Isolation of Homogeneous Polysaccharide Monooxygenases from Fungal Sources and Investigation of Their Synergism with Cellulases when Acting on Cellulose.

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (PMO) discovered several years ago are enzymes classified as oxidoreductases. In nature, they participate in microbial degradation of cellulose together with cellulases that belong to the hydrolytic type of enzymes (class of hydrolases). Three PMO from ascomycetes - Thielavia terrestris, Trichoderma reesei, and Myceliophthora thermophila - were isolated and purified to homogeneous state using various types of chromatography. The first two enzymes are recombinant proteins heterologously expressed by the Penicillium verruculosum fungus, while the third is a native PMO secreted by M. thermophila. When acting on microcrystalline cellulose, all these PMOs displayed synergism with the cellulase complex of the P. verruculosum fungus. Replacing 10% of cellulases (by protein concentration) with PMO in the presence of 6.25 mM gallic acid or 2.5 µM of cellobiose dehydrogenase from M. thermophila, used as electron donors for PMO, resulted in the 17-31% increase in the yield of reducing sugars after 24-48 h of the enzymatic reaction.

Properties of enzyme preparations and homogeneous enzymes - endoglucanases EG2 Penicillium verruculosum and LAM Myceliophthora thermophila.

The genes of endoglucanases EG2 (36.2 kDa) Penicillium verruculosum and LAM (30.8 kDa) Myceliophthora thermophila were cloned in P. verruculosum recombinant strain. New enzyme preparations with highly stable activity against ß-glucan and laminarin were obtained and investigated, homogeneous enzymes EG2 (EC 3.2.1.4) and LAM (EC 3.2.1.6) being purified and characterized. For ß-glucan, the EG2 Km value was found to be 10 times higher than that for LAM; however, EG2 demonstrated greater processivity due to its higher kcat. The pH and temperature optima of EG2 and LAM activity against barley ß-glucan overlapped and were 4.3-4.9 and 61-67°C, respectively, and EG2 appeared to be more stable than LAM. Oligosaccharides with degree of polymerization 2-10 were formed by hydrolysis of ß-glucan and laminarin by the studied enzymes. The recombinant enzyme preparations were faster and more effective in decreasing the reduced viscosity of wholegrain barley extract than some commercial enzyme preparations. Thus, the new enzyme preparations seem to be rather perspective as feed additives for degradation of non-starch polysaccharides in grain animal feed.

[Development of complex enzymatic preparations of pactinases and celulases for sugar beet marc digestion].

Complex enzymatic preparations demonstrating activities homologous to pectinlyase A and heterologous to endo-1,4-beta-glucanase from Penicilliumverruculosum and beta-glycosidase from Aspergillusniger have been obtained on the basis of recombinant strains of the fungus Penicilliumcanescens. Two approaches were utilized: development of an enzymatic preparation on the basis of a new strain, which produced all three enzymes, and development of an enzymatic preparation via combined cultivation of three strains, each of which produced one of the enzymes.

Isolation and properties of recombinant inulinases from Aspergillus sp.

The genes inuA and inu1, encoding two inulinases (32nd glycosyl hydrolase family) from filamentous fungi Aspergillus niger and A. awamori, were cloned into Penicillium canescens recombinant strain. Using chromatographic techniques, endoinulinase InuA (56 kDa, pI 3) and exoinulinase Inu1 (60 kDa, pI 4.3) were purified to homogeneity from the enzymatic complexes of P. canescens new transformants. The properties, such as substrate specificity, pH- and T-optima of activity, stability at different temperatures, influence of cations and anions on the catalytic activity, etc., of both recombinant inulinases were studied.

Regulatory activity of heterologous gene-activator xlnR of Aspergillus niger in Penicillium canescens.

The gene encoding the xlnR xylanolytic activator of the heterologous fungus Aspergillus niger was incorporated into the Penicillium canescens genome. Integration of the xlnR gene resulted in the increase in a number of activities, i.e. endoxylanase, beta-xylosidase, alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase, alpha-galactosidase, and feruloyl esterase, compared to the host P. canescens PCA 10 strain, while beta-galactosidase, beta-glucosidase, endoglucanase, and CMCase activities remained constant. Two different expression constructs were developed. The first consisted of the nucleotide sequence containing the mature P. canescens phytase gene under control of the axhA promoter region gene encoding A. niger (1,4)-beta-D-arabinoxylan-arabinofuranohydrolase. The second construct combined the P. canescens phytase gene and the bgaS promoter region encoding homologous beta-galactosidase. Both expression cassettes were transformed into P. canescens host strain containing xlnR. Phytase synthesis was observed only for strains with the bgaS promoter on arabinose-containing culture media. In conclusion, the bgaS and axhA promoters were regulated by different inducers and activators in the P. canescens strain containing a structural tandem of the axhA promoter and the gene of the xlnR xylanolytic activator.

[Enzymatic hydrolysis of keratin-containing stock for obtaining protein hydrolysates].

Optimization of the process of enzymatic hydrolysis of keratin-containing stock aimed at obtaining hydrolysates of high biological value has been performed. The increasing of the stock/water weight ratio, the amount of the alkaline protease preparation from Acremonium chrysogenium added and the temperature of the reaction mixture resulted in an increase in the yield and antioxidant capacity of hydrolysis products. The molecular masses of soluble products obtained under optimal hydrolysis conditions ranged from 3.55 to 3.60 kDa. High antioxidant capacity, 100% bioavailability and a well-balanced amino acid composition was characteristic of the hydrolysis products.

[Bacterial strain characterizing by EDTA requirement].

A novel strain of bacteria (LPM-4) was isolated that is characterized by a unique EDTA requirement for cell growth. Suspensions of washed cells of strain LPM-4 degrated EDTA complexes with Ba2+, Mg 2+, Ca2+, and Mn2+ at constant rates (0.310-0.486 mmol EDTA/(g h)) and Zn-EDTA at an initial rate of 0.137 +/- 0.016 mmol EDTA/(g h). The temperature optima for cell growth and EDTA degradation were determined under pH-auxostat cultivation. As compared with the known EDTA-degrating bacteria, strain LPM-4 exhibited a higher specific growth rate (0.095 h(-1)) and lower mass cell yield (0.219 g cells/g EDTA) that is promising for its practical applications for EDTA removal in wastewater treatment plants.

[Bacterial degradation of EDTA]. / Issledovanie bakterial'noi degradatsii EDTA.

Degradation of EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) or metal-EDTA complexes by cell suspensions of the bacterial strain DSM 9103 was studied. The activity of EDTA degradation was the highest in the phase of active cell growth and decreased considerably in the stationary phase, after substrate depletion in the medium. Exponential-phase cells were incubated in HEPES buffer (pH 7.0) with 1 mM of uncomplexed EDTA or EDTA complexes with Mg2+, Ca2+, Mn2+, Pb2+, Co2+, Cd2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, or Fe3+. The metal-EDTA complexes (Me-EDTA) studied could be divided into three groups according to their degradability. EDTA complexes with stability constants K below 10(16) (lg K < 16), such as Mg-EDTA, Ca-EDTA, and Mn-EDTA, as well as uncomplexed EDTA, were degraded by the cell suspensions at a constant rate to completion within 5-10 h of incubation. Me-EDTA complexes with lg K above 16 (Zn-EDTA, Co-EDTA, Pb-EDTA, and Cu-EDTA) were not completely degraded during a 24-hour incubation, which was possibly due to the toxic effect of the metal ions released. No degradation of Cd-EDTA or Fe(III)-EDTA by cell suspensions of strain DSM 9103 was observed under the conditions studied.

[Growth-coupled lipid synthesis in Mortierella alpina LPM 301, a producer of arachidonic acid]. / Sopriazhennyi s rostom sintez lipidov u produtsenta arakhidonovoi kisloty Mortierella alpina LPM-301.

Mortierella alpina LPM 301, a producer of arachidonic acid (ARA), was found to possess a unique property of intense lipid synthesis in the period of active mycelium growth. Under batch cultivation of this strain in glucose-containing media with potassium nitrate or urea, the bulk of lipids (28-35% of dry biomass) was produced at the end of the exponential growth phase and remained almost unaltered in the stationary phase. The ARA content of lipids comprised 42-50% at the beginning of the stationary phase and increased continuously after glucose depletion in the medium due to the turnover of intracellular fatty acids; by the end of fermentation (189-210 h), the amount of ARA reached 46-60% of the total fatty acids (16-19% of dry mycelium). Plausible regulatory mechanisms of the growth-coupled lipid synthesis in microorganisms are discussed.