NK (natural killer) cells, with their ability to identify antigens and extraneous substances, available in the organism through various moleculary receptors, are an important component of the immune system. The NKR-P1A and NKR-P1B proteins belong to the lectin receptors of natural killer cells. Primary ligands of lectin receptors comprise terminal oligosaccharides of glycoproteins on the surface of target (e.g. tumor) cells. The interaction between carbohydrate structures on the surface of antigens and their binding partners on NK receptors is followed by triggering the effector function of NK cells against the targets. The NK cells and NK receptors findings and their interactions with ligands are greatly utilized in the treatment of cancer, viral and autoimmune diseases. Heterologous protein production in the eukaryotic organism brings a lot of advantages. Unlike the prokaryotic organism, the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris has the capability of performing many posttranslational modifications resulting in production of biological active protein molecule. Usually, the P. pastoris expression system disposes of high level protein expression and is also generally regarded as being faster, easier, and less expensive to use than expression systems derived from other eukaryotes. In this thesis, I...

The primary objectives of this research were to demonstrate that: 1.) antibiotic resistant bacteria can promote the survival of antibiotic sensitive organisms when grown simultaneously as biofilms in antibiotics, 2.) community-level multiple antibiotic resistance of polymicrobial consortia can lead to biofilm formation despite the presence of multiple antibiotics, and 3.) biofilms may benefit plasmid retention and heterologous protein production in the absence of selective pressure. Quantitative analyses of confocal data showed that ampicillin resistant organisms supported populations of ampicillin sensitive organisms in steady state ampicillin concentrations 13 times greater than that which would inhibit sensitive cells inoculated alone. The rate of reaction of the resistance mechanism influenced the degree of protection. Spectinomycin resistant organisms did not support their sensitive counterparts, although flow cytometry indicated that GFP production by the sensitive strain was improved. When both organisms were grown in both antibiotics, larger numbers of substratum-attached pairs at 2 hours resulted in greater biofilm formation at 48 hours. For biofilms grown in both antibiotics, a benefit to spectinomycin resistant organism’s population size was detectable, but the only benefit to ampicillin resistant organisms was in terms of GFP production. Additionally, an initial attachment ratio of 5 spectinomycin resistant organisms to 1 ampicillin resistant organism resulted in optimal biofilm formation at 48 hours. Biofilms also enhanced the stability of high-copy number plasmids and heterologous protein production. In the absence of antibiotic selective pressure, plasmid DNA was not detected after 48 hours in chemostats, where the faster growth rate of plasmid-free cells contributed to the washout of plasmid retaining cells. The plasmid copy number per cell in biofilms grown without antibiotic selective pressure steadily increased over a six day period. Flow cytometric monitoring of bacteria grown in biofilms indicated that 95 percent of the population was producing GFP at 48 hours. This research supports the idea that ecological interactions between bacteria contribute to biofilm development in the presence of antibiotics, and demonstrates that community-level multiple antibiotic resistance is a factor in biofilm recalcitrance against antibiotics. Additionally, biofilms may provide an additional tool for stabilizing high copy number plasmids used for heterologous protein production.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第22495号 / 農博第2399号 / 新制||農||1076(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R2||N5275(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科応用生命科学専攻 / (主査)教授 栗原 達夫, 教授 小川 順, 教授 木岡 紀幸 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

For a sustainable future, there is a call to increase the market share of bio-based technologies and materials. Microbial-based technologies have the potential and the ability to contribute substantively on many levels to global efforts to achieve sustainability. Development and utilization of microbial technologies is, however, an extensive process involving numerous steps, including the discovery of novel technologies and the development of industrially viable production systems. In the presented thesis, individual steps of microbial biotechnology development were addressed. In the first part of the study, a variety of methodological approaches were employed in order to study the effect of the anthropogenic activity (i.e., decades lasting production of penicillin G) on the structure of soil microbial communities. Moreover, both cultivable and non-cultivable fractions of populations were subjected to functional screening in order to unravel the biotechnological potential of the microorganisms in terms of production of enzymes involved in biotransformation of beta-lactam antibiotics: penicillin G acylase (PGA) and alpha amino acid ester hydrolase (AEH). Our results indicated that the impacted communities harbour a microbial community with increased diversity and richness. However, on the...