Biomedical subjects

P Lapujade

Publications and source records attributed to P Lapujade.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Flexibility of the metabolism of Corynebacterium glutamicum 2262, a glutamic acid-producing bacterium, in response to temperature upshocks.

In order to test the temperature sensitivity of glutamate production metabolism, several temperature shifts, from 33 to 37, 38, 39, 40 or 41 degrees C, were applied to the temperature-sensitive strain, Corynebacterium glutamicum 2262, cultivated in a 24-h fed-batch process. Whereas glucose was entirely dedicated to biomass synthesis when cells were grown at 33 degrees C, applying temperature upshocks, whatever their range, triggered a redistribution of the carbon utilisation between glutamate, biomass and lactate production. Although increasing the culture temperature from 33 to 37, 38, 39 or 40 degrees C resulted in final glutamate titers superior to 80 g/l, temperatures resulting in the best chanelling of the carbon flow towards glutamic acid synthesis were 39 and 40 degrees C. Moreover, this study showed that the higher the temperature, the slower the growth rate and the higher the lactate accumulation.

Biomass↗

PubMed1999

Glutamate excretion as a major kinetic bottleneck for the thermally triggered production of glutamic acid by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

The study was aimed at evaluating the extent of flux control exercised by the amino acid excretion step on the glutamate production flux in C. glutamicum 2262 strain that is induced for glutamate excretion by an upward temperature shift. Cells initially induced to excrete glutamate were cultivated at different controlled temperatures between 33 and 40 degrees C, and changes in glutamate excretion flux and intracellular concentration were determined in response to increased culture temperature. The fastest growth rate of 0.45 h(-1) and the lowest glutamate excretion rate of 1 mmole/g dw x h were observed at 33 degrees C, together with a high intracellular 0.5 mmole/g dw glutamate accumulation. On the contrary, the fastest glutamate excretion rate of 6 mmole/g dw x h was obtained at 40 degrees C, when cell growth was arrested and the internal glutamate level reduced to 0.25 mmol/g dw. The observed sixfold increase in excretion flux as a result of the temperature increase clearly suggests a specific effect of temperature on the glutamate export system which appears as the major kinetic bottleneck for the glutamate production flux. This conclusion is corroborated by the high internal accumulation of glutamate which, even under the fastest excretion conditions, severely inhibits the activity of the glutamate biosynthesis pathway.

Bioreactors↗

PubMed1998

Glutamate Biosynthesis in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis NCDO 2118

Unlike other lactic acid bacteria, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis NCDO 2118 was able to grow in a medium lacking glutamate and the amino acids of the glutamate family. Growth in such a medium proceeded after a lag phase of about 2 days and with a reduced growth rate (0.11 h-1) compared to that in the reference medium containing glutamate (0.16 h-1). The enzymatic studies showed that a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity was present, while the malic enzyme and the enzymes of the glyoxylic shunt were not detected. As in most anaerobic bacteria, no alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity could be detected, and the citric acid cycle was restricted to a reductive pathway leading to succinate formation and an oxidative branch enabling the synthesis of alpha-ketoglutarate. The metabolic bottleneck responsible for the limited growth rate was located in this latter pathway. As regards the synthesis of glutamate from alpha-ketoglutarate, no glutamate dehydrogenase was detected. While the glutamate synthase-glutamine synthetase system was detected at a low level, high transaminase activity was measured. The conversion of alpha-ketoglutarate to glutamate by the transaminase, the reverse of the normal physiological direction, operated with different amino acids as nitrogen donor. All of the enzymes assayed were shown to be constitutive.

Journal Article↗