Biomedical subjects

S van Schalkwijk

Publications and source records attributed to S van Schalkwijk.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Fluorescent method for monitoring cheese starter permeabilization and lysis.

A fluorescence method to monitor lysis of cheese starter bacteria using dual staining with the LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacterial viability kit is described. This kit combines membrane-permeant green fluorescent nucleic acid dye SYTO 9 and membrane-impermeant red fluorescent nucleic acid dye propidium iodide (PI), staining damaged membrane cells fluorescent red and intact cells fluorescent green. For evaluation of the fluorescence method, cells of Lactococcus lactis MG1363 were incubated under different conditions and subsequently labeled with SYTO 9 and PI and analyzed by flow cytometry and epifluorescence microscopy. Lysis was induced by treatment with cell wall-hydrolyzing enzyme mutanolysin. Cheese conditions were mimicked by incubating cells in a buffer with high protein, potassium, and magnesium, which stabilizes the cells. Under nonstabilizing conditions a high concentration of mutanolysin caused complete disruption of the cells. This resulted in a decrease in the total number of cells and release of cytoplasmic enzyme lactate dehydrogenase. In the stabilizing buffer, mutanolysin caused membrane damage as well but the cells disintegrated at a much lower rate. Stabilizing buffer supported permeabilized cells, as indicated by a high number of PI-labeled cells. In addition, permeable cells did not release intracellular aminopeptidase N, but increased enzyme activity was observed with the externally added and nonpermeable peptide substrate lysyl-p-nitroanilide. Finally, with these stains and confocal scanning laser microscopy the permeabilization of starter cells in cheese could be analyzed.

Cell Membrane Permeability↗

PubMed1996

Food-grade cloning and expression system for Lactococcus lactis.

A versatile set of cloning and expression vectors has been developed for application in self-cloning and other genetic modifications of Lactococcus lactis. The expression vectors were equipped with the controlled and strong lacA promoter of the lactococcal lactose operon. In addition, the transcriptional terminator of the aminopeptidase N gene, pepN, was inserted, which in some cases increased the genetic stabilities of the vectors and the cloned DNA. The small, 0.3-kb lacF gene encoding the soluble carrier enzyme IIALac was used as a dominant selection marker in the plasmid-free L. lactis strain NZ3000 carrying an in-frame deletion of the chromosomal lacF gene. Lactose-utilizing transformants were easily selected on lactose indicator plates at high frequencies and showed a copy number of approximately 50 plasmids per cell. All vectors were stably maintained in the lacF strain NZ3000 when grown on lactose, and only the high-level expression vectors showed some instability when their host was grown on glucose-containing medium. The application potentials of the expression vectors carrying the lacF marker were determined by cloning of the promoterless Escherichia coli gusA reporter gene under control of the lacA promoter followed by analysis of its expression. While in one of the vectors this resulted in a promoter-down mutation in the -10 region of the lacA promoter, in other vectors high-level and controlled expression of the gusA gene was observed.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1995

The occurrence of two intracellular oligoendopeptidases in Lactococcus lactis and their significance for peptide conversion in cheese.

Two intracellular oligopeptide-preferring endopeptidases have been detected in Lactococcus lactis. A neutral thermolysin-like oligoendopeptidase (NOP) has been purified to homogeneity and an alkaline oligoendopeptidase has been partially purified. The specificity of the oligoendopeptidases towards important intermediary cheese peptides, produced by chymosin action on the caseins, clearly differs from that of the cell-envelope proteinase (CEP). NOP is active under conditions prevailing in cheese and contributes to initial proteolysis in a young cheese. It probably plays a crucial role in the degradation of an important bitter peptide in cheese, the beta-casein 193-209 fragment. The relatively low activity of the alkaline endopeptidase is further suppressed in cheese by the highly competitive actions of NOP and CEP.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1995

Purification and Characterization of Cystathionine (beta)-Lyase from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris B78 and Its Possible Role in Flavor Development in Cheese.

An enzyme that degrades sulfur-containing amino acids was purified from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris B78; this strain was isolated from a mixed-strain, mesophilic starter culture used for the production of Gouda cheese. The enzyme has features of a cystathionine (beta)-lyase (EC 4.4.1.8), a pyridoxal-5(prm1)-phosphate-dependent enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of methionine and catalyzing an (alpha),(beta)-elimination reaction. It is able to catalyze an (alpha),(gamma)-elimination reaction as well, which in the case of methionine, results in the production of methanethiol, a putative precursor of important flavor compounds in cheese. The native enzyme has a molecular mass of approximately 130 to 165 kDa and consists of four identical subunits of 35 to 40 kDa. The enzyme is relatively thermostable and has a pH optimum for activity around 8.0; it is still active under cheese-ripening conditions, viz., pH 5.2 to 5.4 and 4% (wt/vol) NaCl. A possible essential role of the enzyme in flavor development in cheese is suggested.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1991

Molecular cloning, characterization, and nucleotide sequence of the tagatose 6-phosphate pathway gene cluster of the lactose operon of Lactococcus lactis.

The tagatose 6-phosphate pathway gene cluster (lacABCD) encoding galactose-6-phosphate isomerase, tagatose-6-phosphate kinase, and tagatose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis MG1820 has been characterized by cloning, nucleotide sequence analysis, and enzyme assays. Transcription studies showed that the four tagatose 6-phosphate pathway genes are the first genes of the lactose-inducible lactose-phosphotransferase operon consisting of the lacABCDFEGX genes. Using a T7 expression system, it could be shown that the lacA, lacB, lacC, and lacD genes code for proteins with apparent molecular masses of 15, 19, 33, and 36 kDa, respectively. Cell-free extracts of induced and noninduced Escherichia coli cells expressing the lacABCD genes were used to determine the functions of the encoded proteins. Expression of both lacA and lacB was required to obtain galactose-6-phosphate isomerase activity. The lacC gene codes for tagatose-6-phosphate kinase, the deduced amino sequence of which is similar to that of E. coli Pfk-2 phosphofructokinase, and Staphylococcus aureus LacC protein. The tagatose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase is encoded by the lacD gene, and its deduced primary sequence, which is homologous to that of the S. aureus LacD protein, predicts an amino acid composition which is virtually identical to that of the previously purified L. lactis E8 tagatose-1,6-diphosphate aldolase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗