Synthesis, antibacterial activity and quantum-chemical studies of novel 2-arylidenehydrazinyl-4-arylthiazole analogues.

A new series of 2-arylidenehydrazinyl-4-arylthiazole derivatives (2a-k) was designed and synthesized through a rapid, simple, and efficient methodology in excellent isolated yield. These compounds were screened for in vitro antimicrobial activities against eight bacteria, e.g. Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, and three fungi e.g. Aspergillus oryzae, Candida albicans, and Saccharomyces cerevis. The results indicate that some of the compounds exhibit strong antibacterial activity, depending on the bacterial strain, but show virtually no antifungal activity. The structure-antibacterial activity relationships were studied using some physicochemical and quantum-chemical parameters with the ab initio Hartree-Fock model at the RHF/6-31G level of theory. A good qualitative correlation between predicted lipophilic parameters and antibacterial activity has been found.

Cloning, characterization, and expression of xylanase A gene from Paenibacillus sp. DG-22 in Escherichia coli.

The xynA gene encoding the xylanase A of Paenibacillus sp. DG-22 was isolated with a DNA probe obtained by PCR amplification, using degenerated primers deduced from the amino acid residues of the known N-terminal region of the purified enzyme and the conserved region in the family 11 xylanases. The positive clones were screened on the LB agar plates supplemented with xylan, by the Congo-red staining method. The xynA gene consists of a 630-bp open reading frame encoding a protein of 210 amino acids, and the XynA preprotein contains a 28-residues signal peptide whose cleavage yields a 182-residues mature protein of a calculated molecular weight of 20,000 Da and pI value of 8.77. The cloned DNA fragment also has another ORF of 873 nucleotides that showed 76% identity to the putative transcriptional activator of Bacillus halodurans C-125. Most of the xylanase activity was found in the periplasmic space of E. coli. The xynA gene was subcloned into pQE60 expression vector to fuse with six histidine-tag. The recombinant xylanase A was purified by heating and immobilized metal affinity chromatography. The optimum pH and temperature of the purified enzyme were 6.0 and 60 degrees C, respectively. This histidine-tagged xylanase A was less thermostable than the native enzyme.

Cloning, expression, and characterization of a thermostable GH51 α-L-arabinofuranosidase from Paenibacillus sp. DG-22.

The gene encoding α-L-arabinofuranosidase (AFase) from Paenibacillus sp. DG-22 was cloned, sequenced, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The AFase gene (abfA) comprises a 1,509 bp open reading frame encoding 502 amino acids with a molecular mass of 56,520 daltons. The deduced amino acid sequence of the gene shows that AbfA is an enzyme consisting of only a catalytic domain, and that the enzyme has significant similarity to AFases classified into the family 51 of the glycosyl hydrolases. abfA was subcloned into the pQE60 expression vector to fuse it with a six-histidine tag and the recombinant AFase (rAbfA) was purified to homogeneity. The specific activity of the recombinant enzyme was 96.7 U/mg protein. Determination of the apparent molecular mass by gel-filtration chromatography indicated that AbfA has a tetrameric structure. The optimal pH and temperature of the enzyme were 6.0 and 60°C, respectively. The enzyme activity was completely inhibited by 1 mM HgCl2. rAbfA was active only towards p-nitrophephenyl α-L-arabinofuranoside and exhibited Km and Vmax values of 3.5 mM and 306.1 U/mg, respectively. rAbfA showed a synergistic effect in combination with endoxylanase on the degradation of oat spelt xylan and wheat arabinoxylan.

Cloning and characterization of a multidomain GH10 xylanase from Paenibacillus sp. DG-22.

The xynC gene, which encodes high molecular weight xylanase from Paenibacillus sp. DG-22, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The xynC gene comprised a 4,419 bp open reading frame encoding 1,472 amino acid residues, including a 27 amino acid signal sequence. Sequence analysis indicated that XynC is a multidomain enzyme composed of two family 4_9 carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs), a catalytic domain of family 10 glycosyl hydrolases, a family 9 CBM, and three S-layer homologous domains. Recombinant XynC was purified to homogeneity by heat treatment, followed by Avicel affinity chromatography. SDS-PAGE and zymogram analysis of the purified enzyme identified three active truncated xylanase species. Protein sequencing of these truncated proteins showed that all had identical N-terminal sequences. In the protein characterization, recombinant XynC exhibited optimal activity at pH 6.5 and 65 °C and remained stable at neutral to alkaline pH (pH 6.0-10.0). The xylanase activity of recombinant XynC was strongly inhibited by 1 mM Cu(2+) and Hg(2+), whereas it was noticeably enhanced by 10 mM dithiothreitol. The enzyme exhibited strong activity towards xylans, including beechwood xylan and arabinoxylan, whereas it showed no cellulase activity. The hydrolyzed product patterns of birchwood xylan and xylooligosaccharides by thin-layer chromatography confirmed XynC as an endoxylanase.

Effects of field-grown genetically modified Zoysia grass on bacterial community structure.

Herbicide-tolerant Zoysia grass has been previously developed through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. We investigated the effects of genetically modified (GM) Zoysia grass and the associated herbicide application on bacterial community structure by using culture-independent approaches. To assess the possible horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of transgenic DNA to soil microorganisms, total soil DNAs were amplified by PCR with two primer sets for the bar and hpt genes, which were introduced into the GM Zoysia grass by a callus-type transformation. The transgenic genes were not detected from the total genomic DNAs extracted from 1.5 g of each rhizosphere soils of GM and non-GM Zoysia grasses. The structures and diversities of the bacterial communities in rhizosphere soils of GM and non-GM Zoysia grasses were investigated by constructing 16S rDNA clone libraries. Classifier, provided in the RDP II, assigned 100 clones in the 16S rRNA gene sequences library into 11 bacterial phyla. The most abundant phyla in both clone libraries were Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria. The bacterial diversity of the GM clone library was lower than that of the non- GM library. The former contained four phyla, whereas the latter had seven phyla. Phylogenetic trees were constructed to confirm these results. Phylogenetic analyses of the two clone libraries revealed considerable difference from each other. The significance of difference between clone libraries was examined with LIBSHUFF statistics. LIBSHUFF analysis revealed that the two clone libraries differed significantly (P〈0.025), suggesting alterations in the composition of the microbial community associated with GM Zoysia grass.