2KGA Production Research Articles

Antioxidant effect of glutathione on promoting 2-keto-l-gulonic acid production in vitamin C fermentation system.

Oxidative stress limited the growth of cells and 2-keto-l-gulonic acid (2-KGA) production in vitamin C (Vc) fermentation system. The study aims to investigate the antioxidant effect of glutathione on promoting 2-KGA in Vc fermentation system using Ketogulonicigenium vulgare 25B-1 and Bacillus endophyticus ST-1 as the co-culturing microbes. The activities of antioxidant-related enzymes and qPCR were used to study the antioxidant effect of glutathione addition in Vc fermentation system. The addition of GSH and GSH/GSSG increased 2-KGA production and decreased fermentation time, and the highest 2-KGA production increased by 40·63% and the lowest fermentation time shortened to 60h when the addition of optimal concentration ratio of GSH/GSSG was 50:1. Moreover, the increased production of 2-KGA was accompanied by up-regulated the activities of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), catalase (CAT) and over-expressed oxidative stress-related genes sod, gst, gr, zwf, gp, which resulted in scavenging reactive oxygen species to reduce oxidative stress in Vc fermentation system. Glutathione showed a significant effect on increasing 2-KGA production and decreasing fermentation time in Vc fermentation system. GSH/GSSG could maintain a dynamic balance with two forms of glutathione and the optimal concentration ratio of GSH/GSSG was 50:1. Glutathione is proved to be effective to relieve oxidative stress. The promotion effects of GSSG and GSH on 2-KGA production could help to further explore the optimization of co-culture fermentation process for Vc industrial production.

The Role of kguT Gene in 2-Ketogluconate-Producing Pseudomonas plecoglossicida JUIM01.

Pseudomonas are ubiquitous bacteria that can live under a wide range of environmental conditions; some species are successfully used in the fermentation industry. Pseudomonas plecoglossicida JUIM01 strain is an important industrial 2-ketogluconate (2KGA) producer. In Pseudomonas, kguT gene encodes a putative 2KGA transporter KguT, and there is no detailed research on the role of KguT. In this work, the role of KguT in P. plecoglossicida JUIM01 was investigated. The results showed that the KguT of P. plecoglossicida JUIM01 plays an essential role in the transport of 2KGA into cells; inactivation of KguT could prevent the assimilation of 2KGA as carbon source by the cells and had no negative effect on 2KGA biosynthesis. Under fermentation conditions, the kguT deletion strain had the same capability of 2KGA production with P. plecoglossicida JUIM01 and avoided the assimilation of the product 2KGA by cells after the depletion of glucose. These results can provide references for Pseudomonas study and fermentation production of 2KGA.

Purification, characterization and gene identification of a membrane-bound glucose dehydrogenase from 2-keto-d-gluconic acid industrial producing strain Pseudomonas plecoglossicida JUIM01

The membrane-bound glucose dehydrogenase (mGDH) is a rate-limiting enzyme for the industrial production of 2-keto-d-gluconic acid (2KGA) from glucose. In this study, mGDH was firstly purified from a 2KGA industrial producing strain Pseudomonas plecoglossicida JUIM01. The purified mGDH exhibited a specific activity of 16.85 U/mg and was identified as monomeric membrane-bound PQQ-dependent dehydrogenase with a molecular mass of ~87 kDa. The Km and Vmax value of d-glucose were 0.042 mM and 14.620 μM/min, and the optimal pH and temperature were of 6.0 and 35 °C with favorable acid resistance and poor heat tolerance. Ca2+/Mg2+ showed a significantly positive effect on mGDH activity with 20% increase, whereas EDTA/EGTA had a negative influence, and Ca2+ was essential for enzyme activity. Furthermore, a 2412 bp-length gcd was amplified by genome walking technique and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. Bioinformatics analysis and heterologous expression further confirmed it as a mGDH encoding gene. mGDH contained binding sites of Ca2+, cofactor PQQ and polypeptide binding sites concluded from alignment results of mGDHs from different genera. This study would lay the foundation for improving 2KGA productivity through further strain modification.

Establishing an innovative carbohydrate metabolic pathway for efficient production of 2-keto-l-gulonic acid in Ketogulonicigenium robustum initiated by intronic promoters

Background2-Keto-l-gulonic acid (2-KGA), the precursor of vitamin C, is currently produced by two-step fermentation. In the second step, l-sorbose is transformed into 2-KGA by the symbiosis system composed of Ketogulonicigenium vulgare and Bacillus megaterium. Due to the different nutrient requirements and the uncertain ratio of the two strains, the symbiosis system significantly limits strain improvement and fermentation optimization.ResultsIn this study, Ketogulonicigenium robustum SPU_B003 was reported for its capability to grow well independently and to produce more 2-KGA than that of K. vulgare in a mono-culture system. The complete genome of K. robustum SPU_B003 was sequenced, and the metabolic characteristics were analyzed. Compared to the four reported K. vulgare genomes, K. robustum SPU_B003 contained more tRNAs, rRNAs, NAD and NADP biosynthetic genes, as well as regulation- and cell signaling-related genes. Moreover, the amino acid biosynthesis pathways were more complete. Two species-specific internal promoters, P1 (orf_01408 promoter) and P2 (orf_02221 promoter), were predicted and validated by detecting their initiation activity. To efficiently produce 2-KGA with decreased CO2 release, an innovative acetyl-CoA biosynthetic pathway (XFP-PTA pathway) was introduced into K. robustum SPU_B003 by expressing heterologous phosphoketolase (xfp) and phosphotransacetylase (pta) initiated by internal promoters. After gene optimization, the recombinant strain K. robustum/pBBR-P1_xfp2502-P2_pta2145 enhanced acetyl-CoA approximately 2.4-fold and increased 2-KGA production by 22.27% compared to the control strain K. robustum/pBBR1MCS-2. Accordingly, the transcriptional level of the 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (pgd) and pyruvate dehydrogenase genes (pdh) decreased by 24.33 ± 6.67 and 8.67 ± 5.51%, respectively. The key genes responsible for 2-KGA biosynthesis, sorbose dehydrogenase gene (sdh) and sorbosone dehydrogenase gene (sndh), were up-regulated to different degrees in the recombinant strain.ConclusionsThe genome-based functional analysis of K. robustum SPU_B003 provided a new understanding of the specific metabolic characteristics. The new XFP-PTA pathway was an efficient route to enhance acetyl-CoA levels and to therefore promote 2-KGA production.

Improved performance of Pseudomonas putida in a bioelectrochemical system through overexpression of periplasmic glucose dehydrogenase.

It was recently demonstrated that a bioelectrochemical system (BES) with a redox mediator allowed Pseudomonas putida to perform anoxic metabolism, converting sugar to sugar acids with high yield. However, the low productivity currently limits the application of this technology. To improve productivity, the strain was optimized through improved expression of glucose dehydrogenase (GCD) and gluconate dehydrogenase (GAD). In addition, quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis revealed the intrinsic self-regulation of GCD and GAD. Utilizing this self-regulation system, the single overexpression strain (GCD) gave an outstanding performance in the electron transfer rate and 2-ketogluconic acid (2KGA) productivity. The peak anodic current density, specific glucose uptake rate and 2KGA producing rate were 0.12 mA/cm2 , 0.27 ± 0.02 mmol/gCDW /hr and 0.25 ± 0.02 mmol/gCDW /hr, which were 327%, 477%, and 644% of the values of wild-type P. putida KT2440, respectively. This work demonstrates that expression of periplasmic dehydrogenases involved in electron transfer can significantly improve productivity in the BES.

Reconstruction of amino acid biosynthetic pathways increases the productivity of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid in Ketogulonicigenium vulgare-Bacillus endophyticus consortium via genes screening.

Defect in the amino acid biosynthetic pathways of Ketogulonicigenium vulgare, the producing strain for 2-keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KGA), is the key reason for its poor growth and low productivity. In this study, five different strains were firstly reconstructed by expressing absent genes in threonine, proline and histidine biosynthetic pathways for better 2-KGA productivity. When mono-cultured in the shake flasks, the strain SyBE_Kv02080002 expressing hsk from Gluconobacter oxydans in threonine biosynthetic pathway achieved the highest biomass and the titer increased by 25.13%. When co-cultured with Bacillus endophyticus, the fermentation cycle decreased by 28.57% than that of the original consortium in 5-L fermenter. Furthermore, reconstruction of threonine biosynthetic pathway resulted in up-regulation of genes encoding sorbosone dehydrogenase and idonate-dehydrogenase, which increased the 2-KGA productivity in SyBE_Kv02080002. This study shows that reconstruction of absent biosynthetic pathways in bacteria is an effective way to enhance the productivity of target products.

Fitness analysis between the L-sorbosone dehydrogenase modules and Ketogulonigenium vulgare chassis

Ketogulonigenium vulgare is an acid-producing strain in the process of two-step vitamin C fermentation. L-sorbosone dehydrogenase (SNDH) is one of the key enzymes during the biosynthesis of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KGA), the precursor of vitamin C. However, the catalytic mechanism of SNDH is unclear. According to the whole genome sequencing of K. vulgare, two genes encoding sorbosone dehydrogenases, one derived from the chromosome (named as sndhg) and one from plasmid (named as sndhp), were introduced into an industrial strain K. vulgare. The overexpression of gene sndhg had hardly effect on 2-KGA production, and the overexpression of gene sndhp produced an obvious byproduct in the fermentation broth. Combinational expression of sndhg/sndhp with pqqA (obtaining sndhg-pqqA and sndhp-pqqA modules) in K. vulgare resulted in the similar fermentation phenotype to two previous strains. After serial sub-cultivation of co-cultured Bacillus endophyticus with each engineered K. vulgare for 50 d, the conversion rate of 2-KGA increased by 15.4%, 179%, 0.65% and 125% compared with that of the parental K. vulgare with B. endophyticus. This study shows that adaptive evolution of microbial consortium is an effective strategy to increase the fitness between functional modules and chassis, thus quickly getting better strains for production of 2-KGA.

Determination of Dehydrogenase Activities Involved in D-Glucose Oxidation in Gluconobacter and Acetobacter Strains.

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are known for rapid and incomplete oxidation of an extensively variety of alcohols and carbohydrates, resulting in the accumulation of organic acids as the final products. These oxidative fermentations in AAB are catalyzed by PQQ- or FAD- dependent membrane-bound dehydrogenases. In the present study, the enzyme activity of the membrane-bound dehydrogenases [membrane-bound PQQ-glucose dehydrogenase (mGDH), D-gluconate dehydrogenase (GADH) and membrane-bound glycerol dehydrogenase (GLDH)] involved in the oxidation of D-glucose and D-gluconic acid (GA) was determined in six strains of three different species of AAB (three natural and three type strains). Moreover, the effect of these activities on the production of related metabolites [GA, 2-keto-D-gluconic acid (2KGA) and 5-keto-D-gluconic acid (5KGA)] was analyzed. The natural strains belonging to Gluconobacter showed a high mGDH activity and low activity in GADH and GLDH, whereas the Acetobacter malorum strain presented low activity in the three enzymes. Nevertheless, no correlation was observed between the activity of these enzymes and the concentration of the corresponding metabolites. In fact, all the tested strains were able to oxidize D-glucose to GA, being maximal at the late exponential phase of the AAB growth (24 h), which coincided with D-glucose exhaustion and the maximum mGDH activity. Instead, only some of the tested strains were capable of producing 2KGA and/or 5KGA. In the case of Gluconobacter oxydans strains, no 2KGA production was detected which is related to the absence of GADH activity after 24 h, while in the remaining strains, detection of GADH activity after 24 h resulted in a high accumulation of 2KGA. Therefore, it is possible to choose the best strain depending on the desired product composition. Moreover, the sequences of these genes were used to construct phylogenetic trees. According to the sequence of gcd, gene coding for mGDH, Acetobacter and Komagataeibacter were phylogenetically more closely related each other than with Gluconobacter.

Overexpression of membrane-bound gluconate-2-dehydrogenase to enhance the production of 2-keto-d-gluconic acid by Gluconobacter oxydans

Background2-keto-d-gluconic acid (2KGA) is widely used as a chemical intermediate in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and environmental industries. Several microbial fermentation processes have been developed for production of 2KGA but these suffer from substrate/product inhibition, byproduct formation and low productivity. In previous work, we showed that 2KGA can be specifically produced from glucose (Glu) or gluconic acid (GA) by resting wild-type Gluconobacter oxydans DSM2003 cells, although substrate concentration was relatively low. In this study, we attempted to improve 2KGA productivity by G. oxydans DSM2003 by overexpressing the ga2dh gene, which encodes the membrane-bound gluconate-2-dehydrogenase enzyme (GA2DH).ResultsThe ga2dh gene was overexpressed in G. oxydans DSM2003 under the control of three promoters, PtufB, Pga2dh or Pghp0169, respectively. Among the recombinant strains obtained, G. oxydans_tufB_ga2dh showed a similar growth rate to that of the control strain and displayed the highest specific productivity of 2KGA from GA, which was increased nearly twofold compared with that of the control strain during batch biotransformation. When biocatalysis conditions were optimized, with provision of sufficient oxygen during biotransformation, up to 480 g/L GA was completely utilized over 45 h by resting cells of G. oxydans_tufB_ga2dh and 453.3 g/L 2KGA was produced. A productivity of 10.07 g/L/h and a yield of 95.3 % were obtained. Overexpression of the ga2dh gene also significantly improved the conversion of Glu to 2KGA. Under optimized conditions, 270 g/L Glu was converted to 321 g/L 2KGA over 18 h, with a yield of 99.1 % and a productivity of 17.83 g/L/h. The glucose concentrations during the batch biotransformation and the 2KGA productivities achieved in this study were relatively high compared with the results of previous studies.ConclusionsThis study developed an efficient bacterial strain (G. oxydans_tufB_ga2dh) for the production of 2KGA by overexpressing the ga2dh gene in G. oxydans. Supply of sufficient oxygen enhanced the positive effect of gene overexpression on 2KGA production. Gluconobacter oxydans_tufB_ga2dh is thus a competitive species for use in 2KGA production.

Combinatorial metabolic engineering of industrial Gluconobacter oxydans DSM2343 for boosting 5-keto-D-gluconic acid accumulation.

BackgroundL-(+)-tartaric acid (L-TA) is an important organic acid, which is produced from the cream of tartar or stereospecific hydrolysis of the cis-epoxysuccinate. The former method is limited by the availability of raw material and the latter is dependent on the petrochemical material. Thus, new processes for the economical preparation of L-TA from carbohydrate or renewable resource would be much more attractive. Production of 5-keto-D-gluconate (5-KGA) from glucose by Gluconobacter oxydans is the first step to produce L-TA. The aim of this work is to enhance 5-KGA accumulation using combinatorial metabolic engineering strategies in G. oxydans. The sldAB gene, encoding sorbitol dehydrogenase, was overexpressed in an industrial strain G. oxydans ZJU2 under a carefully selected promoter, P0169. To enhance the efficiency of the oxidation by sldAB, the coenzyme pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) and respiratory chain were engineered. Besides, the role in sldAB overexpression, coenzyme and respiratory chain engineering and their subsequent effects on 5-KGA production were investigated.ResultsAn efficient, stable recombinant strain was constructed, whereas the 5-KGA production could be enhanced. By self-overexpressing the sldAB gene in G. oxydans ZJU2 under the constitutive promoter P0169, the resulting strain, G. oxydans ZJU3, produced 122.48 ± 0.41 g/L of 5-KGA. Furthermore, through the coenzyme and respiratory chain engineering, the titer and productivity of 5-KGA reached 144.52 ± 2.94 g/L and 2.26 g/(L · h), respectively, in a 15 L fermenter. It could be further improved the 5-KGA titer by 12.10 % through the fed-batch fermentation under the pH shift and dissolved oxygen tension (DOT) control condition, obtained 162 ± 2.12 g/L with the productivity of 2.53 g/(L · h) within 64 h.ConclusionsThe 5-KGA production could be significantly enhanced with the combinatorial metabolic engineering strategy in Gluconobacter strain, including sldAB overexpression, coenzyme and respiratory chain engineering. Fed-batch fermentation could further enlarge the positive effect and increase the 5-KGA production. All of these demonstrated that the robust recombinant strain can efficiently produce 5-KGA in larger scale to fulfill the industrial production of L-TA from 5-KGA.

Enhancement of 5-keto-d-gluconate production by a recombinant Gluconobacter oxydans using a dissolved oxygen control strategy

The rapid and incomplete oxidation of sugars, alcohols, and polyols by the gram-negative bacterium Gluconobacter oxydans facilitates a wide variety of biological applications. For the conversion of glucose to 5-keto-d-gluconate (5-KGA), a promising precursor of the industrial substance L-(+)-tartaric acid, G.oxydans DSM2343 was genetically engineered to strain ZJU2, in which the GOX1231 and GOX1081 genes were knocked out in a markerless fashion. Then, a secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (GCD) from Xanthomonas campestris DSM3586 was heterologously expressed in G.oxydans ZJU2. The 5-KGA production and cell yield were increased by 10% and 24.5%, respectively. The specific activity of GCD towards gluconate was 1.75±0.02U/mg protein, which was 7-fold higher than that of the sldAB in G.oxydans. Based on the analysis of kinetic parameters including specific cell growth rate (μ), specific glucose consumption rate (qs) and specific 5-KGA production rate (qp), a dissolved oxygen (DO) control strategy was proposed. Finally, batch fermentation was carried out in a 15-L bioreactor using an initial agitation speed of 600rpm to obtain a high μ for cell growth. Subsequently, DO was continuously maintained above 20% to achieve a high qp to ensure a high accumulation of 5-KGA. Under these conditions, the maximum concentration of 5-KGA reached 117.75g/L with a productivity of 2.10g/(L·h).

Optimization of medium composition for two-step fermentation of vitamin C based on artificial neural network–genetic algorithm techniques

The production of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KGA) during the conversion from L-sorbose to 2-KGA in the two-step fermentation of vitamin C can be improved by using an efficient companion strain Bacillus subtilis A9 to facilitate the growth of Ketogulonicigenium vulgare and the production of 2-KGA. Two optimization models, namely response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN), were built to optimize the medium components for mixed-culture fermentation of 2-KGA. The root mean square error, R2 and the standard error of prediction given by the ANN model were 0.13%, 0.99% and 0.21%, respectively, while the RSM model gave 1.89%, 0.84% and 2.9%, respectively. This indicated that the fitness and the prediction accuracy of the ANN model were higher than those of the RSM model. Furthermore, using genetic algorithm (GA), the input space of the ANN model was optimized, predicting that the maximum 2-KGA production of 72.54 g·L−1 would be obtained at the GA-optimized concentrations of the medium components (L-sorbose, 92.5 g·L−1; urea, 10.2 g·L−1; corn steep liquor, 16 g·L−1; CaCO3, 3.96 g·L−1; MgSO4, 0.28 g·L−1). The 2-KGA production experimentally obtained using the ANN–GA-designed medium was 71.21 ± 1.53 g·L−1, which was in good agreement with the predicted value. The same optimization process may be used to improve the production during bacterial mixed-cultures fermentation by changing the fermentation parameters.

Engineered Expression Vectors Significantly Enhanced the Production of 2-Keto-D-gluconic Acid by Gluconobacter oxidans.

2-Keto-D-gluconic acid (2KGA), a precursor of the important food antioxidant erythorbic acid, can be produced by Gluconobacter oxidans. To genetically engineer G. oxidans for improved 2KGA production, six new expression vectors with increased copy numbers based on pBBR1MCS-5 were constructed via rational mutagenesis. The utility of the mutant vectors was demonstrated by the increased ga2dh mRNA abundance, enzyme activity, and 2KGA production when the ga2dh gene was overexpressed using these vectors. Among the obtained constructs, G. oxidans/pBBR-3510-ga2dh displayed the highest oxidative activity toward gluconic acid (GA). In a batch biotransformation process, the G. oxidans/pBBR-3510-ga2dh strain exhibited 2KGA productivity (0.63 g/g CWW/h) higher than that obtained using strain G. oxidans/pBBR-ga2dh (0.40 g/g CWW/h). When sufficient oxygen was supplied during the biotransformation, up to 480 g/L GA was exhausted in 45 h by the G. oxidans/pBBR-3510-ga2dh strain and approximately 486 g/L 2KGA was produced, generating the productivity of 0.54 g/g CWW/h.

A novel pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent 2-keto-D-glucose dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas aureofaciens.

A gene encoding an enzyme similar to a pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-dependent sugar dehydrogenase from filamentous fungi, which belongs to new auxiliary activities (AA) family 12 in the CAZy database, was cloned from Pseudomonas aureofaciens. The deduced amino acid sequence of the cloned enzyme showed only low homology to previously characterized PQQ-dependent enzymes, and multiple-sequence alignment analysis showed that the enzyme lacks one of the three conserved arginine residues that function as PQQ-binding residues in known PQQ-dependent enzymes. The recombinant enzyme was heterologously expressed in an Escherichia coli expression system for further characterization. The UV-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectrum of the oxidized form of the holoenzyme, prepared by incubating the apoenzyme with PQQ and CaCl2, revealed a broad peak at approximately 350 nm, indicating that the enzyme binds PQQ. With the addition of 2-keto-d-glucose (2KG) to the holoenzyme solution, a sharp peak appeared at 331 nm, attributed to the reduction of PQQ bound to the enzyme, whereas no effect was observed upon 2KG addition to authentic PQQ. Enzymatic assay showed that the recombinant enzyme specifically reacted with 2KG in the presence of an appropriate electron acceptor, such as 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol, when PQQ and CaCl2 were added. (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) analysis of reaction products revealed 2-keto-d-gluconic acid (2KGA) as the main product, clearly indicating that the recombinant enzyme oxidizes the C-1 position of 2KG. Therefore, the enzyme was identified as a PQQ-dependent 2KG dehydrogenase (Pa2KGDH). Considering the high substrate specificity, the physiological function of Pa2KGDH may be for production of 2KGA.

Non-sterile and buffer-free bioconversion of glucose to 2-keto-gluconic acid by using Pseudomonas fluorescens AR4 free resting cells

A non-sterile and buffer-free 2-keto-gluconic acid (2KGA) production method was proposed by using resting cells from an industrial strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens AR4. 2KGA achieved a maximum production performance of 195.00g/L, which corresponded to 3.05g/Lh of total productivity and 1.07g/g of yield under optimal conditions, including resting cell aged 20h, a cell concentration of 3.0g/L, a reaction temperature of 30°C, a glucose concentration of 181.82g/L, and a reaction volume of 20mL during the 64-h bioconversion process. P. fluorescens AR4 resting cells showed stable bioconversion activity after reuse 3 times or storage for less than 28 d at 4°C. These findings suggested that the proposed non-sterile and buffer-free bioconversion of glucose to 2KGA using P. fluorescens AR4 resting cells had remarkable advantages, including ease handling and low cost, and they are a potent application for industrial production of 2KGA.

Purification and enzymatic characterization of membrane-bound d-gluconate dehydrogenase from Arthrobacter globiformis

Arthrobacter globiformis C224 is an industrial 2-keto-gluconic acid (2KGA) producer and currently used for erythorbic acid production in China. In the present study, a membrane-bound gluconate dehydrogenase (GADH) with specific activity of 326.06U/mg and purification fold of 412 was purified from A. globiformis using a five-step procedure including ultrasonication, phase separation with Triton X-114, ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-sepharose fast flow and hydroxyapatite column chromatography. The GADH was identified as to be flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent and consisted of three subunits with molecular mass of 66,000Da, 44,000Da and 23,000Da. The optimal pH and temperature of A. globiformis GADH were 5.0 and 40°C, respectively. It had the stable activity at pH of 5.0–7.0 or below 50°C, and the strict substrate specificity for d-gluconate with the Km of 3.15mmolL−1, 1.04mmolL−1 at pH 5.0 and pH 6.0, respectively. The GADH activity also was significantly influenced by metal ions, organic solvents, and organic acids. Our study will benefit for better understanding of 2KGA production process by A. globiformis C224.

Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Experimental Evolution of the Bacillus cereus-Ketogulonicigenium vulgare Co-Culture

The microbial co-culture system composing of Ketogulonicigenium vulgare and Bacillus cereus was widely adopted in industry for the production of 2-keto-gulonic acid (2-KGA), the precursor of vitamin C. We found serial subcultivation of the co-culture could enhance the yield of 2-KGA by 16% in comparison to that of the ancestral co-culture. To elucidate the evolutionary dynamics and interaction mechanisms of the two microbes, we performed iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analyses of the pure cultures of K. vulgare, B. cereus and their co-culture during serial subcultivation. Hierarchy cluster analyses of the proteomic data showed that the expression level of a number of crucial proteins associated with sorbose conversion and oligopeptide transport was significantly enhanced by the experimental evolution. In particular, the expression level of sorbose/sorbosone dehydrogenase was enhanced in the evolved K. vulgare, while the expression level of InhA and the transport efficiency of oligopeptides were increased in the evolved B. cereus. The decreased sporulating protein expression and increased peptide transporter expression observed in evolved B. cereus, together with the increased amino acids synthesis in evolved K. vulgare suggested that serial subcultivation result in enhanced synergistic cooperation between K. vulgare and B. cereus, enabling an increased production of 2-KGA.

Continuous conversion of rice starch hydrolysate to 2-keto-D-gluconic acid by Arthrobacter globiformis C224

A continuous conversion process of rice starch hydrolysate to 2-keto-D-gluconic acid (2KGA) by Arthrobacter globiformis C224 was developed. Its feasibility for industrial application was also evaluated. Results showed that the initial cell concentration exceeding 1.25 g/L met the continuous 2KGA production at a stable dilution rate and media composition, while the dilution rate and feeding glucose concentration had a significant effect on 2KGA production performance. The optimal operating parameters were obtained as: 0.090/h of dilution rate and 171.0 g/L of feeding glucose concentration. Under these conditions, the steady state had a produced 2KGA concentration of 124.74 g/L, average volumetric productivity of 11.23 g/L/h, and yield of 0.97 g/g. In conclusion, continuous 2KGA production by the A. globiformis C224 strain would be a superior industrial process for the production of 2KGA in terms of its high 2KGA productivity and yield.

English

It is well known that Ketogulonicigenium vulgare Y25 could effectively oxidize L-sorbose to 2-keto-L-gulonic acid (2KGA), an industrial precursor of vitamin C. There in, L-sorbose dehydrogenase is one of the key enzymes responsible for the production of 2KGA. From this organism, the coding region of sdh gene was cloned into pET22b plasmid and its transcription product was overexpressed. This procedure allowed purification of L-sorbose dehydrogenase and production of polyclonal antibodies. In Western blot assays, the antibodies gave a positive reaction against bacteria protein extract and purified L-sorbose dehydrogenase. The molecular mass of the enzyme was 60532 Da, and the N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined to be QTAIT. The Native-PAGE and resting-cell reaction assay showed that purified L-sorbose dehydrogenase could convert L-sorbose to 2KGA, and PQQ was found to be indispensable for its activity as prosthetic group. The enzyme showed broad substrates specificity and the Km value for L-sorbose and 1-propanol was 21.9 mM and 0.13 mM, respectively. The optimum pH of the enzyme activity was 8.0, and the optimum temperature was 35°C. The activity of the L-sorbose dehydrogenase was greatly stimulated by Ca2+ and strongly inhibited by Co2+ and Cu2+. The results obtained from the present study showed that a PQQ-dependent L-sorbose dehydrogenase could oxidize L-sorbose into 2-keto-L-gulonic acid in vitro.   Key words: Ketogulonicigenium vulgare, 2-keto-L-gulonic acid, L-sorbose dehydrogenase, quinoprotein.

Continuous 2-keto-gluconic acid (2KGA) production from corn starch hydrolysate by Pseudomonas fluorescens AR4

A continuous fermentation process for 2-keto-gluconic acid (2KGA) production from cheap raw material corn starch hydrolysate was developed using the strain Pseudomonas fluorescens AR4. The dilution rate and feeding glucose concentration had a significant effect on the cell concentrations, glucose utilization and 2KGA production performance. The optimal operating factors were obtained as: 0.065h−1 of dilution rate, 180g/L of feeding glucose concentration, and 16h of batch fermentation time as the starting point. Under these conditions, the steady state had the 135.92g/L of produced 2KGA concentration, 8.83g/L.h of average volumetric productivity, and 0.9510g/g of yield. In conclusion, the proposed efficient and stable continuous fermentation process for 2KGA production by the strain P. fluorescens AR4 is potentially competitive for industrial production from corn starch hydrolysate in terms of 2KGA productivity and yield.