Biomedical subjects

Y Shoham

Publications and source records attributed to Y Shoham.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1995

Expression, purification and subunit-binding properties of cohesins 2 and 3 of the Clostridium thermocellum cellulosome.

The enzymatic subunits of the cellulosome of Clostridium thermocellum are integrated into the complex by a major non-catalytic polypeptide, called scaffoldin. Its numerous functional domains include a single cellulose-binding domain (CBD) and nine subunit-binding domains, or cohesin domains. Two of the cohesin domains, together with the adjacent CBD, have been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant constructs were purified by affinity chromatography on a cellulosic matrix. Both cohesin domains, which differ by about 30% in their primary structure, showed a similar binding profile to the cellulosomal subunits. Calcium ions enhanced dramatically this binding. Under the conditions of the assay, only one major catalytic subunit of the cellulosome failed to bind to either cohesin domain. The results indicate a lack of selectivity in the binding of cohesin domains to the catalytic subunits and also suggest that additional mechanisms may be involved in cellulosome assembly.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1995

Purification and characterization of alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase from Bacillus stearothermophilus T-6.

Bacillus stearothermophilus T-6 produced an alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase when grown in the presence of L-arabinose, sugar beet arabinan, or oat spelt xylan. At the end of a fermentation, about 40% of the activity was extracellular, and enzyme activity in the cell-free supernatant could reach 25 U/ml. The enzymatic activity in the supernatant was concentrated against polyethylene glycol 20000, and the enzyme was purified eightfold by anion-exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatographies. The molecular weight of T-6 alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase was 256,000, and it consisted of four identical subunits as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration. The native enzyme had a pI of 6.5 and was most active at 70 degrees C and at pH 5.5 to 6.0. Its thermostability at pH 7.0 was characterized by half-lives of 53, 15, and 1 h at 60, 65, and 70 degrees C, respectively. Kinetic experiments at 60 degrees C with p-nitrophenyl alpha-L-arabinofuranoside as a substrate gave a Vmax, a Km, and an activation energy of 749 U/mg, 0.42 mM, and 16.6 kcal/mol, (ca. 69.5 kJ/mol), respectively. The enzyme had no apparent requirement for cofactors, and its activity was strongly inhibited by 1 mM Hg2+. T-6 alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase released L-arabinose from arabinan and had low activity on oat spelt xylan. The enzyme acted cooperatively with T-6 xylanase in hydrolyzing oat spelt xylan, and L-arabinose, xylose, and xylobiose were detected as the end reaction products.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1995

Expression, purification, and characterization of the cellulose-binding domain of the scaffoldin subunit from the cellulosome of Clostridium thermocellum.

The major cellulose-binding domain (CBD) from the cellulosome of Clostridium thermocellum YS was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The expressed protein was purified efficiently by a modification of a novel procedure termed affinity digestion. The properties of the purified polypeptide were compared with those of a related CBD derived from a cellulosome-like complex of a similar (but mesophilic) clostridial species, Clostridium cellulovorans. The binding properties of the two proteins with their common substrate were found to be very similar. Despite the similarity in the amino acid sequences of the two CBDs, polyclonal antibodies raised against the CBD from C. thermocellum failed to interact with the protein from C. cellulovorans. Chemical modification of the single cysteine of the CBD had little effect on the binding to cellulose. Biotinylation of this cysteine allowed the efficient binding of avidin to cellulose, and the resultant matrix is appropriate for use as a universal affinity system.

Affinity Labels↗

PubMed1994

Cloning and DNA sequence of the gene coding for Bacillus stearothermophilus T-6 xylanase.

Bacillus stearothermophilus T-6 produces an extracellular thermostable xylanase. Affinity-purified polyclonal serum raised against the enzyme was used to screen a genomic library of B. stearothermophilus T-6 constructed in lambda-EMBL3. Two positive phages were isolated, both containing similar 13-kb inserts, and their lysates exhibited xylanase activity. A 3,696-bp SalI-BamHI fragment containing the xylanase gene was subcloned in Escherichia coli and subsequently sequenced. The open reading frame of xylanase T-6 consists of 1,236 bp. On the basis of sequence similarity, two possible -10 and -35 regions, a ribosome-binding site at the 5' end of the gene and a potential transcriptional termination motif at the 3' end of the gene, were identified. From the previously known N-terminal amino acid sequence of xylanase T-6 and the possible ribosome-binding site, a putative 28-amino-acid signal peptide was deduced. The mature xylanase T-6 consists of 379 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight and pI of 43,808 and 6.88, respectively. Multiple alignment of beta-glycanase amino acid sequences revealed highly conserved regions. Northern (RNA) blot analysis indicated that the xylanase T-6 transcript is about 1.4 kb and that the induction of this enzyme synthesis by xylose is on the transcriptional level.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

Optimization of protein-production by the baculovirus expression vector system in shake flasks.

Shake flasks were successfully employed for the cultivation of Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf-9) insect cells and for the production of beta-galactosidase, a recombinant model protein, utilizing the baculovirus expression vector system. The culture doubling time and maximal cell density were 20 h and 5 x 10(6) cells/ml respectively. The optimal liquid volumes for flasks rotating at 100 rpm were 25-40% of the flask total volume. Enzyme production (about 600 mg/l) was best at a multiplicity of infection of between 1 and 20 and at a cell density at time of infection of 0.7 x 10(6) cells/ml. At a rotation speed of 100 rpm, Pluronic F-68 had no effect on growth and enzyme production.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Inhibition of growth of Bacillus subtilis by recombinant plasmid pCED3.

The present study deals with the mechanism by which plasmid pCED3 interferes with the growth of Bacillus subtilis. Plasmid pCED3 was constructed from pUB110 and pBR322 and contains the lacZ gene attached to the B. subtilis tms promoter. Plasmid derivatives that contain mutations in the tms promoter were used to examine the effect of promoter strength on cell growth, plasmid stability, the amount of plasmid DNA per cell and the activities of plasmid-encoded enzymes, i.e., beta-galactosidase and kanamycin nucleotidyltransferase (KNT). Efficient lacZ transcription directed from the tms promoter resulted in reduction in growth rate and plasmid stability without an increase in beta-galactosidase activity. The amount of plasmid DNA varied between 6.6 and 12.9 pmol per mg cell protein and showed no clear correlation with the strength of the tms promoter. Transcription from the tms promoter inhibited the expression of the plasmid-encoded kanamycin resistance gene resulting in the reduction of both beta-galactosidase activity and growth rate in the presence of kanamycin. These results suggest that the negative effect on B. subtilis growth exerted by pCED3 results at least partly from a decrease in kanamycin resistance by plasmid-bearing cells.

Bacillus subtilis↗

PubMed1990

Effect of medium composition on the maintenance of a recombinant plasmid in Bacillus subtilis.

Recombinant plasmid pCED3 [confers beta-galactosidase production (LacZ+) and kanamycin resistance (Kmr)] in Bacillus subtilis was found to be both segregationally and structurally unstable. Since many solutions to segregational instability are already available, the problem of structural instability was specifically addressed by inclusion of kanamycin in the growth media. Culture instability was found to be highest in complex and defined media supporting high growth rates. Stabilization over the duration of the experiment (40 generations) was achieved by use of a recently developed chemically defined medium supporting a lower growth rate. Slowing down growth by decreasing temperature was much less effective. A major effect of the growth medium appears to be that of decreasing the growth rate advantage held by cells with plasmid deletions over parental cells containing the intact plasmid.

Bacillus subtilis↗

PubMed1983

Bacterial degradation of emulsan.

Emulsan is a polyanionic heteropolysaccharide bioemulsifier produced by Acinetobacter calcoaceticus RAG-1. A mixed bacterial population was obtained by enrichment culture that was capable of degrading emulsan and using it as a carbon source. From this mixed culture, an emulsan-degrading bacterium, termed YUV-1, was isolated. Strain YUV-1 is an aerobic, gram-negative, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium which grows best in media containing yeast extract. When placed on preformed lawns of A. calcoaceticus RAG-1, strain YUV-1 produced translucent plaques which grew in size until the entire plate was covered. Plaque formation was due to solubilization of the emulsan capsule of RAG-1. Plaque formation was not observed on emulsan-negative mutants of RAG-1. As a consequence of the solubilization of the emulsan capsule, RAG-1 cells became more hydrophobic, as determined by adherence to hexadecane. Growth of YUV-1 on a medium containing yeast extract and emulsan was biphasic. During the initial 24 h, cell concentration increased 10-fold, but emulsan was not degraded; during the lag in growth (24 to 48 h), emulsan was inactivated and depolymerized but not consumed; during the second growth phase (48 to 70 h) the depolymerized emulsan products were consumed.

Acinetobacter↗

PubMed1983

Enzymatic depolymerization of emulsan.

Emulsan, the polyanionic emulsifying agent synthesized by Acinetobacter calcoaceticus RAG-1, was depolymerized by an enzyme obtained from a soil bacterium YUV-1. The extracellular emulsan depolymerase was produced when strains RAG-1 and YUV-1 were grown together on agar medium. The enzyme was extracted from the agar and concentrated by ultrafiltration and ammonium sulfate precipitation. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 89,000. Emulsan depolymerase activity was due to an eliminase reaction which split glycosidic linkages within the heteropolysaccharide backbone of emulsan to generate reducing groups and alpha, beta-unsaturated uronides with an absorbance maximum of 233 nm. Deesterified emulsan was degraded by emulsan depolymerase at only 27% of the rate of the native polymer. The treatment of emulsan solutions with emulsan depolymerase for brief periods caused a rapid and parallel drop in viscosity and emulsifying activity. More than 75% of the viscosity and emulsifying activity was lost at a time when less than 0.5% of the glycosidic linkages were broken. These data indicate that (i) emulsan depolymerase is an endoglycosidase and (ii) the higher the molecular weight of emulsan, the greater its emulsifying activity. Exhaustive digestion of emulsan with emulsan depolymerase produced oligosaccharides with a number average molecular weight of about 3,000. The fractionation of the digest on Bio-Gel P-6 yielded four broad peaks. The pooled fractions from each of the peaks contained the same relative amounts of reducing sugar and had an absorbance at 233 nm. The molar ratio of esterified sugar to reducing groups was close to 2 in each fraction.

Chemical Phenomena↗