Metabolic engineering of Candida tropicalis for the production of long-chain dicarboxylic acids.

We have engineered an industrial strain of the yeast, Candida tropicalis, for the efficient production of long-chain dicarboxylic acids, which are important raw materials for the chemical industry. By sequential disruption of the four genes encoding both isozymes of the acyl-CoA oxidase which catalyzes the first reaction in the beta-oxidation pathway, alkane and fatty acid substrates have been successfully redirected to the omega-oxidation pathway. Consequently, the conversion efficiency and chemical selectivity of their terminal oxidation to the corresponding dicarboxylic acids has been improved to 100 percent. The specific productivity of the bioconversion has been increased further by amplification of the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase and NADPH-cytochrome reductase genes encoding the rate-limiting omega-hydroxylase in the omega-oxidation pathway. The amplified strains demonstrated increased omega-hydroxylase activity and a 30% increase in productivity compared to the beta-oxidation-blocked strain in fermentations. The bioconversion is effective for the selective terminal oxidation of both saturated and unsaturated linear aliphatic substrates with chain-lengths ranging from 12 carbons to 22 carbons and also avoids the undesirable chain modifications associated with passage through the beta-oxidation pathway, such as unsaturation, hydroxylation, or chain shortening. It is now possible to efficiently produce a wide range of previously unavailable saturated and unsaturated dicarboxylic acids with a high degree of purity.

Purification and characterization of an anabolic fumarate reductase from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum.

An oxygen-sensitive fumarate reductase has been purified from the cytosol fraction of the cells of the archaebacterium Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum. A major portion of the purification was performed inside an anaerobic chamber, employing reducing agents to maintain low redox potentials. The apparent molecular weight of the native enzyme is 78,000. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated a minimal subunit molecular weight of about 20,000. Iodoacetamide (1 mM) and copper chloride (5 mM) caused significant loss in the enzyme activity. The optimum temperature for the enzymatic activity was 75 degrees C. The pH optimum was found to be 7.0. The fumarate reductase had an apparent Km of 0.20 mM for fumarate. Purified enzyme was colorless; spectroscopic studies indicated the absence of flavins as a cofactor. The spectral data, however, suggested the presence of an unknown cofactor tightly bound to the enzyme. Fumarate reductase is involved in the anabolic rather than the catabolic metabolism of M. thermoautotrophicum.

Extracellular acid proteases from Neurospora crassa.

Three electrophoretically distinct acid proteases appear in culture filtrates of Neurospora crassa. Like the previously investigated alkaline and neutral proteases, these enzymes require induction by an exogenous protein. But in contrast to alkaline and neutral proteases, which are synthesized and secreted in response to limitation of any one of three nutrilites (carbon, nitrogen or sulfur), extracellular elaboration of the acidic proteases is more specifically a function of the missing nutrilite. AcP, a pepstatin-inhibitable enzyme similar to other fungal carboxyl proteases, was secreted in large amounts when protein was the sole source of sulfur. Only trace amounts were secreted when nitrogen was the limiting nutrilite, and it was undetectable under carbon limitation. M-1, a chelator-sensitive protease, was secreted when nitrogen or carbon was limiting. M-2, also chelator sensitive, was present only when nitrogen or sulfur was limiting. The evidence presented suggests that the differential regulation of the acidic proteases with respect to nutrilite deprivation may not occur at the level of transcription. AcP and M-2 were partially purified from nitrogen-derepressed cultures by ultrafiltration, cation-exchange chromatography, and gel filtration. AcP has a molecular weight of 66,000, is stable from pH 3.0 to 6.0, and is optimally active toward bovine serum albumin at pH 4.0. M-2 has a molecular weight of 18,000, is stable from pH 1.6 to 5.5, and has optimal activity at pH 4.5.

Alkaline protease from Neurospora crassa. Purification and partial characterization.

A simple purification procedure has been developed for the extracellular alkaline protease from Neurospora crassa. Key steps in the purification were: 1) the choice of gelatin as the protein inducer, which induces optimally at a much lower concentration than other commonly employed protein inducers; 2) heat treatment, during which the inducer is digested by the protease; and 3) a concentration step that eliminates the usual precipitation procedures and removes much of the digested protein inducer. These procedures were followed by routine ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration. The preparation was homogeneous, as determined by gel electrophoresis and ultracentrifugal analyses. A molecular weight of approximately 30,500 was determined by amino acid analysis, gel electrophoresis, and sedimentation equilibrium. The protease has 100% activity from pH 6.0 to 10.0, is heat labile above 45 degrees C, and susceptible to autodigestion. Hydrolysis of the beta chain from insulin indicates a preferential cleavage on the carboxyl group side of neutral and aromatic amino acids.

Distribution of coenzyme F420 and properties of its hydrolytic fragments.

The ability of hydrolytic products of coenzyme F420 to substitute for F420 in the hydrogenase and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-liniked hydrogenase systems of Methanobacterium strain M.o.H. was kinetically determined. The nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-linked hydrogenase system was employed to quantitate the levels of F420 in a number of methanogenic bacteria as well as in some nonmethanogens. Methanobacterium ruminantium and Methanosarcina barkeri contained low levels of F420, whereas other methanogens tested contained high levels (100 to 400 mg/kg of cells). F420 from six of the seven methanogens was tested by thin-layer electrophoresis and was found to be electrophoretically identical to that purified from Methanobacterium strain M.o.H. The only exception was M. barkeri, which contained a more electronegative derivative of F420. Acetobacterium woodii, Escherichia coli, and yeast extract contained no compounds able to substitute for F420 in the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-linked hydrogenase system.

Proposed structure for coenzyme F420 from Methanobacterium.

The low-potential electron carrier, coenzyme F420, was purified from Methanobacterium strain M.o.H. A yield of 160 mg/kg of wet-packed cells was obtained. Results of analysis of hydrolytic fragments and periodate oxidation products of the coenzyme, by infrared, UV-visible, 1H and 13CNMR spectrometry, mass spectrometry, and quantitative elemental analyses indicate that coenzyme F420 is: N-[N-[O-[5-(8-hydroxy-5-deazaisoalloxazin-10-yl)-2,3,4-trihydroxy-4-pentoxyhydroxyphosphinyl]-L-lactyl]-gamma-L-glutamyl]-L-glutamic acid. A convenient trivial name would be the N-(N-L-lactyl-gamma-L-glutamyl)-L-glutamic acid phosphodiester of 7,8-didemethyl-8-hydroxy-5-deazariboflavin 5'-phosphate. Proof of structure by organic synthesis was not performed; the stereochemical configuration of the hydroxyl groups on the side chain as well as the position of the hydroxyl group on the aromatic ring require confirmation by organic synthesis of the molecule.