• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.54-59
• /
• 2009

Carotenoids such as $\beta$-carotene and astaxanthin are used as food colorants, animal feed supplements and for nutritional and cosmetic purposes. In a previous study, an astaxanthin biosynthesis gene cluster was isolated from the marine bacterium, Paracoccus haeundaensis. Geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) synthase (CrtE), encoded by the ortE gene, catalyzes the formation of GGPP from farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), which is an essential enzyme for the biosynthesis of carotenoids in early steps. In order to study the biochemical and enzymatic characteristics of this important enzyme, a large quantity of purified GGPP synthase is required. To overproduce GGPP synthase, the crtE gene was subcloned into a pET-44a(+) expression vector and transformed into the Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) codon plus cell. Transformants harboring the crtE gene were cultured and the crtE gene was over-expressed. The expressed protein was purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography and applied to study its biochemical properties and molecular characteristics.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.40-46
• /
• 1997

The pWHM220 cosmid with a 24-kb insert cloned from Streptomyces albus ATCC 21838 induces the biosynthesis of a polysther antibiotic similar to salinomycin in Streptomyces invidans. We have analyzed this region by DNA sequencing as well as Southern blot hybridization with type I and type II polyketide synthase (PKS) probes. Surprisingly, we found another set of type II SKS genes only 10-kb from the original PKS genes, salABCDE. The DNA sequence revealed two complete open reading frames (ORFs) named salB2 and salC2, and one partial ORF that does not resemble any known DNA or deduced protein sequence. The salC2 should code for chain length determining factor while the deduced amino acid sequence encoded by salB2 exhibits high similarity to .betha.-ketoacyl synthase from different PKS gene clusters. The highest identity was found for .betha.-keetoacyl synthases from S. argillaceus (MtmP. 59.1% identity), the mithramycin producer and from S. venezuelae ISP5230 (JadA, 52.3% identity), the jadomycin producer. The SalC2 protein clearly resembles its counterparts in order aromatic PKS gene clusters that are believed to influence the length of the polyketide chain. The highest identities observed were to that of S. argillaceus (MtmK, 62.3%) and S. venezuelae ISP 5230 (JadB, 55.1%) proteins, Moreover, the deduced amino acid sequences of the salB2 and salC2 products were 29.0% identical.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.222-227
• /
• 2002

Squalene synthase catalyzes the reductive dimerization of two molecules of farnesyl diphosphate to form squalene at the final branch point of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. Due to the unique position of this enzyme in the pathway, its inhibitors may have advantages as antihypercholesterolemic agents. Therefore, selective inhibitors of squalene synthase do not prevent the formation of the essential branch products of the isoprene pathway, such as dolichol, coenzyme-Q, and prenylated proteins, as might be expected for inhibitors of enzymes earlier in the pathway; for example, lovastatin and mevalotin. The current study reports that CJ90002, a pentagalloylglucose isolated from Paeonia moutan SIM (Paeoniaceae), which is an important Chinese crude drug used in many traditional prescriptions, was a potent inhibitor of rat microsomal squalene synthase, and also a potent inhibitor of cholesterol biosynthesis in vitro. In addition, the intraperitoneal and oral administration of CJ90002 had a significant lowering effect on plasma cholesterol levels in hamsters.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.45-52
• /
• 2002

Rats that are fed a fructose-rich diet develop hypertension, insulin resistance, and hypertriglyceridemia. To elucidate whether altered expression levels of endothelin-1 and nitric oxide synthase are related to the development of insulin-resistant hypertension, we examined the present study. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a fructose-rich diet for 5 weeks. Systolic blood pressure significantly increased in fructose-fed rats. While serum free fatty acid and plasma nitrite/nitrate levels did not significantly differ between the fructose-fed and control groups, plasma insulin and serum triglyceride concentrations significantly increased in the former. Endothelin-1 mRNA expression in the aorta increased in fructose-fed rats. Neither the protein expression of constitutive nitric oxide synthase nor that of inducible nitric oxide synthase were significantly affected by fructose feeding. However, nitrite/nitrate levels in the aorta were significantly increased. These results suggest that an increase in vascular endothelin-1 is an important contributing factor to the development of hypertension in fructose-fed rats. However, the vascular nitric oxide pathway may not be causally related to the development of fructose-induced hypertension.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.422-429
• /
• 2008

In this work, we analyzed the activity of control enzymes of flower color biosynthesis, chalcone synthase (CHS) and flavanone 3-hydroxylase (FHT) using biochemical and enzymological methods in Lilium longiflorum and 11 Lilium cultivars. The results obtained are as follows ; Naringenin (NAR) was synthesized in all Lilium cultivars tested by the catalytic activity of CHS which used malonyl-CoA and 4-coumaryol-CoA as substrates. Substrate-specific activity of CHS was observed because eridictiol (ERI), which uses caffeoyl-CoA as a substrate, was not detected in tested cultivars. In next step, dihydroflavone product was synthesized by FHT using flavanones as a substrate. FHT synthesized dihydrokaempferol (DHK) by using NAR as substrates. A remarkable activity of FHT was observed in other 11 cultivars.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.1-36
• /
• 2000

Acetohydroxyacid synthase (EC 4.1.3.18) catalyses the first reaction in the pathway for synthesis of the branched-chain amino acids. The enzyme is inhibited by several commercial herbicides and has been subjected to detailed study over the last 20 to 30 years. Here we review the progress that has been made in understanding its structure, regulation, mechanism, and inhibition.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.119-122
• /
• 1992

The affinity chromatographic technique was applied to the isolation of Thromboxane Synthase, with a variety of imidazolyl alkanoic acids coupled Sepharose 2B including a gel (G in Table 4) which has one free COOH group in the bound affinity ligand. The effect of ligand structure on the "affinity" and "selectivity" for thromboxane synthase isolation is described.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.648-653
• /
• 1997

Acetolactate synthase was purified from Escherichia coli MF2000/pTATX containing Arabidopsis thaliana acetolactate synthase gene. Purification steps included DEAE cellulose ion exchange column chromatography, phenyl sepharose hydrophobic column chromatography, hydroxylapatite affinity column chromatography, and Mono-Q HPLC. Molecular weight was estimated to be ∼65 KDa and purification fold was 109 times. The enzyme showed a pH optimum of 7 and the $K_M$ value was 5.9 mM. The purified enzyme was not inhibited by any of the end products, valine, leucine, and isoleucine.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.8
• /
• pp.1385-1389
• /
• 2007

5-Enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase catalyzes the formation of EPSP and inorganic phosphate from shikimate-3-phosphate (S3P) and phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) in the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids. To delineate the domain-specific function, we successfully isolated the discontinuous C-terminal domain (residues 1-21, linkers, 240-427) of EPSP synthase (427 residues) by site-directed mutagenesis. The engineered C-terminal domains containing no linker (CTD), or with gly-gly ($CTD^{GG}$) and gly-ser-ser-gly ($CTD^{GSSG}$) linkers were purified and characterized as having distinct native-like secondary and tertiary structures. However, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), $^{15}N-HSQC$,\;and\;^{31}P-NMR$ revealed that neither its substrate nor inhibitor binds the isolated domain. The isolated domain maintained structural integrity, but did not function as the half of the full-length protein.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.44-49
• /
• 2010

An examination of the kinetic properties of UDP-glucose, (1,3)-$\beta$-glucans (callose) synthase, from mung bean seedlings (Sorbus commixta cortex) shows that these enzymes have a complex relationship with UDP-glucose and various effectors. Fluorescence assay showed that deoxynojirimycin increased the inhibitory effect of (1,3)-$\beta$-glucan synthase in a concentration-dependent manner. The inhibitory effect of sakuranetin (34.34%) was higher than that of deoxynojirimycin (80.63%). Disk diffusion method revealed that sakuranetin inhibited the growth of Candida albicans to a 1.5 mm inhibition zone. These results suggest that sakuranetin, isolated from Sorbus commixta cortex extract, can be used as stable antifungal material.