PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L O Ingram

Publications and source records attributed to L O Ingram.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Phosphoglycerate kinase gene from Zymomonas mobilis: cloning, sequencing, and localization within the gap operon.

The Zymomonas mobilis gene encoding phosphoglycerate kinase (EC 2.7.3.2), pgk, has been cloned into Escherichia coli and sequenced. It consists of 336 amino acids, including the N-terminal methionine, with a molecular weight of 41,384. This promoterless gene is located 225 base pairs downstream from the gap gene and is part of the gap operon. Previous studies have shown that the specific activities of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglycerate kinase do not change coordinately in Z. mobilis, although the two enzymes appear to be under the control of a common promoter. The translated amino acid sequence for the Z. mobilis phosphoglycerate kinase is less conserved than those of eucaryotic genes. A comparison of known sequences for phosphoglycerate kinase revealed a high degree of conservation of structure with 102 amino acid positions being retained by all. In general, the amino acid positions at the boundaries of beta-sheet and alpha-helical regions and those connecting these regions were more highly conserved than the amino acid positions within regions of secondary structure.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Genetic engineering of ethanol production in Escherichia coli.

The genes encoding essential enzymes of the fermentative pathway for ethanol production in Zymomonas mobilis, an obligately ethanologenic bacterium, were inserted into Escherichia coli under the control of a common promoter. Alcohol dehydrogenase II and pyruvate decarboxylase from Z. mobilis were expressed at high levels in E. coli, resulting in increased cell growth and the production of ethanol as the principal fermentation product from glucose. These results demonstrate that it is possible to change the fermentation products of an organism, such as E. coli, by the addition of genes encoding appropriate enzymes which form an alternative system for the regeneration of NAD+.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗
PubMed1987

Expression Vector for Zymomonas mobilis.

This study describes the construction of several useful cloning vectors which can be conjugated from Escherichia coli into Zymomonas mobilis at high frequency, approaching 10 per donor or recipient. These vectors contain a broad-host-range replicon and mob site from RSF1010, a chloramphenicol acyltransferase gene under the control of an enteric consensus promoter, and a second mob site (originally derived from RP4). The addition of this second mob site appears to be responsible for a 2-order-of-magnitude increase in the efficiency of transfer into Z. mobilis. Such vectors may be useful for other gram-negative bacteria in which conjugation efficiencies are low. These vectors are stably maintained in Z. mobilis with no detectable loss of plasmid after 50 generations in the absence of selective pressure. One of these, pLOI193, contains the tetracycline gene from pBR322 and associated cloning sites for insertional inactivation. Another, pLOI204, contains a Z. mobilis promoter immediately upstream from a BamHI site which can be used for cloning. This promoter has been shown to efficiently drive the expression of beta-galactosidase in both Z. mobilis and E. coli. This promoter fragment from Z. mobilis has been sequenced, and the site for transcriptional initiation in E. coli and Z. mobilis has been identified.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1987

Ethanol production during batch fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae: changes in glycolytic enzymes and internal pH.

During batch fermentation, the rate of ethanol production per milligram of cell protein is maximal for a brief period early in this process and declines progressively as ethanol accumulates in the surrounding broth. Our studies demonstrate that the removal of this accumulated ethanol does not immediately restore fermentative activity, and they provide evidence that the decline in metabolic rate is due to physiological changes (including possible ethanol damage) rather than to the presence of ethanol. Several potential causes for the decline in fermentative activity have been investigated. Viability remained at or above 90%, internal pH remained near neutrality, and the specific activities of the glycolytic and alcohologenic enzymes (measured in vitro) remained high throughout batch fermentation. None of these factors appears to be causally related to the fall in fermentative activity during batch fermentation.

Ethanol↗
PubMed1987

Zymomonas mobilis Mutants with an Increased Rate of Alcohol Production.

Two new derivatives of Zymomonas mobilis CP4 were isolated from enrichment cultures after 18 months of serial transfers. These new strains were selected for the ability to grow and produce ethanol rapidly on transfer into fresh broth containing ethanol and allyl alcohol. Ethanol production by these strains was examined in batch fermentations under three sets of conditions. Both new derivatives were found to be superior to the parent strain CP4 with respect to the speed and completeness of glucose conversion to ethanol. The best of these, strain YO2, produced 9.5% ethanol (by weight; 11.9% by volume) after 17.4 h compared with 31.8 h for the parent strain CP4. The addition of 1 mM magnesium sulfate improved ethanol production in all three strains. Two factors contributed to the decrease in fermentation time required by the mutants: more rapid growth with minimal lag on subculturing and the retention of higher rates of ethanol production as fermentation proceeded. Alcohol dehydrogenase isozymes were altered in both new strains and no longer catalyzed the oxidation of allyl alcohol into the toxic product acrolein. This loss of allyl alcohol-oxidizing capacity is proposed as a primary factor contributing to increased allyl alcohol resistance, although it is likely that other mutations affecting glycolysis also contribute to the improvement in ethanol production.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1987

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene from Zymomonas mobilis: cloning, sequencing, and identification of promoter region.

The gene encoding glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was isolated from a library of Zymomonas mobilis DNA fragments by complementing a deficient strain of Escherichia coli. It contained tandem promoters which were recognized by E. coli but appeared to function less efficiently than the enteric lac promoter in E. coli. The open reading frame for this gene encoded 337 amino acids with an aggregate molecular weight of 36,099 (including the N-terminal methionine). The primary amino acid sequence for this gene had considerable functional homology and amino acid identity with other eucaryotic and bacterial genes. Based on this comparison, the gap gene from Z. mobilis appeared to be most closely related to that of the thermophilic bacteria and to the chloroplast isozymes. Comparison of this gene with other glycolytic enzymes from Z. mobilis revealed a conserved pattern of codon bias and several common features of gene structure. A tentative transcriptional consensus sequence is proposed for Z. mobilis based on comparison of the five known promoters for three glycolytic enzymes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Promoter and nucleotide sequences of the Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate decarboxylase.

DNA sequence analysis showed that pyruvate decarboxylase (one of the most abundant proteins in Zymomonas mobilis) contains 559 amino acids. The promoter for the gene encoding pyruvate decarboxylase was not recognized by Escherichia coli, although the cloned gene was expressed at relatively high levels under the control of alternative promoters. The promoter region did not contain sequences which could be identified as being homologous to the generalized promoter structure for E. coli. Hydropathy plots for the amino acid sequence indicated that pyruvate decarboxylase contains a large number of hydrophobic domains which may contribute to the thermal stability of this enzyme.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Gene expression in Zymomonas mobilis: promoter structure and identification of membrane anchor sequences forming functional lacZ' fusion proteins.

We have described a procedure for the isolation of lacZ' fusion genes which contain anchor sequences conferring membrane association. This method was used to isolate fragments of DNA from Zymomonas mobilis which contain promoter activity and amino-terminal sequences. The sequences and transcriptional initiation sites of three of these were compared. Both Escherichia coli and Z. mobilis recognized similar regions of DNA for transcriptional initiation. Five to eight consecutive hydrophobic amino acids in the amino terminus served to anchor these hybrid proteins to the membrane in both E. coli and Z. mobilis. General features observed in the Z. mobilis fragments included partial sequence homology with the -35 region sequence of E. coli, repetitive and palindromic A + T-rich regions preceding and adjoining the -10 region, a sequence resembling the consensus sequence of E. coli in the -10 region, and a potential ribosomal-binding site (AGGA) 8 to 12 bases upstream from an in-frame start codon. The level of expression of fusion proteins was generally higher in E. coli than in Z. mobilis. This higher level of expression in E. coli may result from multiple sites of transcriptional initiation and higher plasmid copy number.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1987

Cloning and sequencing of the alcohol dehydrogenase II gene from Zymomonas mobilis.

The gene which encodes alcohol dehydrogenase II (adhB) from Zymomonas mobilis was cloned in Escherichia coli as a 1.4-kilobase DNA fragment by using a novel indicator plate which directly detects the expression of this activity by recombinant colonies. The DNA sequence for this clone contained an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 383 amino acids, with a molecular weight of 40,141. Although this protein exhibited very little homology with other known alcohol dehydrogenases, the predicted amino acid composition was in excellent agreement with that reported for the purified alcohol dehydrogenase II protein from Z. mobilis. In Z. mobilis, the adhB gene was transcribed from tandem promoters which were separated by 100 base pairs and ended with a transcriptional terminator (13-base-pair palindrome). In Escherichia coli, only one of the Z. mobilis promoters was used, despite apparent similarity to the enteric consensus promoter. The adhB gene was transcribed at low levels in E. coli from the P2 promoter of Z. mobilis but was expressed well in E. coli under control of the lac promoter (approximately 0.25% of the total cell protein).

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗
PubMed1987

Glycolytic flux in Zymomonas mobilis: enzyme and metabolite levels during batch fermentation.

The rate at which Z. mobilis (Entner-Doudoroff pathway) converts high concentrations of glucose (20%) into ethanol plus CO2 changes as ethanol accumulates in the surrounding broth. This decline in glycolytic activity (per milligram of cell protein) does not result from inhibitory effects of ethanol, which can be reversed immediately by ethanol removal. The peak of fermentative activity (58 mumol of CO2 evolved per mg of cell protein per h) occurred after the accumulation of 1.1% ethanol (18 h) and declined to one-half this rate after 30 h (6.2% accumulated ethanol), although the cell number continued to increase. These times corresponded to the end of exponential growth and to the onset of the stationary phase (on the basis of measurement of cell protein), respectively. An examination of many of the requirements for fermentation (nucleotides, magnesium, enzyme levels, intracellular pH, delta pH) revealed three possible reasons for this early decline in activity: decreased abundance of nucleotides, a decrease in internal pH from 6.3 to 5.3, and a decrease in the specific activities of two glycolytic enzymes (pyruvate kinase and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase). 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of perchlorate extracts from cells fermenting in broth revealed very low levels of glycolytic intermediates (Entner-Doudoroff pathway) in cells examined at the peak of fermentative activity (18-h cells) in comparison with cells examined at a later stage (30-h cells), consistent with limitation of the fermentation rate by glycolytic enzymes near the end of the pathway. It is likely that cell death (loss of colony-forming ability) and the collapse of delta pH also contribute to the further decline in fermentative activity after 30 h.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1986

Determination of the intracellular concentration of ethanol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae during fermentation.

Considerable controversy exists concerning the intracellular concentration of ethanol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae during fermentation. This controversy results from problems in the measurement of the intracellular concentration of compounds like ethanol, which are being produced rapidly by metabolism and potentially diffuse rapidly from the cell. We used a new method for the determination of intracellular ethanol based on the exclusion of [14C]sorbitol to estimate the aqueous cell volume. This method avoided many of the technical problems in previous reports. Our results indicate that the extracellular concentrations of ethanol in fermenting suspensions of S. cerevisiae are less than or equal to those in the intracellular environment and do not increase to the high levels previously reported even during the most active stages of batch fermentation.

Ethanol↗
PubMed1986

Thermal Tolerance of Zymomonas mobilis: Temperature-Induced Changes in Membrane Composition.

The membrane composition of Zymomonas mobilis changed dramatically in response to growth temperature. With increasing temperature, the proportion of vaccenic acid declined with an increase in myristic acid, the proportion of phosphatidylcholine and cardiolipin increased with decreases in phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol, and the phospholipid/protein ratio of the membrane declined. These changes in membrane composition were correlated with changes in thermal tolerance and with changes in membrane fluidity. Cells grown at 20 degrees C were more sensitive to inactivation at 45 degrees C than were cells grown at 30 degrees C, as expected. However, cells grown at 41 degrees C (near the maximal growth temperature for Z. mobilis) were hypersensitive to thermal inactivation, suggesting that cells may be damaged during growth at this temperature. When cells were held at 45 degrees C, soluble proteins from cells grown at 41 degrees C were rapidly lost into the surrounding buffer in contrast to cells grown at lower temperatures. The synthesis of phospholipid-deficient membranes during growth at 41 degrees C was proposed as being responsible for this increased thermal sensitivity.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1986

Magnesium limitation and its role in apparent toxicity of ethanol during yeast fermentation.

The rate of ethanol production per milligram of cell protein begins to decline in the early stage of batch fermentation before high concentrations of ethanol have accumulated. In yeast extract-peptone medium (20% glucose), this initial decline appears to be related to growth and to result in part from a nutrient deficiency. The addition of yeast extract, peptone, and ashed preparations of these restored the ability of glucose-reconstituted medium (in which cells had been previously grown) to support vigorous growth. Magnesium was identified as the active component. Supplementing fermentations with 0.5 mM magnesium prolonged exponential growth, resulting in increased yeast cell mass. The addition of magnesium also reduced the decline in fermentative activity (micromoles of CO2 evolved per hour per milligram of protein) during the completion of batch fermentations. These two effects reduced the time required for the conversion of 20% glucose into ethanol by 1/3 with no measurable loss in ethanol yield (98% of theoretical maximum yield). It is possible that some of the reported beneficial effects of complex nutrients (soy flour and yeast extract) for ethanol production also result from the correction of a simple inorganic ion deficiency, such as magnesium.

Culture Media↗
PubMed1985

Mechanism of ethanol inhibition of fermentation in Zymomonas mobilis CP4.

Accumulation of alcohol during fermentation is accompanied by a progressive decrease in the rate of sugar conversion to ethanol. In this study, we provided evidence that inhibition of fermentation by ethanol can be attributed to an indirect effect of ethanol on the enzymes of glycolysis involving the plasma membrane. Ethanol decreased the effectiveness of the plasma membrane as a semipermeable barrier, allowing leakage of essential cofactors and coenzymes. This leakage of cofactors and coenzymes, coupled with possible additional leakage of intermediary metabolites en route to ethanol formation, is sufficient to explain the inhibitory effects of ethanol on fermentation in Zymomonas mobilis.

Biological Transport↗
PubMed1984

Self-transmissible plasmid in Zymomonas mobilis carrying antibiotic resistance.

The cryptic plasmid pRUT41 from Zymomonas mobilis was examined for its biological properties. This plasmid was found to be conjugally transferred from Z. mobilis CP4 to Escherichia coli BM21 and to carry genes for antibiotic resistance (gentamicin, kanamycin, and streptomycin). Covalently closed circular plasmid DNA was isolated from eight transconjugants of E. coli BM21. These plasmids were identical in mobility on agarose gels and exhibited the same restriction patterns as the native pRUT41 plasmid isolated from Z. mobilis. The plasmid location of the antibiotic resistance genes was further confirmed by transforming E. coli BM21 with isolated pRUT41 plasmid from strain CP4 and with plasmids from the transconjugants of BM21. Resistance to streptomycin, kanamycin, and gentamicin was tightly linked and transferred together in all cases.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1984

Effects of ethanol on the Escherichia coli plasma membrane.

The effects of ethanol on the fluidity of Escherichia coli plasma membranes were examined by using a variety of fluorescent probes: 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene, perylene, and a set of n-(9-anthroyloxy) fatty acids. The anthroyloxy fatty acid probes were used to examine the fluidity gradient across the width of the plasma membrane and artificial membranes prepared from lipid extracts of plasma membranes. Ethanol caused a small decrease in the polarization of probes primarily located near the membrane surface. In comparison, hexanol decreased the polarization of probes located more deeply in the membrane. Temperature had a large effect on probes located at all depths. The effects of ethanol on E. coli membranes from cells grown with or without ethanol were also examined. Plasma membranes isolated from cells grown in the presence of ethanol were more rigid than those from control cells. In contrast to plasma membranes, artificial membranes prepared from lipid extracts of ethanol-grown cells were more fluid than those from control cells. These differences are explained by analyses of membrane composition. Membranes from cells grown in the presence of ethanol are more rigid than those from control cells due to a decrease in the lipid-to-protein ratio. This change more than compensates for the fluidizing effect of ethanol and the ethanol-induced increase in membrane C18:1 fatty acid which occurs during growth. Our results suggest that the regulation of the lipid-to-protein ratio of the plasma membrane may be an important adaptive response of E. coli to growth in the presence of ethanol.

Cell Membrane↗
PubMed1983

Expression of a Lactose Transposon (Tn951) in Zymomonas mobilis.

The potential utility of Zymomonas mobilis as an organism for the commercial production of ethanol would be greatly enhanced by the addition of foreign genes which expand its range of fermentable substrates. We tested various plasmids and mobilizing factors for their ability to act as vectors and introduce foreign genes into Z. mobilis CP4. Plasmid pGC91.14, a derivative of RP1, was found to be transferred from Escherichia coli to Z. mobilis at a higher frequency than previously reported for any other plasmids. Both tetracycline resistance and the lactose operon from this plasmid were expressed in Z. mobilis CP4. Plasmid pGC91.14 was stably maintained in Z. mobilis at 30 degrees C but rapidly lost at 37 degrees C.

Journal Article↗