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Huang Y, Zou K, Qing T, Feng B, Zhang P. Metagenomics and metatranscriptomics analyses of antibiotic synthesis in activated sludge. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 213:113741. [PMID: 35750126 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2022] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The generic of antibiotics is considered to be a main reason for the generation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, little has been reported about the antibiotic biosynthesis by activated sludge. In this study, the distribution and expression of antibiotic biosynthetic genes (ABGs) in the floc sludge and biofilm from two WWTPs were deciphered using metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. The results showed that 2% of the community were in general well-linked to antibiotic production, indicating a non-negligible antibiotic synthetic ability of WWTPs. 93 ABGs belonging to 26 antibiotics were determined, among which aminoglycosides, β-lactams, ansamycins, peptides, macrolides were majority. The relative abundances of detected ABGs had a large interval, ranging from 0.000006% to 0.042%. The predominant antibiotic types of synthetic genes with higher relative expression levels were monobactams, penicillin & cephalosporins and streptomycin, primarily belonging to β-lactams and aminoglycosides. The hypothetical synthetic pathways of streptomycin synthesis and penicillin & cephalosporin synthesis were proposed. And the coexistence of ABGs and ARGs for these two antibiotics was also pronounced in activated sludge from meta-omics data. These findings for the first time demonstrated the antibiotic synthetic potential in activated sludges, revealing new sources of antibiotics and resistance genes in WWTPs, and thereby aggravating environmental pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Huang
- College of Environment and Resources, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, China
| | - Kui Zou
- College of Environment and Resources, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, China
| | - Taiping Qing
- College of Environment and Resources, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, China
| | - Bo Feng
- College of Environment and Resources, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, China
| | - Peng Zhang
- College of Environment and Resources, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, China.
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Fierro F, Vaca I, Castillo NI, García-Rico RO, Chávez R. Penicillium chrysogenum, a Vintage Model with a Cutting-Edge Profile in Biotechnology. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10030573. [PMID: 35336148 PMCID: PMC8954384 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10030573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2021] [Revised: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The discovery of penicillin entailed a decisive breakthrough in medicine. No other medical advance has ever had the same impact in the clinical practise. The fungus Penicillium chrysogenum (reclassified as P. rubens) has been used for industrial production of penicillin ever since the forties of the past century; industrial biotechnology developed hand in hand with it, and currently P. chrysogenum is a thoroughly studied model for secondary metabolite production and regulation. In addition to its role as penicillin producer, recent synthetic biology advances have put P. chrysogenum on the path to become a cell factory for the production of metabolites with biotechnological interest. In this review, we tell the history of P. chrysogenum, from the discovery of penicillin and the first isolation of strains with high production capacity to the most recent research advances with the fungus. We will describe how classical strain improvement programs achieved the goal of increasing production and how the development of different molecular tools allowed further improvements. The discovery of the penicillin gene cluster, the origin of the penicillin genes, the regulation of penicillin production, and a compilation of other P. chrysogenum secondary metabolites will also be covered and updated in this work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Fierro
- Departamento de Biotecnología, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Unidad Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México 09340, Mexico
- Correspondence:
| | - Inmaculada Vaca
- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 7800003, Chile;
| | - Nancy I. Castillo
- Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas y Químicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Antonio Nariño, Bogotá 110231, Colombia;
| | - Ramón Ovidio García-Rico
- Grupo de Investigación GIMBIO, Departamento De Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad de Pamplona, Pamplona 543050, Colombia;
| | - Renato Chávez
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Química y Biología, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago 9170020, Chile;
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Heravi MM, Zadsirjan V. Prescribed drugs containing nitrogen heterocycles: an overview. RSC Adv 2020; 10:44247-44311. [PMID: 35557843 PMCID: PMC9092475 DOI: 10.1039/d0ra09198g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 314] [Impact Index Per Article: 78.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Heteroatoms as well as heterocyclic scaffolds are frequently present as the common cores in a plethora of active pharmaceuticals natural products. Statistically, more than 85% of all biologically active compounds are heterocycles or comprise a heterocycle and most frequently, nitrogen heterocycles as a backbone in their complex structures. These facts disclose and emphasize the vital role of heterocycles in modern drug design and drug discovery. In this review, we try to present a comprehensive overview of top prescribed drugs containing nitrogen heterocycles, describing their pharmacological properties, medical applications and their selected synthetic pathways. It is worth mentioning that the reported examples are actually limited to current top selling drugs, being or containing N-heterocycles and their synthetic information has been extracted from both scientific journals and the wider patent literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Majid M Heravi
- Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Alzahra University PO Box 1993891176, Vanak Tehran Iran +98 21 88041344 +98 21 88044051
| | - Vahideh Zadsirjan
- Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Alzahra University PO Box 1993891176, Vanak Tehran Iran +98 21 88041344 +98 21 88044051
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Bacterial synthesis of D-amino acids. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2014; 98:5363-74. [PMID: 24752840 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-014-5726-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 132] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2014] [Revised: 03/22/2014] [Accepted: 03/25/2014] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Recent work has shed light on the abundance and diversity of D-amino acids in bacterial extracellular/periplasmic molecules, bacterial cell culture, and bacteria-rich environments. Within the extracellular/periplasmic space, D-amino acids are necessary components of peptidoglycan, and disruption of their synthesis leads to cell death. As such, enzymes responsible for D-amino acid synthesis are promising targets for antibacterial compounds. Further, bacteria are shown to incorporate a diverse collection of D-amino acids into their peptidoglycan, and differences in D-amino acid incorporation may occur in response to differences in growth conditions. Certain D-amino acids can accumulate to millimolar levels in cell culture, and their synthesis is proposed to foretell movement from exponential growth phase into stationary phase. While enzymes responsible for synthesis of D-amino acids necessary for peptidoglycan (D-alanine and D-glutamate) have been characterized from a number of different bacteria, the D-amino acid synthesis enzymes characterized to date cannot account for the diversity of D-amino acids identified in bacteria or bacteria-rich environments. Free D-amino acids are synthesized by racemization or epimerization at the α-carbon of the corresponding L-amino acid by amino acid racemase or amino acid epimerase enzymes. Additionally, D-amino acids can be synthesized by stereospecific amination of α-ketoacids. Below, we review the roles of D-amino acids in bacterial physiology and biotechnology, and we describe the known mechanisms by which they are synthesized by bacteria.
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García-Rico RO, Fierro F, Martín JF. Heterotrimeric Galpha protein Pga1 of Penicillium chrysogenum controls conidiation mainly by a cAMP-independent mechanism. Biochem Cell Biol 2009; 86:57-69. [PMID: 18364746 DOI: 10.1139/o07-148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Fungal heterotrimeric G proteins regulate different processes related to development, such as colony growth and asexual sporulation, the main mechanism of propagation in filamentous fungi. To gain insight into the mechanisms controlling growth and differentiation in the industrial penicillin producer Penicillioum chrysogenum, we investigated the role of the heterotrimeric Galpha subunit Pga1 in conidiogenesis. A pga1 deleted strain (Deltapga1) and transformants with constitutively activated (pga1G42R) and inactivated (pga1G203R) Pga1 alpha subunits were obtained. They showed phenotypes that clearly implicate Pga1 as an important negative regulator of conidiogenesis. Pga1 positively affected the level of intracellular cAMP, which acts as secondary messenger of Pga1-mediated signalling. Although cAMP has some inhibitory effect on conidiation, the regulation of asexual development by Pga1 is exerted mainly via cAMP-independent pathways. The regulation of conidiation by Pga1 is mediated by repression of the brlA and wetA genes. The Deltapga1 strain and transformants with the constitutively inactive Pga1G203R subunit developed a sporulation microcycle in submerged cultures triggered by the expression of brlA and wetA genes, which are deregulated in the absence of active Pga1. Our results indicate that although basic mechanisms for regulating conidiation are similar in most filamentous fungi, there are differences in the degree of involvement of specific pathways, such as the cAMP-mediated pathway, in the regulation of this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramón Ovidio García-Rico
- Instituto de Biotecnologia de Leon, INBIOTEC, Parque Cientifico de Leon, Avenida Real 1, Leon, Spain
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García-Estrada C, Vaca I, Ullán RV, van den Berg MA, Bovenberg RAL, Martín JF. Molecular characterization of a fungal gene paralogue of the penicillin penDE gene of Penicillium chrysogenum. BMC Microbiol 2009; 9:104. [PMID: 19470155 PMCID: PMC2692852 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2180-9-104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2008] [Accepted: 05/26/2009] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Penicillium chrysogenum converts isopenicillin N (IPN) into hydrophobic penicillins by means of the peroxisomal IPN acyltransferase (IAT), which is encoded by the penDE gene. In silico analysis of the P. chrysogenum genome revealed the presence of a gene, Pc13g09140, initially described as paralogue of the IAT-encoding penDE gene. We have termed this gene ial because it encodes a protein with high similarity to IAT (IAL for IAT-Like). We have conducted an investigation to characterize the ial gene and to determine the role of the IAL protein in the penicillin biosynthetic pathway. RESULTS The IAL contains motifs characteristic of the IAT such as the processing site, but lacks the peroxisomal targeting sequence ARL. Null ial mutants and overexpressing strains indicated that IAL lacks acyltransferase (penicillin biosynthetic) and amidohydrolase (6-APA forming) activities in vivo. When the canonical ARL motif (leading to peroxisomal targeting) was added to the C-terminus of the IAL protein (IAL ARL) by site-directed mutagenesis, no penicillin biosynthetic activity was detected. Since the IAT is only active after an accurate self-processing of the preprotein into alpha and beta subunits, self-processing of the IAL was tested in Escherichia coli. Overexpression experiments and SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that IAL is also self-processed in two subunits, but despite the correct processing, the enzyme remained inactive in vitro. CONCLUSION No activity related to the penicillin biosynthesis was detected for the IAL. Sequence comparison among the P. chrysogenum IAL, the A. nidulans IAL homologue and the IAT, revealed that the lack of enzyme activity seems to be due to an alteration of the essential Ser309 in the thioesterase active site. Homologues of the ial gene have been found in many other ascomycetes, including non-penicillin producers. Our data suggest that like in A. nidulans, the ial and penDE genes might have been formed from a single ancestral gene that became duplicated during evolution, although a separate evolutive origin for the ial and penDE genes, is also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos García-Estrada
- Instituto de Biotecnología (INBIOTEC), Parque Científico de León, Av. Real, 1, 24006, León, Spain
| | - Inmaculada Vaca
- Instituto de Biotecnología (INBIOTEC), Parque Científico de León, Av. Real, 1, 24006, León, Spain
| | - Ricardo V Ullán
- Instituto de Biotecnología (INBIOTEC), Parque Científico de León, Av. Real, 1, 24006, León, Spain
| | - Marco A van den Berg
- DSM Anti-Infectives, DSM Gist (624-0270), PO Box 425, 2600 AK, Delft, the Netherlands
| | - Roel AL Bovenberg
- DSM Anti-Infectives, DSM Gist (624-0270), PO Box 425, 2600 AK, Delft, the Netherlands
| | - Juan Francisco Martín
- Instituto de Biotecnología (INBIOTEC), Parque Científico de León, Av. Real, 1, 24006, León, Spain,Área de Microbiología, Departamento de Biología Molecular, Facultad de CC Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana s/n. 24071, León, Spain
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Kosalková K, García-Estrada C, Ullán RV, Godio RP, Feltrer R, Teijeira F, Mauriz E, Martín JF. The global regulator LaeA controls penicillin biosynthesis, pigmentation and sporulation, but not roquefortine C synthesis in Penicillium chrysogenum. Biochimie 2008; 91:214-25. [PMID: 18952140 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2008.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2008] [Accepted: 09/18/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The biosynthesis of the beta-lactam antibiotic penicillin is an excellent model for the study of secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi due to the good background knowledge on the biochemistry and molecular genetics of the beta-lactam producing microorganisms. The three genes (pcbAB, pcbC, penDE) encoding enzymes of the penicillin pathway in Penicillium chrysogenum are clustered, but no penicillin pathway-specific regulators have been found in the genome region that contains the penicillin gene cluster. The biosynthesis of this beta-lactam is controlled by global regulators of secondary metabolism rather than by a pathway-specific regulator. In this work we have identified the gene encoding the secondary metabolism global regulator LaeA in P. chrysogenum (PcLaeA), a nuclear protein with a methyltransferase domain. The PclaeA gene is present as a single copy in the genome of low and high-penicillin producing strains and is not located in the 56.8-kb amplified region occurring in high-penicillin producing strains. Overexpression of the PclaeA gene gave rise to a 25% increase in penicillin production. PclaeA knock-down mutants exhibited drastically reduced levels of penicillin gene expression and antibiotic production and showed pigmentation and sporulation defects, but the levels of roquefortine C produced and the expression of the dmaW involved in roquefortine biosynthesis remained similar to those observed in the wild-type parental strain. The lack of effect on the synthesis of roquefortine is probably related to the chromatin arrangement in the low expression roquefortine promoters as compared to the bidirectional pbcAB-pcbC promoter region involved in penicillin biosynthesis. These results evidence that PcLaeA not only controls some secondary metabolism gene clusters, but also asexual differentiation in P. chrysogenum.
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Post-translational enzyme modification by the phosphopantetheinyl transferase is required for lysine and penicillin biosynthesis but not for roquefortine or fatty acid formation in Penicillium chrysogenum. Biochem J 2008; 415:317-24. [DOI: 10.1042/bj20080369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
NRPSs (non-ribosomal peptide synthetases) and PKSs (polyketide synthases) require post-translational phosphopantetheinylation to become active. This reaction is catalysed by a PPTase (4′-phosphopantetheinyl transferase). The ppt gene of Penicillium chrysogenum, encoding a protein that shares 50% similarity with the stand-alone large PPTases, has been cloned. This gene is present as a single copy in the genome of the wild-type and high-penicillin-producing strains (containing multiple copies of the penicillin gene cluster). Amplification of the ppt gene produced increases in isopenicillin N and benzylpenicillin biosynthesis. A PPTase-defective mutant (Wis54-PPT−) was obtained. It required lysine and lacked pigment and penicillin production, but it still synthesized normal levels of roquefortine. The biosynthesis of roquefortine does not appear to involve PPTase-mediated modification of the synthesizing enzymes. The PPT− mutant did not require fatty acids, which indicates that activation of the fatty acid synthase is performed by a different PPTase. Complementation of Wis54-PPT− with the ppt gene restored lysine biosynthesis, pigmentation and penicillin production, which demonstrates the wide range of processes controlled by this gene.
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