• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1290-1297
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• 2015

Studies of the inactivation of a gene encoding pyruvate decarboxylase, pdc, in an ethanol-producing bacterium, Zymomonas mobilis, identified a mutant strain with 50% reduced PDC activity. To evaluate the possibility of a carbon-flux shift from an ethanol pathway toward higher value fermentation products, including pyruvate, succinate, and lactate, fermentation studies were carried out. Despite attempts to silence pdc expression in the wild-type strain ZM4 using cat-inserted pdc and pdc-deleted homologs by electroporation, the strain isolated showed partial gene activation. Fermentation experiments with the PDC mutant strain showed that the reduced expression level of PDC activity resulted in decreased rates of substrate uptake and ethanol production, together with increased pyruvate accumulation of 2.5 g l^-1 , although lactate and succinate concentrations were not significantly enhanced in these modified strains. Despite numerous attempts, no strains were isolated in which complete pdc inactivation occurred. This result indicates that the ethanol fermentation pathway of this bacterium is totally dependent on the activity of the PDC enzyme. To ensure a redox balance of intracellular NAD and NADH levels, other enzymes, such as lactate dehydrogenase for lactate, and enzymes involved in the production of succinic acid, such as pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and malic enzymes, may be needed for their increased end-product production.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 1999

Pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to acetaldehyde as the penultimate step in alcohol fermentation. The enzyme requires two cofactors, thiamin diphosphate (ThDP) and $Mg^{2+}$, for activity. Zymomonas mobilis PDC shows a strong preference for pyruvate although it will use the higher homologues 2-ketobutyrate and 2-ketovalerate to some extent. We have investigated the effect of mutagenesis of valine 111 and leucine 112 on the substrate specificity. V111 was replaced by glycine, alanine, leucine, and isoleucine while L112 was replaced by alanine, valine, and isoleucine. With the exception of L112I, all mutants retain activity towards pyruvate with $k_{cat}$ values ranging from 40% to 139% of wild-type. All mutants show changes from wild-type in the affinity for ThDP, and several (V111A, L112A, and L112V) show decreases in the affinity for $Mg^{2+}$. Two of the mutants, V111G and V111A, show an increase in the $K_m$ for pyruvate. The activity of each mutant towards 2-ketobutyrate and 2-ketovalerate was investigated and some changes from wild-type were found. For the V111 mutants, the most notable of these is a 3.7-fold increase in the ability to use 2-ketovalerate. However, the largest effect is observed for the L112V mutation which increases the ability to use both 2-ketobutyrate (4.3-fold) and 2-ketovalerate (5.7-fold). The results suggest that L112 and, to a lesser extent, V111 are close to the active site and may interact with the alkyl side-chain of the substrate.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.81-84
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• 2000

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1049-1052
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• 2011

In this study, we demonstrated the asymmetric synthesis of L-tert-leucine from trimethylpyruvate using branched-chain aminotransferase (BCAT) from Escherichia coli in the presence of L-glutamate as an amino donor. Since BCAT was severely inhibited by 2-ketoglutarate, in order to overcome this here, we developed a BCAT/aspartate aminotransferase (AspAT) and BCAT/AspAT/pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) coupling reaction. In the BCAT/AspAT/PDC coupling reaction, 89.2 mM L-tert-leucine (ee>99%) was asymmetrically synthesized from 100 mM trimethylpyruvate.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.251-259
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• 2013

An endoxylanase gene (PoxynA) that belongs to the glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 11 was cloned from a xylanolytic strain, Penicillium oxalicum B3-11(2). PoxynA was overexpressed in Trichoderma reesei QM9414 by using a constitutive strong promoter of the encoding pyruvate decarboxylase (pdc). The high extracellular xylanase activities in the fermentation liquid of the transformants were maintained 29~35-fold higher compared with the wild strain. The recombinant POXYNA was purified to homogeneity, and its characters were analyzed. Its optimal temperature and pH value were $50^{\circ}C$ and 5.0, respectively. The enzyme was stable at a pH range of 2.0 to 7.0. Using beechwood as the substrate, POXYNA had a high specific activity of $1,856{\pm}53.5$ IU/mg. In the presence of metal ions, such as $Cu^{2+}$, and $Mg^{2+}$, the activity of the enzyme increased. However, strong inhibition of the enzyme activity was observed in the presence of $Mn^{2+}$ and $Fe^{2+}$. The recombinant POXYNA hydrolyzed birchwood xylan, beechwood xylan, and oat spelt xylan to produce short-chain xylooligosaccharides, xylopentaose, xylotriose, and xylobiose as the main products. This is the first report on the expression properties of a recombinant endoxylanase gene from Penicillium oxalicum. The properties of this endoxylanase make it promising for applications in the food and feed industries.