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No description available.

No description available.

The aim of this work was to develop a production process for the enzyme xyloglucan endo-transglycosylase from Populus tremula x tremuloides (PttXET16-34). The natural transglycosylating activity of this enzyme has previously been employed in a XET-Technology. This chemo enzymatic method is useful for biomimetic modification of cellulose surfaces and holds great potential for industrial applications. Thus, it requires that the XET-enzyme can be produced in larger scale. This work also shows how the wildtype PttXET16-34 was modified into a glycosynthase. By mutation of the catalytic nucleophile into an alanine, glycine or serine residue, enzymes capable of synthesising defined xyloglucan fragments were obtained. These defined compounds are very valuable for further detailed studies of xyloglucan active-enzymes, but are also useful in molecular studies of the structurally important xyloglucan-cellulose interaction. A heterologous production system for PttXET16-34 was previously developed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. A methanol-limited fed-batch process was also previously established, but the yield of active XET was low due to proteolysis problems and low productivity. Therefore, two alternative fed-batch techniques were investigated for the production of PttXET16-34: a temperature-limited fed-batch (TLFB) and an oxygen-limited high-pressure fed-batch (OLHPFB). For the initial recovery of XET after the fermentation process, two different downstream processes were investigated: expanded bed adsorption (EBA) and cross-flow filtration (CFF). / <p>QC 20101108</p>

Alkaloids are a class of plant secondary metabolites produced in about 20% of plant families. Domesticated tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum produces nicotine as the predominant alkaloid. The biosynthesis of nicotine occurs exclusively in the roots of tobacco, yet accumulates in the leaves of tobacco where it is acts as a defense compound to deter insect herbivory. The research detailed in this dissertation addresses two aspects of nicotine physiology in tobacco: 1) an investigation of hypothesized protein-protein interactions among nicotine biosynthetic enzymes and 2) the characterization of a novel nicotine transporter. A hypothesized metabolic channel including the two nicotine biosynthetic enzymes putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT), N-methylputrescine Oxidase (MPO) and the S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) recycling enzyme S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) has been proposed. To further explore this hypothesis, protein-protein interactions among nicotine biosynthetic enzymes PMT, MPO and SAHH were investigated using yeast two-hybrid assays and co-immunoprecipitation experiments. The yeast two-hybrid was conducted as both a directed screen to detect interactions between the hypothesized metabolic channel members and as a library screen to detect interactions between hypothesized metabolic channel members and proteins from a tobacco root cDNA library. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments were conducted using proteins produced in an in vitro transcription/ translation system and using native proteins from a tobacco root extract. The outcome of these experiments provided no further evidence of a nicotine metabolic channel and a discussion of the methods and outcomes of the experiments conducted is presented. The nicotine uptake permease, NUP1, was identified in tobacco roots and was shown to preferentially transport nicotine when expressed in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. This report presents the characterization of tobacco plants and hairy roots with diminished NUP1 transcripts created by using RNAi. The NUP1-RNAi hairy roots and plants showed a decreased level of nicotine and the hairy root cultures displayed an altered distribution of nicotine from the root to the culture medium. Additionally NUP1-GFP was used to determine that NUP1 localized to the plasma membrane of tobacco BY-2 protoplasts. Potential models for the role of NUP1 in nicotine physiology will be discussed. / Ph. D.

ABSTRACT The xyloglucan endo-transglycosylase/hydrolase (XTH) genes are found in all vascular and some nonvascular plants. The XTH genes encode proteins which comprise a subfamily of glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 16 in the Carbohydrate-Active enZYmes (CAZY) classification. The XTH gene products are believed to play intrinsic role in cell wall modification during growth and development throughout the lifetime of the plant. In the present investigation, biochemical and reverse genetic approaches were used to better understand the functions of individual members of the XTH gene family of two important plants: the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana and the grain crop barley (Hordeum vulgare). A phylogenetic tree of the xyloglucan-active enzymes of GH16 has previously been constructed, where enzymes with similar activities have been shown to cluster together. Several members of phylogenetic Group I/II and III-B, predicted to exhibit xyloglucan endo-transglycosylase activity (EC 2.4.1.207) and members of Group III-A, predicted to exhibit xyloglucan endo-hydrolase activity (EC 3.2.1.151), were included to analyze the functional diversity of XTH gene products. A heterologous expression system using the yeast Pichia pastoris was found to be effective for recombinant protein production with a success rate of ca. 50%. XTH gene products were obtained in soluble and active forms for subsequent biochemical characterization. In order to be able to screen larger numbers of protein producing clones, a fast and easy method is required to identify clones expressing active protein in high enough amounts. Thus, a miniaturized XET/XEH assay for high-throughput analysis was developed, which was able to identify activities with good precision and with a reduced time and materials consumption and a reduced work load. Enzyme kinetic analysis indicated that the XET or XEH activity of all XTH gene products characterized in the present study corresponded to predictions based on the previously revised phylogenetic clustering. To gain insight into the biological function of the predominant XEHs AtXTH31 and AtXTH32, which are highly expressed in rapidly developing tissues, a reverse genetic approach was employed using T-DNA insertion lines of the A. thaliana Columbia ecotype. Genotypic and phenotypic characterization, together with in situ assays of XET and XEH activities, in single- and double-knock-out mutants indicated that these Group III-A enzymes are active in expanding tissues of the A. thaliana roots and hypocotyl.  Although suppression of in muro XEH activity was clearly observed in the double-knock-out, no significant growth phenotype was observed, with the exception that radicle emergence appeared to be faster than in the wild type plants. Keywords: Arabidopis thaliana, Hordeum vulgare, plant cell wall, xyloglucan, glycoside hydrolase family 16, xyloglucan endo-transglycosylase/hydrolase gene family, xyloglucan endo-transglycosylase, xyloglucan endo-hydrolase, heterologous protein expression, Pichia pastoris, T-DNA insertion, in situ XET/XEH assay, high-throughput screening / QC 20110114

Protein synthesis is a process by which organisms manufacture their proteins that perform various cellular activities either alone or in combination with other similar or different molecules. In eubacteria, protein synthesis proceeds at a rate of around 15 amino acids per second. The ribosomes, charged tRNAs and mRNAs can be considered as the core components of protein synthesis system which, in addition, involves a panel of non-ribosomal proteins that regulate the speed, specificity and accuracy of the process. Peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase (Pth) and ribosome recycling factor (RRF) are two such non-ribosomal proteins involved in protein synthesis. These two proteins are essential for eubacterial survival and the work reported in this thesis involves structural characterization of these two proteins from the bacterial pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The protein structures were solved using established techniques of protein crystallography. Hanging drop vapour diffusion method and crystallization under oil using microbatch plates were the methods employed for protein crystallization. X-ray intensity data were collected on a MAR Research imaging plate mounted on a Rigaku RU200 X-ray generator in all the cases. The data were processed using DENZO and MOSFLM. The structures were solved by molecular replacement method using the program PHASER. Structure refinements were carried out using programs CNS and REFMAC. Model building was carried out using COOT. PROCHECK, ALIGN, CHIMERA, and PYMOL were used for structure validation and analysis of the refined structures. Peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase cleaves the ester bond between tRNA and the attached peptide in peptidyl-tRNA that has dropped off from ribosome before reaching the stop codon, in order to avoid the toxicity resulting from peptidyl-tRNA accumulation and to free the tRNA to make it available for further rounds in protein synthesis. To begin with, the structure of the enzyme from M. tuberculosis (MtPth) was determined in three crystal forms. This structure and the structure of the same enzyme from Escherichia coli (EcPth) in its crystal differ substantially on account of the binding of the C-terminus of the E.coli enzyme to the peptide binding site of a neighboring molecule in the crystal. A detailed examination of this difference led to an elucidation of the plasticity of the binding site of the enzyme. The peptide-binding site of the enzyme is a cleft between the body of the molecule and a polypeptide stretch involving a loop and a helix. This stretch is in open conformation when the enzyme is in the free state as in the crystals of MtPth. Furthermore, there is no physical continuity between the tRNA and the peptide-binding sites. The molecule in the EcPth crystal mimics the peptide-bound conformation of the enzyme. The peptide stretch involving a loop and a helix, referred to earlier, now closes on the bound peptide. Concurrently, a gate connecting the tRNA and the peptide-binding site opens primarily through the concerted movement of the two residues. Thus, the crystal structure of MtPth when compared with that of EcPth, leads to a model of structural changes associated with enzyme action on the basis of the plasticity of the molecule. A discrepancy between the X-ray results and NMR results, which subsequently became available, led to X-ray studies on new crystal forms of the enzyme. The results of these studies and those of the enzyme from different sources that became available, confirmed the connection deduced previously between the closure of the lid at the peptide-binding site and the opening of the gate that separates the peptide-binding site and tRNA binding site. The plasticity of the molecule indicated by X-ray structures is in general agreement with that deduced from the available solution NMR results. The correlation between the lid and the gate movement is not, however, observed in the NMR structure of MtPth. The discrepancy between the X-ray and NMR structures of MtPth in relation to the functionally important plasticity of the molecule, referred to earlier, also led to molecular dynamics simulations. The X-ray and the NMR studies along with the simulations indicated an inverse correlation between crowding and molecular volume. A detailed comparison of proteins for which X-ray and the NMR structures are available appears to confirm this correlation. In consonance with the reported results of the investigation in cellular components and aqueous solutions, the comparison indicates that the crowding results in compaction of the molecule as well as change in its shape, which could specifically involve regions of the molecule important for function. Crowding could thus influence the action of proteins through modulation of the functionally important plasticity of the molecule. After termination of protein synthesis at the stop codon, the ribosome remains as a post-termination complex (PoTC), consisting of the 30S and the 50S subunits, mRNA and a deacylated tRNA. This complex has to be disassembled so that the ribosome is available for the next round of translation initiation. Ribosome recycling factor (RRF) binds to ribosome and in concert with elongation factor G (EF.G), performs the recycling of ribosome that results in disassembly of PoTC. The structure of this L-shaped protein with two domains connected by a hinge, from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtRRF) was solved previously in our laboratory. The relative movement of domains lies at the heart of RRF function. Three salt bridges were hypothesized to reduce the flexibility of MtRRF when compared to the protein from E.coli (EcRRF), which has only one such salt bridge. Out of these three bridges, two are between domain 1 and domain 2, whereas the third is between the hinge region and the C-terminus of the molecule. These salt bridges were disrupted with appropriate mutations and the structure and activity of the mutants and their ability to complement EcRRF were explored. An inactive C-terminal deletion mutant of MtRRF was also studied. Major, but different, structural changes were observed in the C-terminal deletion mutant and the mutant involving the hinge region. Unlike the wild type protein and the other mutants, the hinge mutant complements EcRRF. This appears to result from the increased mobility of the domains in the mutant, as evidenced by the results of librational analysis. In addition to the work on PTH and RRF, the author was involved during the period of studentship in carrying out X-ray studies of crystalline complexes involving amino acids and carboxylic acids, which is described in the Appendix of the thesis. The complexes studied are that of tartaric acid with arginine and lysine.

<p>Xyloglucans are polysaccharides found as storage polymers in seeds and tubers, and as cross-linking glycans in the cell wall of plants. Their structure is complex with intricate branching patterns, which contribute to the physical properties of the polysaccharide including its binding to and interaction with other glycans such as cellulose.</p><p>Xyloglucan is widely used in bulk quantities in the food, textile and paper making industries. With an increasing interest in technically more advanced applications of xyloglucan, such as novel biocomposites, there is a need to understand and control the properties and interactions of xyloglucan with other compounds, to decipher the relationship between xyloglucan structure and function, and in particular the effect of different branching patterns. However, due to the structural heterogeneity of the polysaccharide as obtained from natural sources, relevant studies have not been possible to perform in practise. This fact has stimulated an interest in synthetic methods to obtain xyloglucan mimics and analogs with well-defined structure and decoration patterns.</p><p>Glycosynthases are hydrolytically inactive mutant glycosidases that catalyse the formation of glycosidic linkages between glycosyl fluoride donors and glycoside acceptors. Since its first conception in 1998, the technology is emerging as a useful tool in the synthesis of large, complex polysaccharides. This thesis presents the generation and characterisation of glycosynthases based on xyloglucanase scaffolds for the synthesis of well-defined homogenous xyloglucan oligo- and polysaccharides with regular substitution patterns.</p>

Soils contain highly diverse consortia of bacteria making them very attractive starting points for both culture-dependent and metagenomic discovery efforts. The present diploma thesis analyses the composition of the microbial community from pharmaceutically polluted soil, with the employment of next-generation Illumina sequencing of 16S rDNA region. This analysis revealed high complexity of the soil microbial environment and confirmed that anthropogenic activity (represented by production of beta- lactam antibiotics) influences the variability and abundance of the species, yet without reducing the microbial diversity. In the second part of the thesis, isolation and heterologous expression of a novel gene encoding alpha-amino acid ester hydrolase (AEH) from a cultivable soil microorganism B. cereus is described. AEHs possess industrial potential for biocatalytic synthesis of semi-synthetic beta-lactam antibiotics, which are presently of great clinical importance. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Bacteria are enclosed by a peptidoglycan sacculus, an exoskeleton-like polymer composed of glycan strands cross-linked by short peptides. The sacculus surrounds the cell in a closed bag-like structure and forms the main structural component of the bacterial cell wall. As bacteria grow and divide, cell wall remodelling by peptidoglycan hydrolases results in the release of peptidoglycan fragments from the sacculus. In Gram-negative bacteria, these fragments are efficiently trapped and recycled. Gram-positive bacteria however shed large quantities of peptidoglycan fragments into the environment. For nearly five decades, Gram-positive bacteria were thus assumed not to recycle peptidoglycan and this process has remained enigmatic until recently. In this thesis, the occurrence and physiological role of peptidoglycan recycling in the Gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus was investigated. S. aureus is an important pathogen, and is becoming increasingly resistant to many antibiotics. Through bioinformatic and experimental means it was determined that S. aureus may potentially recycle components of peptidoglycan and novel peptidoglycan recycling components were identified and characterised. Though disruption of putative peptidoglycan recycling in S. aureus appears not affect growth or gross morphology of this bacterium, potential roles for peptidoglycan recycling in cell wall homeostasis and in virulence were identified. This is to my knowledge the first demonstration of a potential role of peptidoglycan recycling in either of these aspects of bacterial physiology in any Gram-positive bacterium. This is an important step forward in understanding the basic biology of Gram-positive bacteria, and in understanding the mechanisms of virulence in S. aureus. Future study of this process in S. aureus and other Gram-positive bacteria promises to reveal yet further facets of this process and its functions, potentially leading to the identification of novel therapeutic approaches to combat infections.