Bacillus sp. TSH1 is a butanol-producing microorganism newly isolated in our laboratory; it can grow and ferment under facultative anaerobic conditions, while sharing similar fermentation pathways and products with Clostridium acetobutylicum. To illustrate the relationships between the products and the enzyme activities in Bacillus sp. TSH1, key butanol- and ethanol-forming enzymes were studied, including butyraldehyde dehydrogenase, butanol dehydrogenase and alcohol dehydrogenase. The activities of the three enzymes increased rapidly after the initiation of fermentation. Activities of three enzymes peaked before 21 h, and simultaneously, product concentrations also began to increase gradually. The maximum activity of alcohol dehydrogenase was 0.054 U/mg at 12 h, butyraldehyde dehydrogenase 0.035 U/mg at 21 h and butanol dehydrogenase 0.055 U/mg at 15 h. The enzyme activities then decreased, but remained constant at a low level after 24 h, while the concentrations of butanol, acetone, and ethanol continued increasing until the end of the fermentation. The results will attribute to the understanding of the butanol metabolic mechanism, and provide a reference for further study of a facultative Bacillus metabolic pathway.
Alcohol Dehydrogenase ; metabolism ; Alcohol Oxidoreductases ; metabolism ; Aldehyde Oxidoreductases ; metabolism ; Anaerobiosis ; Bacillus ; classification ; genetics ; metabolism ; Butanols ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways

Methanogens are unique microorganisms for methane production and the main contributor of the biogenic methane in atmosphere. Methyl-coenzyme M reductase (Mcr) catalyzes the last step of methane production in methanogenesis and the first step of methane activation in anaerobic oxidation of methane. The genes encoding this enzyme are highly conserved and are widely used as a marker in the identification and phylogenetic study of archaea. There has been a longstanding interest in its unique cofactor F430 and the underpinning mechanisms of enzymatic cleavage of alkane C-H bond. The recent breakthroughs of high-resolution protein and catalytic-transition-state structures further advanced the structure-function study of Mcr. In particular, the recent discovery of methyl-coenzyme M reductase-like (Mcr-like) enzymes that activates the anaerobic degradation of non-methane alkanes has attracted much interest in the molecular mechanisms of C-H activation without oxygen. This review summarized the advances on function-structure-mechanism study of Mcr/Mcr-like enzymes. Additionally, future directions in anaerobic oxidation of alkanes and greenhouse-gas control using Mcr/Mcr-like enzymes were proposed.
Archaea/metabolism* ; Methane ; Oxidation-Reduction ; Oxidoreductases/metabolism* ; Phylogeny

Humans ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Oxidoreductases ; metabolism ; physiology

Vitamin C is an essential vitamin for human beings. It has a huge market in the fields of food and pharmaceuticals. 2-keto-L-gulonic acid is an important precursor to produce vitamin C by microbial fermentation in industrial. In microbial fermentations, the L-sorbose pathway and the D-gluconate pathway have been the focus of research because of high yield. This article aims at stating recent research progress in dehydrogenases related to biosynthesis of vitamin C in the L-sorbose pathway and the D-gluconate pathway. The properties of dehydrogenase in terms of localization, substrate specificity, cofactors, and electron transport carrier are elaborated. And then, the main problems and strategies are reviewed in the L-sorbose pathway and in the D-gluconate pathway. Finally, future research on the dehydrogenases in the biosynthesis of vitamin C through L-sorbose pathway and D-gluconate pathway is discussed.
Ascorbic Acid/biosynthesis* ; Fermentation ; Gluconates ; Oxidoreductases/metabolism* ; Sorbose

OBJECTIVE: To carry out Sanger sequencing for MMACHC gene variants among 65 Chinese pedigrees affected with combined methylmalonic aciduria and homocysteinemia, and summarize their genetic and clinical characteristics and prognosis. METHODS: Clinical characteristics of the 65 children identified with Methylmalonic acidemia and homocysteinemia at the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University (Zhengzhou Children's Hospital) from April 2017 to April 2022 were selected as the study subjects. Potential variants of the MMACHC gene were detected by direct sequencing of the PCR products. RESULTS: The median age of the 65 children was 3 months (14 days to 17 years old). These included 28 cases (43.08%) from neonatal screening, 11 cases (16.92%) with a history of jaundice, and 9 cases (13.85%) with various degrees of anemia. The main clinical symptoms included development delay, slow growth, epilepsy, hydrocephalus, lethargy, feeding difficulty, regression or decline in motor ability, recurrent respiratory infections, anemia, jaundice, respiratory and heart failures, hydrocephalus, limb weakness, and hypertension. Blood and urine tandem mass spectrometry screening has revealed increase of methylmalonic acid, propionyl carnitine, propionyl carnitine/acetylcarnitine ratio, and propionyl carnitine/free carnitine ratio to various extents, and blood homocysteine was increased in all patients. The detection rate of genetic variants was 98.46% (128/130), and in total 22 types of MMACHC gene variants were detected. The most common ones have included c.609G>A (W203X) (58/128), c.658-660del (K220del) (19/128), and c.80A>G (Q27A) (16/128). Two novel variants have been identified, namely c.565C>T (p.R189C) and c.624_ 625delTG (p.A208Afs), which were respectively predicted as likely pathogenic (PM2_Supporting+PM3+PP2+PP3) and pathogenic (PVS1+PM2_Supporting+PM3+PP2) based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG). Exon 4 had the highest frequency for the detection. CONCLUSION Identification of MMACHC gene variants has confirmed the diagnosis in the children, among which the c.609G>A variant has the highest frequency. Discovery of the new variants has enriched the mutational spectrum of the MMACHC gene.
Humans ; Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors/genetics* ; Hydrocephalus ; Oxidoreductases

We produced α-ketoglutaric acid (α-KG) from L-glutamic acid, using enzymatic transformation approach with L-glutamate oxidase (LGOX). First, wild strain Streptomyces sp. FMME066 was mutated with NTG, a genetically stable mutant Streptomyces sp. FMME067 was obtained. Under the optimal nutrition conditions with fructose 10 g/L, peptone 7.5 g/L, KH2PO4 1 g/L and CaCl2 0.05 g/L, the maximum LGOX activity reached 0.14 U/mL. The LGOX was stable to pH and temperature, and Mn2+ had a stimulating effect. Finally, after 24 h enzymatic conversion under the optimal conditions, the maximum titer of α-KG reached 38.1 g/L from 47 g/L L-glutamic acid. Enzymatic transformation by LGOX is a potential approach for α-KG production.
Amino Acid Oxidoreductases ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Glutamic Acid ; metabolism ; Ketoglutaric Acids ; metabolism ; Streptomyces ; genetics ; metabolism

We constructed plasmid pMTac to overexpress 3-ketosteroid-Δ1-dehydrogenase (KSDD) in Mycobacterium neoaurum JC-12 for improving androst-1,4-diene-3,17-dione (ADD) production. To construct pMTac, pACE promoter on pMF41 was replaced by tac promoter, and then four recombinants were constructed, which were M. neoaurum JC-12/pMF41-gfp, M. neoaurum JC-12/pMTac-gfp, M. neoaurum JC-12/pMF41-ksdd and M. neoaurum JC-12/pMTac-ksdd. Fluorescence detection results show that much more green fluorescent protein (GFP) was expressed in M. neoaurum JC-12/pMTac-ksdd than M. neoaurum JC-12/pMF41-ksdd. The activity of KSDD was 2.41 U/mg in M. neoaurum JC-12/pMTac-ksdd, 6.53-fold as that of M. neoaurum JC-12 and 4.36-fold as that of M. neoaurum JC-12/pMF41-ksdd. In shake flask fermentation, ADD production of M. neoaurum JC-12/pMTac-ksdd was 5.94 g/L, increased about 22.2% compared to the original strain M. neoaurum JC-12 and 12.7% to M. neoaurum JC-12/pMF41-ksdd. AD (4-androstene-3,17-dione) production of JC-12/pMTac-ksdd was 0.17 g/L, decreased 81.5% compared to M. neoaurum JC-12 and 71.2% to M neoaurum JC-12/pMF41-ksdd. In the 5 L fermenter, 20 g/L phytosterols was used as substrate, ADD production of M. neoaurum JC-12/pMTac-ksdd was improved to 10.28 g/L. pMTac is favorable for expressing KSDD in M. neoaurum JC-12, and overexpression of KSDD has beneficial effect on ADD producing, and it is the highest level ever reported using fermentation method in M. neoaurum.
Androstadienes ; metabolism ; Fermentation ; Industrial Microbiology ; Mycobacterium ; Oxidoreductases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Phytosterols ; metabolism ; Plasmids

To examine the substrate specificity of carotenoid 3',4'-desaturase (DR2250) from Deinococcus radiodurans, we amplified the dr2250 gene by using PCR methods. The PCR products were digested by Hind III-BamH I and ligated into the vector pUC19, yielding recombinant vector pUC-CRTD. We analyzed the carotenoids of E. coli transformants containing pACCRT-EBI(Eu) and (or) pRK-CRTC and (or) pUC-CRTD. Our results demonstrated that DR2250 had substrate specificity on the carotenoids with hydroxyl group at C1 (1').
Carotenoids ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; metabolism ; Deinococcus ; enzymology ; genetics ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Oxidoreductases ; metabolism ; Substrate Specificity

NAD(P)(H)-dependent oxidoreductase catalyzes the reduction of ketones or aldehydes to prepare a wide variety of valuable chiral alcohols or amines. However, expensive cofactors are absolutely required for the biocatalytic processes with oxidoreductases, which severely hinder their industrial applications. Consequently, the issue on reducing cofactor costs has become one of the major focuses in the field of biocatalysis. With the substantial development in recent years, a number of strategies have been proposed and implemented to solve the cofactor issues in the oxidoreductase catalyzed biocatalysis, including the establishment of cofactor regeneration system, the improvement of endogenous cofactor availability via metabolic engineering and the development of biomimetic agents to replace cofactors. In this review, recent trends and advances on these strategies are presented, and respective advantages and shortcomings are also discussed with a number of examples.
Alcohols ; metabolism ; Biocatalysis ; Ketones ; metabolism ; Metabolic Engineering ; NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases ; metabolism ; Oxidation-Reduction

BACKGROUNDRetinoic acid (RA) is a potent signaling molecule that plays pleiotropic roles in patterning, morphogenesis, and organogenesis during embryonic development. The synthesis from retinol (vitamin A) to retinoic acid requires two sequential oxidative steps. The first step involves the oxidation of retinol to retinal through the action of retinol dehydrogenases. Retinol dehydrogenases1l (RDH1l) is a novel zebrafish retinol dehydrogenase. Herein we investigated the role of zebrafish RDH1l in heart development and cardiac performance in detail.

METHODSRDH1l specific morpholino was used to reduce the function of RDH1l in zebrafish. The gene expressions were observed by using whole mount in situ hybridization. Heart rates were observed and recorded under the microscope from 24 to 72 hours post fertilization (hpf). The cardiac performance was analyzed by measuring ventricular shortening fraction (VSF).

RESULTSThe knock-down of RDH1l led to abnormal neural crest cells migration and reduced numbers of neural crest cells in RDH1l morphant embryos. The reduced numbers of cardiac neural crest cells also can be seen in RDH1l morphant embryos. Furthermore, the morpholino-mediated knock-down of RDH1l resulted in the abnormal heart loop. The left-right determining genes expression pattern was altered in RDH1l morphant embryos. The impaired cardiac performance was observed in RDH1l morphant embryos. Taken together, these data demonstrate that RDH1l is essential for the heart development and cardiac performance in zebrafish.

CONCLUSIONSRDH1l plays a important role in the neural crest cells development, and then ultimately affects the heart loop and cardiac performance. These results show for the first time that an enzyme involved in the retinol to retinaldehyde conversion participate in the heart development and cardiac performance in zebrafish.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Animals ; Animals, Genetically Modified ; Heart ; embryology ; Zebrafish ; Zebrafish Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism