Recombinant Oxidase from Armillaria tabescens as a Potential Tool for Aflatoxin B1 Degradation in Contaminated Cereal Grain.

Forage grain contamination with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a global problem, so its detoxification with the aim of providing feed safety and cost-efficiency is still a relevant issue. AFB1 degradation by microbial enzymes is considered to be a promising detoxification approach. In this study, we modified an previously developed Pichia pastoris GS115 expression system using a chimeric signal peptide to obtain a new recombinant producer of extracellular AFB1 oxidase (AFO) from Armillaria tabescens (the yield of 0.3 g/L), purified AFO, and selected optimal conditions for AFO-induced AFB1 removal from model solutions. After a 72 h exposure of the AFB1 solution to AFO at pH 6.0 and 30 °C, 80% of the AFB1 was degraded. Treatments with AFO also significantly reduced the AFB1 content in wheat and corn grain inoculated with Aspergillus flavus. In grain samples contaminated with several dozen micrograms of AFB1 per kg, a 48 h exposure to AFO resulted in at least double the reduction in grain contamination compared to the control, while the same treatment of more significantly (~mg/kg) AFB1-polluted samples reduced their contamination by ~40%. These findings prove the potential of the tested AFO for cereal grain decontamination and suggest that additional studies to stabilize AFO and improve its AFB1-degrading efficacy are required.

An Extract Purified from the Mycelium of a Tomato Wilt-Controlling Strain of Fusarium sambucinum Can Protect Wheat against Fusarium and Common Root Rots.

An approach to manage seed-transmitted Fusarium crown-foot-root rot (FCR, Fusarium spp.) and common root rot (CRR, Bipolaris sorokiniana) on wheat, avoiding environmental risks of chemicals, is seed treatments with microbial metabolites. F. sambucinum strain FS-94 that induces resistance to tomato wilt was shown by this study to be a source of non-fungitoxic wheat-protecting metabolites, which were contained in a mycelium extract purified by gel-chromatography and ultrafiltration. Plant-protecting effect of the purified mycelial extract (PME) was demonstrated in vegetation experiments using a rolled-towel assay and by small-plot field trials. To elucidate mechanisms putatively underlying PME protective activity, tests with cultured Triticum aestivum and T. kiharae cells, particularly the extracellular alkalinization assay, as well as gene expression analysis in germinated wheat seeds were used. Pre-inoculation treatments of seeds with PME significantly decreased the incidence (from 30 to 40%) and severity (from 37 to 50%) of root rots on seedlings without any inhibition of the seed germination and potentiation of deoxynivalenol (DON), DON monoacetylated derivatives and zearalenon production in FCR agents. In vegetation experiments, reductions in the DON production were observed with doses of 0.5 and 1 mg/mL of PME. Pre-sowing PME application on seeds of two spring wheat cultivars naturally infected with FCR and CRR provided the mitigation of both diseases under field conditions during four growing seasons (2013⁻2016). PME-induced ion exchange response in cultured wheat cells, their increased survivability, and up-regulated expression of some defensins' genes in PME-exposed seedlings allow the suggestion of the plant-mediated character of disease-controlling effect observed in field.

X-Ray Solution Scattering Study of Four Escherichia coli Enzymes Involved in Stationary-Phase Metabolism.

The structural analyses of four metabolic enzymes that maintain and regulate the stationary growth phase of Escherichia coli have been performed primarily drawing on the results obtained from solution small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and other structural techniques. The proteins are (i) class I fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FbaB); (ii) inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPase); (iii) 5-keto-4-deoxyuronate isomerase (KduI); and (iv) glutamate decarboxylase (GadA). The enzyme FbaB, that until now had an unknown structure, is predicted to fold into a TIM-barrel motif that form globular protomers which SAXS experiments show associate into decameric assemblies. In agreement with previously reported crystal structures, PPase forms hexamers in solution that are similar to the previously reported X-ray crystal structure. Both KduI and GadA that are responsible for carbohydrate (pectin) metabolism and acid stress responses, respectively, form polydisperse mixtures consisting of different oligomeric states. Overall the SAXS experiments yield additional insights into shape and organization of these metabolic enzymes and further demonstrate the utility of hybrid methods, i.e., solution SAXS combined with X-ray crystallography, bioinformatics and predictive 3D-structural modeling, as tools to enrich structural studies. The results highlight the structural complexity that the protein components of metabolic networks may adopt which cannot be fully captured using individual structural biology techniques.

Aflatoxin B1 Degradation by Metabolites of Phoma glomerata PG41 Isolated From Natural Substrate Colonized by Aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus.

BACKGROUND: Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), produced by Aspergillus flavus, is one of the most life threatening food contaminants causing significant economic losses worldwide. Biological AFB1 degradation by microorganisms, or preferably microbial enzymes, is considered as one of the most promising approaches. OBJECTIVES: The current work aimed to study the AFB1-degrading metabolites, produced by Phoma glomerata PG41, sharing a natural substrate with aflatoxigenic A. flavus, and the preliminary determination of the nature of these metabolites. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The AFB1-degrading potential of PG41 metabolites was determined by a quantitative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of residual AFB1 after 72 hours incubation at 27ºC. The effects of pH, heat, and protease treatment on the AFB1-destroying activity of extracellular metabolites were examined. RESULTS: The AFB1-degrading activity of protein-enriched fractions, isolated from culture liquid filtrate and cell-free extract, is associated with high-molecular-weight components, is time- and pH-dependent, thermolabile, and is significantly reduced by proteinase K treatment. The AFB1 degradation efficiency of these fractions reaches 78% and 66%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Phoma glomerata PG41 strain sharing natural substrate with toxigenic A. flavus secretes metabolites possessing a significant aflatoxin-degrading activity. The activity is associated mainly with a protein-enriched high-molecular-weight fraction of extracellular metabolites and appears to be of enzymatic origin.

Effectory site in Escherichia coli inorganic pyrophosphatase is revealed upon mutation at the intertrimeric interface.

Escherichia coli inorganic pyrophosphatase (E-PPase) is a homohexamer formed from two trimers related by a two-fold axis. The residue Asp26 participates in intertrimeric contacts. Kinetics of MgPPi hydrolysis by a mutant Asp26Ala E-PPase is found to not obey Michaelis-Menten equation but can be described within the scheme of activation of hydrolysis by a free PPi binding at an effectory subsite. Existence of such a subsite is confirmed by the finding that the free form of methylenediphosphonate activates MgPPi hydrolysis though its magnesium complex is a competitive inhibitor. The Asp26Ala variant is the first example of hexameric E-PPase demonstrated to have an activatory subsite.