Characterization of salt-tolerant ß-glucosidase with increased thermostability under high salinity conditions from Bacillus sp. SJ-10 isolated from jeotgal, a traditional Korean fermented seafood.

The ß-glucosidase gene, bglC, was cloned from Bacillus sp. SJ-10 isolated from the squid jeotgal. Recombinant BglC protein overexpression was induced in Escherichia coli. The optimal pH and temperature of the enzyme, using p-nitrophenyl-ß-D-glucopyranoside (pNPßGlc) as a substrate, were pH 6 and 40 °C, respectively. Enzymatic activity increased by 3.3- and 3.5-fold in the presence of 15% NaCl and KCl, respectively. Furthermore, enzyme thermostability improved in the presence of NaCl or KCl. At 45 °C in the presence of salts, the enzyme was stable for 2 h and maintained 80% activity. In the absence of salts, BglC completely lost activity after 110 min at 45 °C. Comparison of the kinetic parameters at various salt concentrations revealed that BglC had approximately 1.5- and 1.2-fold higher affinity and hydrolyzed pNPßGlc 1.9- and 2.1-fold faster in the presence of 15% NaCl and KCl, respectively. Additionally, the Gibb's free energy for denaturation was higher in the presence of 15% salt than in the absence of salt at 45 and 50 °C. Since enzymatic activity and thermostability were enhanced under high salinity conditions, BglC is an ideal salt-tolerant enzyme for further research and industrial applications.

PCR identification of ruminant tissue in raw and heat-treated meat meals.

To control the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle through contaminated animal feedstuffs, screening of feed products is essential. We designed five pairs of primers to identify specifically raw and heat-treated tissue from cattle, sheep, goat, deer, and ruminants in general. A forward common primer was designed based on a conserved DNA sequence in the mitochondrial 12S rRNA-tRNA(val)-16S rRNA gene, and reverse primers were designed to hybridize with a species-specific DNA sequence for each species considered. All primers were developed to create a specific PCR product small enough (less than 200 bp) to be suitable for heat-treated material. To evaluate the effect of heat treatment, a severe sterilization condition (133 degrees C at 300 kPa for 20 min) was chosen. Species-specific amplicons were obtained from all types of heat-treated meat meals. Analysis of laboratory-contaminated vegetable meals revealed that the detection limit of the assay was 0.05% for each species analyzed. This PCR-based analysis can be used as a routine method for detecting banned animal-derived ingredients in raw and heat-treated feedstuffs.