micrococcus. Two different classes, class I and class II, of phaC were detected from alphaproteobacteria, betaproteobacteria, and gammaproteobacteria, indicating the wide diversity of PHA-accumulating bacteria in this particular sampling site. Simultaneous wastewater treatment and PHA production is promising by adopting the high PHA-accumulating bacteria isolated from activated sludge.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.1290-1297
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• 2008

To investigate the diversities of Accumulibacter phosphatis and its polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase gene (phaC) in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) sludge, an acetate-fed sequencing batch reactor was operated. Analysis of microbial communities using fluorescence in situ hybridization and 16S rRNA gene clone libraries showed that the population of Accumulibacter phosphatis in the EBPR sludge comprised more than 50% of total bacteria, and was clearly divided into two subgroups with about 97.5% sequence identity of the 16S rRNA genes. PAO phaC primers targeting the phaC genes of Accumulibacter phosphatis were designed and applied to retrieve fragments of putative phaC homologs of Accumulibacter phosphatis from EBPR sludge. PAO phaC primers targeting $G_{1PAO},\;G_{2PAO},\;and\;G_{3PAO}$ groups produced PCR amplicons successfully; the resulting sequences of the phaC gene homologs were diverse, and were distantly related to metagenomic phaC sequences of Accumulibacter phosphatis with 75-98% DNA sequence identities. Degenerate NPAO (non-PAO) phaC primers targeting phaC genes of non-Accumulibacter phosphatis bacteria were also designed and applied to the EBPR sludge. Twenty-four phaC homologs retrieved from NPAO phaC primers were different from the phaC gene homologs derived from Accumulibacter phosphatis, which suggests that the PAO phaC primers were specific for the amplification of phaC gene homologs of Accumulibacter phosphatis, and the putative phaC gene homologs by PAO phaC primers were derived from Accumulibacter phosphatis in the EBPR sludge. Among 24 phaC homologs, a phaC homolog (GINPAO-2), which was dominant in the NPAO phaC clone library, showed the strongest signal in slot hybridization and shared approximately 60% nucleotide identity with the $G_{4PAO}$ group of Accumulibacter phosphatis, which suggests that GINPAO-2 might be derived from Accumulibacter phosphatis. In conclusion, analyses of the 16S rRNA and phaC genes showed that Accumulibacter phosphatis might be phylogenetically and metabolically diverse.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.219-222
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• 2010

In this study, we evaluated Vi-passive hemagglutination (Vi-PHA), SD Salmonella Typhi IgG/IgM ($SD^{(R)}$ kit) and Widal test for the rapid laboratory diagnosis of typhoid fever patients. A total of 36 serum samples from febrile patients in Korea from 2005 to 2006 were used. Among 36 patients, 27 were fever patients without typhoid, 9 were typhoid fever. Vi-PHA showed 8 positive results out of 9 typhoid fever patients (sensitivity 88.9%) and 1 positive and 26 negative results out of 27 febrile patients without typhoid (specificity 96.3%). The sensitivity and the specificity of $SD^{(R)}$ kit were 100% and 92.6%, respectively. However, the sensitivity and the specificity of Widal O & H tests were 88.9%, 100%, and 77.8%, 70.4%, respectively. Consequently, Widal H and $SD^{(R)}$ kit showed higher sensitivity and Vi-PHA showed higher specificity. To efficient diagnosis, Vi-PHA may be sufficient diagnosis method in acute cases and $SD^{(R)}$ kit and Widal test may be sufficient in sporadic area and high risk group.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.363-368
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• 2017

Methylotrophy is able to use reduced one-carbon compound, such as methanol and methylamine, as a sole carbon source. Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 is the most extensively studied methylotroph utilizing serine-isocitrate lyase cycle. Because the Poly 3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) synthesis pathway in M. extorquens AM1 is likely to interlink with EMCP (ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway), glyoxylate, and TCA cycles, regulation of PHB production is needed to produce EMCP-derived acid or TCA acids. To adjust carbon flux to PHB production, PhaR, which seems to have function of regulator of PHB synthesis and acetyl-CoA flux, was knocked out in M. extorquens AM1 by using markerless gene deletion methods. As a result, PHB granules were remarkably reduced in the knockout strain ${\Delta}phaR$ compared to parental strain. Although lag phase was extended for 12h, ${\Delta}phaR$ showed similar cell growth and methanol consumption rate compared to wild type.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.244-249
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• 2014

Biosynthesis pathway of medium-chain-length (MCL) polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from fatty acid ${\beta}$-oxidation pathway was constructed in recombinant Escherichia coli by introducing the Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 PHA synthase gene (phaC2) and the maoC genes from Pseudomonas putida, Sinorhizobium meliloti, and Ralstonia eutropha. The metabolic link between fatty acid ${\beta}$-oxidation pathway and PHA biosynthesis pathway was constructed by MaoC, which is homologous to P. aeruginosa (R)-specific enoyl-CoA hydratase (PhaJ1). When the E. coli W3110 strains expressing the phaC2 gene and one of the maoC genes from P. putida, Sinorhizobium meliloti, and Ralstonia eutropha were cultured in LB medium containing 2 g/L of sodium decanoate as a carbon source, MCL-PHA that mainly consists of 3-hydroxyhexanoate (3HHx), 3-hydroxyoctanoate (3HO) and 3-hydroxydecanoate (3HD), was produced. The monomer composition of PHA and PHA contents varied depending on MaoC employed for the production of PHA. The highest PHA content of 18.7 wt% was achieved in recombinant E. coli W3110 expressing the phaC2 gene and the P. putida maoC gene. These results suggest that MCL-PHA biosynthesis pathway can be constructed in recombinant E. coli strains from the b-oxidation pathway by employing MaoC able to supply (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA, the substrate of PHA synthase.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.771-774
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• 2001

NADPH has been known as a regulating factor the biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanote(PHA), and the flux of NADPH for PHA biosynthesis could be enforced by the amplification of zwf gene encoding glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase. The recombinant plasmid pCZWF harboring PHA synthase, phbC from R. eutropha and zwf from E. coli were constructed, and were transformed to R. eutropha by electroporation. The biosynthesis of P(3HB-3HV) copolymer were carried out in transformant R. eutropha through the two-stage cultivation method using valerate as a precursor. The biosynthesis rate and PHA content of transformant R. eutropha harboring pCZWF were increased compared with transformant R. eutropha harboring only phbC. Especially, the molar fraction of 3HV was increased from 68% to 74% due to amplification of zwf gene. And the biosynthesis P(3HB-3HV) and P(3HB-4HB) carried out using propionate and ${\gamma}-butyrolactone$ as a precursor, respectively. But the rate, content, and molar fraction of biosynthesis copolymers were not influenced appreciably. This may be due to the reduced availability of NADPH.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1330-1336
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• 2005

Polyhydroxyalkanoic acid (PHA) inclusion bodies were analyzed in situ by $^{13}C$-nuclear magnetic resonance ($^{13}C$-NMR) spectroscopy. The PHA inclusion bodies studied were composed of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) or poly(3hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate), which was accumulated in Hydrogenophaga pseudoflava, and medium-chain-length PHA (MCL-PHA), which was accumulated in Pseudomonas fluorescens BM07 from octanoic acid or 11-phenoxyundecanoic acid (11-POU). The quantification of the $^{13}C$-NMR signals was conducted against a standard compound, sodium 2,2-dimethyl-2-silapentane-5-sulfonate (DSS). The chemical shift values for the in vivo NMR spectral peaks agreed well with those for the corresponding purified PHA polymers. The intracellular degradation of the PHA inclusions by intracellular PHA depolymerase(s) was monitored by in vivo NMR spectroscopy and analyzed in terms of first-order reaction kinetics. The H. pseudoflava cells were washed for the degradation experiment, transferred to a degradation medium without a carbon source, but containing 1.0 g/l ammonium sulfate, and cultivated at $35^{\circ}C$ for 72 h. The in vivo NMR spectra were obtained at $70^{\circ}C$ for the short-chain-length PHA cells whereas the spectra for the aliphatic and aromatic MCL-PHA cells were obtained at $50^{\circ}C\;and\;80^{\circ}C$, respectively. For the H. pseudoflava cells, the in vivo NMR kinetics analysis of the PHA degradation resulted in a first-order degradation rate constant of 0.075/h ($r^{2}$=0.94) for the initial 24 h of degradation, which was close to the 0.050/h determined when using a gas chromatographic analysis of chloroform extracts of sulfuric acid/methanol reaction mixtures of dried whole cells. Accordingly, it is suggested that in vivo $^{13}C$-NMR spectroscopy is an important tool for studying intracellular PHA degradation in terms of kinetics.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.200-206
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• 2012

A bacterial strain capable of synthesizing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) with an unusual pattern of monomer units was isolated from activated sludge using the enrichment culture technique. The organism, identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa P-5, produced polyesters consisting of 3-hydroxyvalerate and medium-chain-length (MCL) 3-hydroxyalkanoate monomer units when $C_{-odd}$ alkanoic acids such as nonanoic acid and heptanoic acid were fed as the sole carbon source. Solvent fractionation experiments using chloroform and hexane revealed that the 3-hydroxyalkanoate monomer units in these polyesters were copolymerized. The molar concentration of 3-hydroxyvalerate in the polyesters produced were significantly elevated up to 26 mol% by adding 1.0 g/L valeric acid as the cosubstrate. These copolyesters were sticky with low degrees of crystallinity. The PHA synthase genes were cloned, and the deduced amino acid sequences were determined. P. aeruginosa P-5 possessed genes encoding MCL-PHA synthases (PhaC1 and PhaC2) but lacked the short-chain-length PHA synthase gene, suggesting that the MCL-PHA synthases from P. aeruginosa P-5 are uniquely active for polymerizing (R)-3-hydroxyvaleryl-CoA as well as MCL (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-CoAs.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.239-243
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• 2010

Six strains of Ralstonia eutropha were grown to investigate characteristics of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) synthesis from vegetable oils or glycerol. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) homopolymer was formed using soybean oil, olive oil, or glycerol as carbon source, while poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) or poly(3-hydroxybutyrateco-3-hydroxyvalerate) copolymers were synthesized by co-feeding $\gamma$-butyrolactone or pentanoic acid, respectively. Optimum strain was determined as R. eutropha KCTC 2662 in terms of final cell concentration and PHA content. From 20 g/L of soybean oil (optimum substrate), cell concentration and PHA content at 72 h ranged 1.7~9.2 g/L and 70~92 wt%, respectively.