O‐Methyltransferase Is Shared between the Pentose Phosphate and Shikimate Pathways and Is Essential for Mycosporine‐Like Amino Acid Biosynthesis in Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413

The parent core structure of mycosporine‐like amino acids (MAAs) is 4‐deoxygadusol, which, in cyanobacteria, is derived from conversion of the pentose phosphate pathway intermediate sedoheptulose 7‐phosphate by the enzymes 2‐epi‐5‐epivaliolone synthase (EVS) and O‐methyltransferase (OMT). Yet, deletion of the EVS gene from Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 was shown to have little effect on MAA production, thus suggesting that its biosynthesis is not exclusive to the pentose phosphate pathway. Herein, we report how, using pathway‐specific inhibitors, we demonstrated unequivocally that MAA biosynthesis occurs also via the shikimate pathway. In addition, complete in‐frame gene deletion of the OMT gene from A. variabilis ATCC 29413 reveals that, although biochemically distinct, the pentose phosphate and shikimate pathways are inextricably linked to MAA biosynthesis in this cyanobacterium. Furthermore, proteomic data reveal that the shikimate pathway is the predominate route for UV‐induced MAA biosynthesis.     

蓝细菌鱼腥藻7120混合营养培养的生长和生理特征

Mixotrophic growth is one potential mode for mass culture of microalgae and cyanobacteria particularly suitable for the production of high value bioactive compounds and fine chemicals.The typical heterocystous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp.PCC 7120 was grown in the presence of exogenous glucose in light.Glucose improved the cell growth evidently,the maximal specific growth rate under mixotrophic condition(0.38 d1)being 1.6-fold of that of photoautotrophic growth.Mixotrophy caused a variation in cellular pigment composition,increasing the content of chlorophyll a and decreasing the contents of carotenoid and phycobiliprotein relative to chlorophyll a.Fluorescence emission from photosystem II(PSII)relative to photosystem I was enhanced in mixotrophic cells,implying an increased energy distribution in PSII.Glucokinase(EC 2.7.1.2)activity was further induced in the presence of glucose.The mixotrophic culture was scaled up in a 15 L airlift photobioreactor equipped with an inner and an outer light source.A modified Monod model incorporating the specific growth rate and the average light intensity in the reactor was developed to describe cell growth appropriately.The understanding of mixotrophic growth and relevant physiological features of Anabaena sp.PCC 7120 would be meaningful for cultivation and exploitation of this important cyanobacterial strain.     

Sedoheptulose Kinase SHPK Expression in Glioblastoma: Emerging Role of the Nonoxidative Pentose Phosphate Pathway in Tumor Proliferation

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common form of malignant brain cancer and is considered the deadliest human cancer. Because of poor outcomes in this disease, there is an urgent need for progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms of GBM therapeutic resistance, as well as novel and innovative therapies for cancer prevention and treatment. The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is a metabolic pathway complementary to glycolysis, and several PPP enzymes have already been demonstrated as potential targets in cancer therapy. In this work, we aimed to evaluate the role of sedoheptulose kinase (SHPK), a key regulator of carbon flux that catalyzes the phosphorylation of sedoheptulose in the nonoxidative arm of the PPP. SHPK expression was investigated in patients with GBM using microarray data. SHPK was also overexpressed in GBM cells, and functional studies were conducted. SHPK expression in GBM shows a significant correlation with histology, prognosis, and survival. In particular, its increased expression is associated with a worse prognosis. Furthermore, its overexpression in GBM cells confirms an increase in cell proliferation. This work highlights for the first time the importance of SHPK in GBM for tumor progression and proposes this enzyme and the nonoxidative PPP as possible therapeutic targets.     

Genetic and Physiological Characterization of Fructose-1,6-Bisphosphate Aldolase and Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase in the Crabtree-Negative Yeast Kluyveromyces lactis

The milk yeast Kluyveromyces lactis degrades glucose through glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway and follows a mainly respiratory metabolism. Here, we investigated the role of two reactions which are required for the final steps of glucose degradation from both pathways, as well as for gluconeogenesis, namely fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). In silico analyses identified one gene encoding the former (KlFBA1), and three genes encoding isoforms of the latter (KlTDH1, KlTDH2, KlGDP1). Phenotypic analyses were performed by deleting the genes from the haploid K. lactis genome. While Klfba1 deletions lacked detectable FBA activity, they still grew poorly on glucose. To investigate the in vivo importance of the GAPDH isoforms, different mutant combinations were analyzed for their growth behavior and enzymatic activity. KlTdh2 represented the major glycolytic GAPDH isoform, as its lack caused a slower growth on glucose. Cells lacking both KlTdh1 and KlTdh2 failed to grow on glucose but were still able to use ethanol as sole carbon sources, indicating that KlGdp1 is sufficient to promote gluconeogenesis. Life-cell fluorescence microscopy revealed that KlTdh2 accumulated in the nucleus upon exposure to oxidative stress, suggesting a moonlighting function of this isoform in the regulation of gene expression. Heterologous complementation of the Klfba1 deletion by the human ALDOA gene renders K. lactis a promising host for heterologous expression of human disease alleles and/or a screening system for specific drugs.     

Oxidative reactions of the pentose pathway and the origin of reducing equivalents for the biosynthesis of rubber in Hevea brasiliensis latex

The presence of the oxidative reactions of the pentose phosphate pathway in hevea latex and their interaction with the biosynthesis of rubber are demonstrated using radioisotopes. During the second oxidation–reduction reaction of the pentose phosphate pathway the tritium in C₃ of glucose‐6‐phosphate is transported as tritiated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and serves to reduce [3‐¹⁴C] 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A to mevalonate. Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate is the inter‐connection between these two metabolic routes present in hevea latex, thus the hydrogens of glucose end up in rubber. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Prerequisites of Isopeptide Bond Formation in Microcystin Biosynthesis

The biosynthesis of the potent cyanobacterial hepatotoxin microcystin involves isopeptide bond formation through the carboxylic acid side chains of d ‐glutamate and β‐methyl d ‐aspartate. Analysis of the in vitro activation profiles of the two corresponding adenylation domains, McyE‐A and McyB‐A₂, either in a didomain or a tridomain context with the cognate thiolation domain and the upstream condensation domain revealed that substrate activation of both domains strictly depended on the presence of the condensation domains. We further identified two key amino acids in the binding pockets of both adenylation domains that could serve as a bioinformatic signature of isopeptide bond‐forming modules incorporating d ‐glutamate or d ‐aspartate. Our findings further contribute to the understanding of the multifaceted role of condensation domains in nonribosomal peptide synthetase assembly lines.     

Genetic Incorporation of Nε‐Formyllysine,a New Histone Post‐translational Modification

Lysine formylation is a newly discovered post‐translational modification (PTM) in histones and other nuclear proteins; it has a well‐recognized but poorly defined role in chromatin conformation modulation and gene expression. To date, there is no general method to site‐specifically incorporate N^ε‐formyllysine at a defined site of a protein. Here we report the highly efficient genetic incorporation of the unnatural amino acid N^ε‐formyllysine into proteins produced in Escherichia coli and mammalian cells, by using an orthogonal N^ε‐formyllysine tRNAsynthetase/tRNA_CUA pair. This technique can be applied to study the role of lysine formylation in epigenetic regulation.     

代谢工程调控策略在生物合成氨基酸及其衍生物中的应用

氨基酸的工业化生产已有上百年历史,多用于动物饲料和食品添加剂;很多种类的氨基酸如L-半胱氨酸、β-丙氨酸、S-腺苷甲硫氨酸、4-羟基异亮氨酸和高丝氨酸等也具有很高的应用价值。相较于化工合成或分离提取的方式,利用微生物细胞作为平台生产氨基酸及其衍生物具有绿色安全、可持续等独特的优势。本文综述了近年来微生物合成氨基酸及其衍生物的研究进展,分别介绍了碳源的高效利用、限速步骤的调节、碳通量的调节、转录和反馈抑制调节以及转运调节等代谢调控策略在提高微生物生产氨基酸及其衍生物效率的研究及应用,分析了不同调控策略的优势和缺点,总结了不同氨基酸及其衍生物的应用价值,最后展望了微生物作为细胞工厂生产各类氨基酸及其衍生物的广阔前景。     

Metabolic engineering strategies in biosynthesis of amino acids and their derivatives

The industrial production of amino acids has a history of more than 100 years, and is mostly used in animal feed and food additives. Many types of amino acids such as L-cysteine, β-alanine, S-adenosylmethionine, 4-hydroxyisocyanine acid and homoserine also have broad applications. Plant extraction and chemical synthesis are the commonly used methods to produce these amino acids and their derivatives. Compared with the way of chemical synthesis or separation and extraction, the use of microbial cells as a platform for the production of amino acids and derivatives has unique advantages such as green safety and sustainability. This review highlights the recent advances in developing metabolic engineering strategies including increase of the carbon sources uptake rate, elimination of the rate-limiting steps, enhancement of the carbon flux through the target pathway, remove of the feed-back inhibition effect and regulation of the intermediates and products transportation for biological production of amino acids and their derivatives. Our goals are to provide a landscape of current works and present guidelines to address future challenges in biosynthesis of amino acids and their derivatives using engineered microorganisms.     

Improvement of the riboflavin production by engineering the precursor biosynthesis pathways in Escherichia coli

3,4-Dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate (DHBP) and GTP are the precursors for riboflavin biosynthesis. In this research, improving the precursor supply for riboflavin production was attempted by overexpressing ribB and engineering purine pathway in a riboflavin-producing Escherichia coli strain. Initially, ribB gene was overexpressed to increase the flux from ribulose 5-phosphate (Ru-5-P) to DHBP. Then ndk and gmk genes were overexpressed to enhance GTP supply. Subsequently, a R419L mutation was introduced into purA to reduce the flux from IMP to AMP. Finally, co-overexpression of mutant purF and prs genes further increased riboflavin production. The final strain RF18S produced 387.6 mg riboflavin · L?1 with a yield of 44.8 mg riboflavin per gram glucose in shake-flask fermentations. The final titer and yield were 72.2%and 55.6%higher than those of RF01S, respectively. It was concluded that simultaneously engineering the DHBP synthase and GTP biosynthetic pathway by rational metabolic engineering can efficiently boost riboflavin production in E. coli.     

Utilization of 2‐(4‐Nitrophenylsulfonyl)ethoxycarbonyl (Nsc) as a Substitute for 9H‐Fluoren‐9‐ylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) in Liquid Phase Chemistry

2‐(4‐Nitrophenylsulfonyl)ethoxycarbonyl (Nsc) is a useful substitute for the Fmoc group. It is easily removed not only with secondary amines but with tris(aminoethyl)amine (TAEA) and with resin‐bound TAEA, thus allowing for a simplified work‐up: the side products of the deprotection are removed either by extraction with phosphate buffer or by filtration.