Cloning and characterization of the galactokinase gene from Streptococcus thermophilus

A chemoenzymatic route to N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate analogues: substrate specificity investigations of N-acetylhexosamine 1-kinase

Reports an efficient chemoenzymatic production of an N-acetylhexosamine 1-phophate analogues library by N-acetylhexosamine 1-kinase (NahK) and describes the respective substrate specificity on this enzyme.

Systematic characterization of a novel gal operon in Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis

On the basis of the Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis genome, a novel type of gal operon was deduced. The gene expression and biochemical properties of this operon were further characterized. RT-PCR analysis of the intergenic regions suggested that the transcription of the gal operon was continuous. With gene cloning and enzyme activity assays, TTE1929, TTE1928 and TTE1927 were identified to be GalT, GalK and GalE, respectively. Results elicited from polarimetry assays revealed that TTE1925, a hypothetical protein, was a novel mutarotase, termed MR-Tt. TTE1926 was identified as a regulator that could bind to two operators in the operon promoter. The transcriptional start sites were mapped, and this suggested that there are two promoters in this operon. Expression of the gal genes was significantly induced by galactose, whereas only MR-Tt expression was detected in glucose-cultured T. tengcongensis at both the mRNA and the protein level. In addition, the abundance of gal proteins was examined at different temperatures. At temperatures ranging from 60 to 80 degrees C, the level of MR-Tt protein was relatively stable, but that of the other gal proteins was dramatically decreased. The operator-binding complexes were isolated and identified by electrophoretic mobility shift assay-liquid chromatography (EMSA-LC) MS-MS, which suggested that several regulatory proteins, such as GalR and a sensory histidine kinase, participate in the regulation of the gal operon.

Combined biosynthetic pathway for de novo production of UDP-galactose: catalysis with multiple enzymes immobilized on agarose beads

Regeneration of sugar nucleotides is a critical step in the biosynthetic pathway for the formation of oligosaccharides. To alleviate the difficulties in the production of sugar nucleotides, we have developed a method to produce uridine diphosphate galactose (UDP-galactose). The combined biosynthetic pathway, which involves seven enzymes, is composed of three parts: i) the main pathway to form UDP-galactose from galactose, with the enzymes galactokinase, galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase, UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, and inorganic pyrophosphatase, ii) the uridine triphosphate supply pathway catalyzed by uridine monophosphate (UMP) kinase and nucleotide diphosphate kinase, and iii) the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) regeneration pathway catalyzed by polyphosphate kinase with polyphosphate added as an energy resource. All of the enzymes were expressed individually and immobilized through their hexahistidine tags onto nickel agarose beads ("super beads"). The reaction requires a stoichiometric amount of UMP and galactose, and catalytic amounts of ATP and glucose 1-phosphate, all inexpensive starting materials. After continuous circulation of the reaction mixture through the super-bead column for 48 h, 50 % of the UMP was converted into UDP-galactose. The results show that de novo production of UDP-galactose on the super-bead column is more efficient than in solution because of the stability of the immobilized enzymes.

Exopolysaccharide-producing strains of thermophilic lactic acid bacteria cluster into groups according to their EPS structure

AIMS

To compare galactose-negative strains of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subspecies bulgaricus isolated from fermented milk products and known to produce exopolysaccharides (EPSs).

METHODS AND RESULTS

The structures of the EPSs were determined using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and their genetic relationships determined using restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Similar groupings were apparent by REA and RAPD, and each group produced an EPS with a particular subunit structure.

CONCLUSION

Although none of the strains assimilated galactose, all inserted a high proportion of galactose into their EPS when grown in skimmed milk, and fell into three distinct groups.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This information should help in an understanding of genetic exchanges in lactic acid bacteria.

Activation of silent gal genes in the lac-gal regulon of Streptococcus thermophilus

Streptococcus thermophilus strain CNRZ 302 is unable to ferment galactose, neither that generated intracellularly by lactose hydrolysis nor the free sugar. Nevertheless, sequence analysis and complementation studies with Escherichia coli demonstrated that strain CNRZ 302 contained structurally intact genes for the Leloir pathway enzymes. These were organized into an operon in the order galKTE, which was preceded by a divergently transcribed regulator gene, galR, and followed by a galM gene and the lactose operon lacSZ. Results of Northern blot analysis showed that the structural gal genes were transcribed weakly, and only in medium containing lactose, by strain CNRZ 302. However, in a spontaneous galactose-fermenting mutant, designated NZ302G, the galKTE genes were well expressed in cells grown on lactose or galactose. In both CNRZ 302 and the Gal(+) mutant NZ302G, the transcription of the galR gene was induced by growth on lactose. Disruption of galR indicated that it functioned as a transcriptional activator of both the gal and lac operons while negatively regulating its own expression. Sequence analysis of the gal promoter regions of NZ302G and nine other independently isolated Gal(+) mutants of CNRZ 302 revealed mutations at three positions in the galK promoter region, which included substitutions at positions -9 and -15 as well as a single-base-pair insertion at position -37 with respect to the main transcription initiation point. Galactokinase activity measurements and analysis of gusA reporter gene fusions in strains containing the mutated promoters suggested that they were gal promoter-up mutations. We propose that poor expression of the gal genes in the galactose-negative S. thermophilus CNRZ 302 is caused by naturally occurring mutations in the galK promoter.

Cloning and expression of the Listeria monocytogenes scott A ptsH and ptsI genes, coding for HPr and enzyme I, respectively, of the phosphotransferase system

The phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)-dependent phosphotransferase system (PTS) utilizes high-energy phosphate present in PEP to drive the uptake of several different carbohydrates in bacteria. In order to examine the role of the PTS in the physiology of Listeria monocytogenes, we identified the ptsH and ptsI genes encoding the HPr and enzyme I proteins, respectively, of the PTS. Nucleotide sequence analysis indicated that the predicted proteins are nearly 70% similar to HPr and enzyme I proteins from other organisms. Purified L. monocytogenes HPr overexpressed in Escherichia coli was also capable of complementing an HPr defect in heterologous extracts of Staphylococcus aureus ptsH mutants. Additional studies of the transcriptional organization and control indicated that the ptsH and ptsI genes are organized into a transcription unit that is under the control of a consensus-like promoter and that expression of these genes is mediated by glucose availability and pH or by by-products of glucose metabolism.