Towards a Synthetic Biology Toolset for Metallocluster Enzymes in Biosynthetic Pathways: What We Know and What We Need

Microbes are routinely engineered to synthesize high-value chemicals from renewable materials through synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. Microbial biosynthesis often relies on expression of heterologous biosynthetic pathways, i.e., enzymes transplanted from foreign organisms. Metallocluster enzymes are one of the most ubiquitous family of enzymes involved in natural product biosynthesis and are of great biotechnological importance. However, the functional expression of recombinant metallocluster enzymes in live cells is often challenging and represents a major bottleneck. The activity of metallocluster enzymes requires essential supporting pathways, involved in protein maturation, electron supply, and/or enzyme stability. Proper function of these supporting pathways involves specific protein–protein interactions that remain poorly characterized and are often overlooked by traditional synthetic biology approaches. Consequently, engineering approaches that focus on enzymatic expression and carbon flux alone often overlook the particular needs of metallocluster enzymes. This review highlights the biotechnological relevance of metallocluster enzymes and discusses novel synthetic biology strategies to advance their industrial application, with a particular focus on iron-sulfur cluster enzymes. Strategies to enable functional heterologous expression and enhance recombinant metallocluster enzyme activity in industrial hosts include: (1) optimizing specific maturation pathways; (2) improving catalytic stability; and (3) enhancing electron transfer. In addition, we suggest future directions for developing microbial cell factories that rely on metallocluster enzyme catalysis.     

微生物肥料对西红花生长及代谢物的影响

在大田条件下,研究了重茬净、微生物菌剂、锦能菌宝、自制活性生物肥料4种不同微生物肥料对西红花产量、代谢物和根际微生物生态的影响。结果表明,与对照组相比,施用微生物肥料后,根际土壤中好酸性的细菌呈减少趋势,而嗜中性或碱性的细菌呈增加趋势,4种微生物肥料均能提高西红花有效球比例,表明增施微生物肥料具有缓解西红花连作障碍的功效。同时,增施重茬净、微生物菌剂、锦能菌宝和自制活性生物肥料分别引起2,3,3和13种代谢物含量上调和2,3,2和4种代谢物含量下调。     

电动生物修复底泥中电场对微生物活性的影响

采用电动生物复合技术修复底泥,探讨了电场对底泥污染物中微生物的生长活性、营养物质的迁移等的影响.实验发现,强电场(3V.cm-1)会降低细菌的活性,而弱电场(1V.cm-1)可激活微生物的活性.相应地,弱电场下的底泥中脱氢酶活性高于强电场下的底泥;电场作用下阳极附近的异养菌生长会受到抑制;较高频率的电极正负极交替有助于消除电场作用对阳极附近异养菌总数的影响.用电动方法向底泥中注入营养物质,发现含氮化合物能在底泥中电动迁移,其中硝酸根的迁移性强于铵盐,而阴极室中磷含量下降,但磷酸根在底泥中未发生迁移.     

硫化锰夹杂溶解和微生物存在对不锈钢管发生点蚀

结合发电厂凝汽器不锈钢管内壁腐蚀部位分布规律和腐蚀外貌特征,分别对腐蚀部位沉积物、内壁蚀孔附近管材成分进行扫描电子显微镜观察和能谱分析,探讨了管材中MnS溶解与微生物对凝汽器不锈钢管腐蚀的电化学反应机理,发现二者在点蚀形成过程中具有协同作用,并在综合分析影响不锈钢腐蚀的各种因素的基础上,提出了不锈钢凝汽器在运行过程中应采取的防护措施。     

The Nitrite Oxidizing Activity of Nitrobacter Strains as a Base of Microbial Biosensor for Nitrite Detection

ABSTRACT

Parameters of three Nitrobacter based sensor models have been studied for the purpose of creation of a nitrite analyzer that could be used for assay of nitroaromatics. It was shown that the sensor based on N. vulgaris strain was most suitable for development of such a device. The sensor possessed high     

Biodegradation of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Films in Natural Environments

Summary: Biodegradation of film specimens from polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) of two types – poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV) – was analysed in different environments: tropical sea waters of the South China Sea (Nha Trang, Vietnam) and soils in the environs of Hanoi (Vietnam), Nha Trang (Vietnam) and Krasnoyarsk (Siberia, Russia). In seawater, the mass loss of the specimens of both types was almost equal. However, in tropical soils, PHB degraded quicker than PHBV. In the Siberian soil, the degradation rate of the PHBV was generally higher than that of PHBV. Analysis of molecular mass of PHA specimens showed its decreasing during biodegradation. In the tropical sea conditions, PHA degrading microorganisms were represented by bacteria of Enterobacter, Bacillus and Gracilibacillus genera. Among PHA degrading bacteria, Burkholderia, Alcaligenes, Bacillus, Mycobacterium and Streptomyces genera were identified in Vietnamese soils, and Variovorax, Stenotrophomonas, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Xanthomonas genera in Siberian soils. Micromycetes of Gongronella, Paecilomyces, Penicillium and Trichoderma genera exhibited PHA degrading activity in Vietnamese soils, and Paecilomyces, Penicillium, Acremonium, Verticillium and Zygosporium genera – in Siberian soils.     

微生物燃料电池

微生物燃料电池 (Microbial Fuel Cells,MFCs) 是一种利用微生物作为催化剂,将燃料中的化学能直接转化为电能的装置。本文首先简要介绍了MFCs 的发展简史和基本原理,针对MFCs 产电性能低的现状,分别从产电微生物、电池结构、质子交换膜(PEM)、电极以及电解液等方面着重综述了近几年有关提高MFCs 产电性能的研究进展。最后介绍了关于MFCs 的另一些有趣的研究方向：植物MFCs,生物阴极MFCs,以及污水脱氮和有毒废水处理。     

Novel Anti‐Microbial Host‐Guest Complexes Based on Cationic β‐Cyclodextrin Polymers and Triclosan/Butylparaben

The preparation of novel cationic β‐cyclodextrin polymers (CPβCDs) and its complexes with butylparaben and triclosan were reported in this paper. FT‐IR and two‐dimensional (2D) ¹H–¹H gradient correlated spectroscopy (gCOSY) NMR spectra confirmed that the antibiotics could be included inside the lipophilic cavities of CPβCDs. The water solubility of the antibiotics was improved significantly after inclusion with CPβCDs. The results also suggest that it was easier for butylparaben, which had relatively small molecular size, to form the complexes with CPβCDs than triclosan. Due to the targeting effect after the inclusion with cationic CPβCDs, the anti‐microbial activity of butylparaben was also enhanced substantially. However, similar improvement was not obvious for triclosan.

     

Thermo-kinetic Investigation of Optimum Growth Temperature of Petroleum Bacteria

The power-time curves of the growth of three strains of petroleum bacteria at different temperatures have been determined. A novel equation of a power-time curve has been proposed in this paper. The general formula to calculate the rate constant of the bacterial growth has been derived. The rate constants of the bacterial growth at different temperatures, the heat production per newly formed bacterium, the bacterial number at the end of the bacterial growth and the deceleration rate constant of the bacterial growth at 50.00°C, have been calculated. The optimum growth temperatures of the three strains have been obtained.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Integrated Adsorption–Photodegradation of Organic Pollutants by Carbon Xerogel/Titania Composites

Recent studies on the removal of pollutants via adsorption include the use of carbon-based adsorbents, due to their high porosity and large surface area; however, such materials lack photoactive properties. This study evaluates the synergistic effect of integrated mesoporous carbon xerogel (derived from resorcinol formaldehyde) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) for combined adsorption and photodegradation application. The complex formed between carbon xerogel and TiO₂ phase was investigated through FTIR, proving the presence of a Ti-O–C chemical linkage. The physicochemical properties of the synthesised adsorbent–photocatalyst were probed using FESEM, BET analysis and UV–Vis analysis. The kinetics, equilibrium adsorption, effect of pH, and effect of adsorbent dosage were investigated. The expansion of the absorbance range to the visible range was verified, and the corresponding band gap evaluated. These properties enabled a visible light response when the system was exposed to visible light post adsorption. Hence, an assistive adsorption–photodegradation phenomenon was successfully executed. The adsorption performance exhibited 85% dye degradation which improved to 99% following photodegradation. Further experiments showed the reduction of microorganisms under visible light, where no microbial colonies were observed after treatment, indicating the potential application of these composite materials.