Metabolic behavior of Lactococcus lactis MG1363 in microaerobic continuous cultivation at a low dilution rate.

Minute amounts of oxygen were supplied to a continuous cultivation of Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris MG1363 grown on a defined glucose-limited medium at a dilution rate of 0.1 h(-1). More than 80% of the carbon supplied with glucose ended up in fermentation products other than lactate. Addition of even minute amounts of oxygen increased the yield of biomass on glucose by more than 10% compared to that obtained under anaerobic conditions and had a dramatic impact on catabolic enzyme activities and hence on the distribution of carbon at the pyruvate branch point. Increasing aeration caused carbon dioxide and acetate to replace formate and ethanol as catabolic end products while hardly affecting the production of either acetoin or lactate. The negative impact of oxygen on the synthesis of pyruvate formate lyase was confirmed. Moreover, oxygen was shown to down regulate the protein level of alcohol dehydrogenase while increasing the enzyme activity levels of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, alpha-acetolactate synthase, and the NADH oxidases. Lactate dehydrogenase and glyceraldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme activity levels were unaffected by aeration.

Synthesis and posttranslational regulation of pyruvate formate-lyase in Lactococcus lactis.

The enzyme pyruvate formate-lyase (PFL) from Lactococcus lactis was produced in Escherichia coli and purified to obtain anti-PFL antibodies that were shown to be specific for L. lactis PFL. It was demonstrated that activated L. lactis PFL was sensitive to oxygen, as in E. coli, resulting in the cleavage of the PFL polypeptide. The PFL protein level and its in vivo activity and regulation were shown by Western blotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and metabolite measurement to be dependent on the growth conditions. The PFL level during anaerobic growth on the slowly fermentable sugar galactose was higher than that on glucose. This shows that variation in the PFL protein level may play an important role in the regulation of metabolic shift from homolactic to mixed-acid product formation, observed during growth on glucose and galactose, respectively. During anaerobic growth in defined medium, complete activation of PFL was observed. Strikingly, although no formate was produced during aerobic growth of L. lactis, PFL protein was indeed detected under these conditions, in which the enzyme is dispensable due to the irreversible inactivation of PFL by oxygen. In contrast, no oxygenolytic cleavage was detected during aerobic growth in complex medium. This observation may be the result of either an effective PFL deactivase activity or the lack of PFL activation. In E. coli, the PFL deactivase activity resides in the multifunctional alcohol dehydrogenase ADHE. It was shown that in L. lactis, ADHE does not participate in the protection of PFL against oxygen under the conditions analyzed. Our results provide evidence for major differences in the mechanisms of posttranslational regulation of PFL activity in E. coli and L. lactis.

Determination of the phosphorylated sugars of the Embden-Meyerhoff-Parnas pathway in Lactococcus lactis using a fast sampling technique and solid phase extraction.

An experimental procedure for the determination of intracellular concentrations of the phosphorylated sugars in the lactic acid bacterium Lactococcus lactis is presented. The first step of the procedure is a rapid sampling of a small volume of the growth medium into 60% (v/v) methanol precooled to -35 degrees C, bringing about a fast and complete stop of all metabolic activity. In contrast to yeast the metabolites leak out of the cells when these are brought into contact with methanol and are present in the medium and in the biomass after the quenching. A liquid-liquid extraction with chloroform at -25 degrees C ensures a total permeability of the cellular membrane towards the metabolites of interest as well as the inactivation of enzymes liable to alter their levels. The final step of the procedure consists in a solid phase extraction using columns with a high affinity for phosphorylated components. The internal standard was recovered to an extent of 85-95%.