Calcium as a Regulator of Intracellular Processes in Actinomycetes: A Review

Optimization of fermentation conditions and medium compositions for the production of chrysomycin a by a marine-derived strain Streptomyces sp. 891

Chrysomycin A is one of the valuable drug leads used to treat infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In order to increase its yield, this work firstly focuses on optimization of fermentation conditions and medium compositions of a wild-type chrysomycin A-producing strain Streptomyces sp. 891 from marine sediment. By single-factor experiment, effects of fermentation conditions (fermentation time, seed age, initial pH, inoculum amount, liquid loading, shaking speed) and medium composition (carbon sources, nitrogen sources, inorganic salts) on the yield of chrysomycin A were carefully evaluated and analyzed followed by optimization at shake-flask level. The results indicated its optimal fermentation conditions for producing chrysomycin A were as follows: fermentation time 168 h, seed age 48 h, initial pH 6.5, inoculum amount 5.0%, liquid loading 30 mL in 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask and shaking speed 220 rpm. By orthogonal test, the optimal fermentation medium constitutes 40 g/L glucose, 20 g/L corn starch, 25 g/L hot-pressed soybean flour, 3 g/L CaCO₃. Verification tests suggested the yield of chrysomycin A under optimized conditions reaches up to 3648 ± 119 mg/L, which is increased by almost 5 times. These findings definitely pave the way for scale-up preparation of chrysomycin A and application in the pharmaceutical industry.

Identification and characterization of the serine/threonine protein kinases in Bifidobacterium

Six genes encoding the bifidobacterial Hanks-type (eukaryote-like) serine/threonine protein kinases (STPK) were identified and classified. The genome of each bifidobacterial strain contains four conserved genes and one species-specific gene. Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium bifidum possess the unique gene found only in these species. The STPK genes of Russian industrial probiotic strain B. longum B379M were cloned and sequenced. The expression of these genes in Escherichia coli and bifidobacteria was observed. Autophosphorylation of the conserved STPK Pkb5 and species-specific STPK Pkb2 was demonstrated. This is the first report on Hanks-type STPK in bifidobacteria.

The evolution of development inStreptomycesanalysed by genome comparisons

There is considerable information about the genetic control of the processes by which mycelial Streptomyces bacteria form spore-bearing aerial hyphae. The recent acquisition of genome sequences for 16 species of actinobacteria, including two streptomycetes, makes it possible to try to reconstruct the evolution of Streptomyces differentiation by a comparative genomic approach, and to place the results in the context of current views on the evolution of bacteria. Most of the developmental genes evaluated are found only in actinobacteria that form sporulating aerial hyphae, with several being peculiar to streptomycetes. Only four (whiA, whiB, whiD, crgA) are generally present in nondifferentiating actinobacteria, and only two (whiA, whiG) are found in other bacteria, where they are widespread. Thus, the evolution of Streptomyces development has probably involved the stepwise acquisition of laterally transferred DNA, each successive acquisition giving rise either to regulatory changes that affect the conditions under which development is initiated, or to changes in cellular structure or morphology.