Occurrence of vitamins K and related quinones

A potential biotechnological process for the sustainable production of vitamin K1

The primary objective of this review is to propose an approach for the biosynthesis of phylloquinone (vitamin K₁) based upon its known sources, its role in photosynthesis and its biosynthetic pathway. The chemistry, health benefits, market, and industrial production of vitamin K are also summarized. Vitamin K compounds (K vitamers) are required for the normal function of at least 15 proteins involved in diverse physiological processes such as coagulation, tissue mineralization, inflammation, and neuroprotection. Vitamin K is essential for the prevention of Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB), especially in neonates. Increased vitamin K intake may also reduce the severity and/or risk of bone fracture, arterial calcification, inflammatory diseases, and cognitive decline. Consumers are increasingly favoring natural food and therapeutic products. However, the bulk of vitamin K products employed for both human and animal use are chemically synthesized. Biosynthesis of the menaquinones (vitamin K₂) has been extensively researched. However, published research on the biotechnological production of phylloquinone is restricted to a handful of available articles and patents. We have found that microalgae are more suitable than plant cell cultures for the biosynthesis of phylloquinone. Many algae are richer in vitamin K₁ than terrestrial plants, and algal cells are easier to manipulate. Vitamin K₁ can be efficiently recovered from the biomass using supercritical carbon dioxide extraction.

Sensitive characterization of microbial ubiquinones from biofilms by electrospray/mass spectrometry

Utilizing high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray/tandem mass spectrometric analysis of the neutral lipid extract of microbial cells and biofilm communities, respiratory ubiquinone (UQ) (1-methyl-2-isoprenyl-3,4-dimethoxyparabenzoquinone) isoprenologues can be separated isocratically in minutes and assayed with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 9 p.p.b. (11.1 fmol UQ9 microL(-1)). This corresponds to about 1.29 x 10(7) cells of Pseudomonas putida. Highest sensitivity is achieved using flow-injection analysis with multiple reaction monitoring wherein ammoniated molecular ions of specific isoprenologues pass through quadrupole one, are collisionally dissociated in quadrupole two and identified from the product ion fragment at m/z 197.1 in quadrupole three. This assay has a repeatability of between 6% and 10% over three orders of magnitude (r2 = 0.996). Quinone profiling based on dominant isoprenologue patterns provides taxonomic insights. Detection of prominent UQ isoprenologues indicates presence of microeukaryotes and alpha Proteobacteria with UQ10, obligatory aerobic Gram-negative bacteria with UQ4-14, facultative Gram-negative (and some gamma Proteobacteria growing in microniches with oxygen or to a much lesser extent nitrate as a terminal electron acceptor with UQ8, and other gamma Proteobacteria with UQ9. High sensitivity is essential as the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) to UQ molar ratios are 130 or greater. Previous studies have established that recovery of sediment communities with high PLFA/UQ ratios corresponded to areas of aerobic metabolism, an important consideration in bioremediation or nuclide mobilization.

Post-translational carboxylation of preprothrombin

In summary, in this review on the function of vitamin K in post-translational modification of precursor proteins by carboxylation of certain glutamyl residues, I have tried to cover in particular the recent work on the reaction, the enzymes involved and the mechanisms being considered. In doing this I have also considered vitamin K, its discovery, its functional form and the possible relation of its metabolism to the carboxylation reaction. Equally the various vitamin K-dependent gla-containing proteins currently known have been described. The carboxylation of synthetic small molecule exogenous substrates and the synthesis and metabolism of the products of carboxylation are of great help in studying the reaction. Structural specificity of vitamin K analogs in vivo and in vitro has been compared and the use of various antagonists in vivo and in vitro considered in attempts to gain an understanding of the overall reaction. The reactions subsequent to carboxylation, e.g., the activation of prothrombin to thrombin via serine proteases and the related activation of the other vitamin K-dependent proteins have not been considered in this review. The review has not covered prothrombin or other vitamin K-dependent protein isolation, nor the determination of these proteins. As the vitamin K-dependent protein carboxylation story has developed over the past six years, a number of reviews have been written which help in keeping up with the various aspects of the field as it has expanded. These reviews refer to many of the papers I have had to eliminate due to space limitations. They are referenced as 469-489. The review is in no sense comprehensive and many papers have been missed or only mentioned. I have tried to concentrate on the more recent work and, thus, much of the very fine work of the 1940's on vitamin K chemistry is hardly mentioned. Some redundancy has been built into the organization of the review so that a reader can obtain a reasonable view of any one section without having to search the whole review for all possible relevant information on any particular part of the field.

Ubiquinone analyses in fish tissues and in some marine invertebrates

1. Ubiquinone contents were determined in species of marine invertebrates, and in heart, red and white muscle and liver of three species of fish. 2. Three different methods of determination were compared, based on spectrophotometry, reduction and a reaction with the dimethoxy groups of ubiquinone. 3. Using ubiquinone homologues 6-10 prepared from beef heart and commercially available microorganisms (SCP) as standards, ubiquinone 10 was found in all samples. In addition were found minor amounts of Q-9 in samples of saithe heart and red muscle. 4. Less than 10 mg/kg wet wt of ubiquinone was found in the samples of marine invertebrates and in white muscle and liver of the fish samples, with one exception: 40 mg/kg in a sample of mackerel liver. 5. Higher contents of ubiquinone were found in fish heart and red muscle tissues, ranging from 24 to 116 mg/kg wet wt. The ubiquinone contents were comparable in the two tissues. 6. A test on cellular fragments of red muscle tissue of saithe showed that the ubiquinone was concentrated in the mitochondria fraction.

The formation of menaquinone-4 (vitamin K) and its oxide in some marine invertebrates

Three echinoderms, a crustacean, a mollusc and a coelenterate were injected with either [2-14C]mevalonate and unlabelled menadione (2-methyl-1,4-naphthaquinone) or 2-[14C]methyl-1,4-naphthaquinone. In each case the label was incorporated into menaquinone-4.[2-14C]Mevalonate was incorporated into menaquinone-4 in the crab (Carcinus maenas) only in the presence of menadione, the organism presumably being unable to synthesize the naphthaquinone nucleus. The starfish Asterias rubens and C. maenas incorporated the label into a compound which was identified chromatographically as 2,3-epoxymenaquinone-4. The significance of menaquinone-4 and these animals is discussed.

The absorption and distribution of the naturally occurring tocochromanols in he rat

1. Groups of female albino rats were given 12–20 mg of one of the eight known toco-chromanols in 0.2 ml arachis oil by stomach tube, and were killed 2, 4, 8, 16 or 24 h afterwards. The liver, spleen, heart, kidneys, brain, small intestine and a portion of striated muscle were removed from each rat and analysed for the tocochromanol given.

3. Maximum levels of the tocochromanols occurred in most tissues 4–8 h after dosing. In the liver the tocopherols were more efficiently absorbed than were the corresponding toco-trienols. In kidney, heart and muscle the percentage uptake of the tocotrienols was often greater than that of the corresponding tocopherols.

Formation of vitamin K2 isoprenologues by Staphylococcus aureus

In Staphylococcus aureus, vitamin K(2) isoprenologues can be labeled with (14)C-acetate, mevalonate, glycerol, alpha-naphthol, and menadione. All the radioactivity from alpha-naphthol is in the ring nucleus. Eighty-six per cent of the radioactivity from mevalonate is in the side chain. The labeled isoprenologues of vitamin K(2) can be separated and recovered quantitatively. The rates of incorporation and turnover after pulse-chase experiments indicate that the isoprenologues do not lose radioactivity once they are formed. The kinetics of incorporation of radioactivity into the ring nucleus of each isoprenologue are the same. The alkylation of the ring does not involve a simple sequential addition of isoprenoid units of the same specific activity. The incorporation of mevalonate shows that shorter side chain isoprenologues have a higher specific activity per five carbon unit than the longer side chain isoprenologues. Perhaps the alkyl precursors are from different pools since the kinetics of incorporation into all isoprenologues are different.