Asymmetric reduction of ketones using recombinant E. coli cells that produce a versatile carbonyl reductase with high enantioselectivity and broad substrate specificity

The gene encoding a versatile biocatalyst that shows high enantioselectivity for a variety of ketones, SCR (Saccharomyces cerevisiae carbonyl reductase), has been identified, cloned, and expressed in Escherichia coli. Two types of expression systems with high NADPH-regenerating capacities have been constructed. One is the tandem system, where the genes encoding SCR and GDH (glucose dehydrogenase) are located in the same plasmid, and the other is the two-plasmid system, where each of the SCR and GDH genes is located in separate plasmids that can coexist in one E. coli cell. Asymmetric reduction of ketones with the recombinant E. coli cells gave synthetically useful 20 alcohols, 11 of which were enantiomerically pure. The productivity of one of these products was as high as 41 g/L.     

Effect of biotransformation on multispecies plume evolution and natural attenuation

Biological transformation of volatile organic compounds is one of the key factors that influence contaminant-plume evolution and thus natural attenuation. In this study we investigate the effect of biological transformation on the transport of contaminants in the aqueous and gaseous phases. The analysis includes the study of the effect of density-driven advection of contaminants in the gaseous phase on multiphase and multispecies flow, fate and transport modeling in the subsurface. Trichloroethylene (TCE) and its two byproducts, dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride, are analyzed as the target contaminants. Our results indicate that density-driven advection of the gaseous phase, which is initiated by evaporation of TCE as a nonaqueous phase liquid, increases the downward and also the lateral migration of TCE within the unsaturated zone. This process also influences the location of high-concentration zones of the byproducts of TCE in the unsaturated and the saturated zones. Biotransformation of TCE contributes to the reduction of dissolved TCE plume development as expected. The daughter byproducts, which are introduced into the subsurface system, show distinct transport patterns as they are affected by their independent degradation kinetics and density-driven advection. These observations, which are based on our simulation results for biotransformation and transport of TCE and its byproducts, are useful in evaluating the natural attenuation processes, its potential health hazards and also the evaluation of potential plume development at contaminated sites.     

Observation of baker’s yeast strains used in biotransformation by atomic force microscopy

Different strains of baker’s yeast(Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were imaged with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The images of uncoated and nonfixed samples were reproducible with high-constrast and nanometer-resolution. Molecules from the polysaccharide surface of the cell wall were pictured and the distance of atoms was measured. The preparation of samples was easy, suggesting that AFM is a useful tool in this type of analyses.     

Reduction of 4-nitrophenol catalyzed by nitroreductase

The reduction of 4-nitrophenol catalyzed by nitroreductase in the presence of NADH was investigated in this paper.4-Amino- phenol and 4-bydroxylamino-phenol were found in the reductive products.The relationship between reaction time and the reductive ratio were studied.The similar reducing ratios of 4-nitrophenol were obtained under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.The results indicated that an oxygen-insensitive reaction was proceeded in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol and nitroreductase was an oxygen- insensitive enzyme.The reductive products of 4-nitrophenol were determined by HPLC and MS.     

Two new compounds derived from bufalin

The biotransformation of bufalin by cell suspension cultures of Platycodon grandiflorus was investigated and two new biotransformed products were obtained,which was 3-epi-telocinobufagin and 3-epi-bufalin-3-O-β-D-glucoside.     

Biotransformation of (−)β-pinene by Aspergillus niger ATCC 9642

The main objective of this work was to investigate the biotransformations of (−)α-pinene, (−)β-pinene, and (+) limonene by Aspergillus niger ATCC 9642. The culture conditions involved—concentration of cosolvent (EtOH), substrate applied, and sequential addition of substrates—were investigated. Adaptation of the precultures with small amounts of substrate was also studied. The experiments were performed in conical flasks with liquid cultures. This strain of A. niger was able to convert only (−)β-pinene into α-terpineol. An optimum conversion of (−)β-pinene into α-terpineol of about 4% was obtained when the substrate was applied as a diluted solution in EtOH and sequential addition of substrate was used.     

New cytotoxic bufadienolides from the biotransformation of resibufogenin by Mucor polymorphosporus

Resibufogenin is a cytotoxic steroid isolated from the Chinese drug ChanSu. The biotransformation of resibufogenin by Mucor polymorphosporus afforded 22 products, and 15 of them were new. The transformation reactions involved hydroxylations at C-1β, C-5, C-7α, C-7β, C-12α, C-12β and C-16α, as well as epimerization or dehydrogenation of 3-OH. Hydroxylations at C-12α, C-12β and C-16α were the major reactions, each giving products in >5% yields, whereas the other products were obtained in fairly low yields. Some of the products showed decreased but still potent cytotoxicities. This investigation provided a useful approach to prepare new bufadienolides and most of them were difficult to obtain by chemical means.     

Novel biotransformation of pentacyclic triterpenoid acids by Nocardia sp. NRRL 5646

Six pentacyclic triterpene acids, ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, betulinic acid, 23-hydroxybetulinic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid, and senegenin, were metabolized by the microbe Nocardia sp. NRRL 5646 to selectively furnish their corresponding 28-methyl esters. Notably, ursolic acid (1) was converted to oleanolic acid methyl ester (4) via two intermediates, oleanolic acid (2), and ursolic acid methyl ester (3), which are formed by participation of ‘retro-biosynthetic’ methyl migration from C-19 to C-20. Senegenin (11) was selectively converted to a nortriterpene methyl ester, senegenic acid methyl ester (12), via an unprecedented C-C bond cleavage. The stereochemical assignments of compounds 11 and 12 were made unambiguously for the first time using 2D NMR spectroscopy.     

哈茨木霉CGMCC 2979生物转化栀子中的京尼平苷制备京尼平

采用微生物直接转化药材的方法,将栀子中的京尼平苷转化为京尼平,无需糖苷酶和京尼平苷的制备. 在培养温度为30 ℃,pH 6.1以及栀子载量为80 g/L的条件下,48 h京尼平苷的转化率为97.8%. 转化后的京尼平通过XAD-16N大孔树脂偶联硅胶层析的方法,制备得到纯度大于95%的京尼平,收率为62.3%. 在催化、转化机制研究中,从哈茨木霉CGMCC2979的发酵液中分离得到了分子量为74.4 kDa的京尼平苷β-葡萄糖苷酶,该酶最优催化条件为50 ℃和pH 4.0-5.0. K_m和V_max分别为3.6 mmol/L和775 μmol/h/mg蛋白. 本文提供了一种简便、高效制备京尼平的新方法.     

Environmental fate processes and biochemical transformations of chiral emerging organic pollutants

This review highlights the analytical chemistry, environmental occurrence, and environmental fate of individual stereoisomers of chiral emerging pollutants, which are modern current-use chemicals of growing environmental concern due to their presence in the environment and potential for deleterious effects. Comparatively little is known about individual stereoisomers of pollutants, which can have differential toxicological effects and can be tracers of biochemical weathering in the environment. Stereoisomers are resolved by gas chromatography (GC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and capillary electrophoresis (CE). Separation techniques in environmental analysis are typically coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), as these provide the sensitivity and selectivity needed. The enantiomer composition of phenoxyalkanoic and acetamide herbicides, organophosphorus and pyrethroid pesticides, chiral polychlorinated biphenyl metabolites, synthetic musks, hexabromocyclododecane, and pharmaceuticals in the environment show species-dependent enantioselectivity from biotransformation and other biologically mediated processes affecting enantiomers differentially. These enantiomer compositions are useful in detecting biologically mediated environmental reactions, apportioning sources of pollutants, and gaining insight into the biochemical fate of chiral pollutants in the environment, which are needed for accurate risk assessment of such chemicals.