55 research outputs found
Abolishment of morphology‑based taxa and change to binomial species names: 2022 taxonomy update of the ICTV bacterial viruses subcommittee
This article summarises the activities of the Bacterial Viruses Subcommittee of the International Committee on Taxonomy
of Viruses for the period of March 2021−March 2022. We provide an overview of the new taxa proposed in 2021, approved
by the Executive Committee, and ratifed by vote in 2022. Signifcant changes to the taxonomy of bacterial viruses were
introduced: the paraphyletic morphological families Podoviridae, Siphoviridae, and Myoviridae as well as the order Caudovirales were abolished, and a binomial system of nomenclature for species was established. In addition, one order, 22
families, 30 subfamilies, 321 genera, and 862 species were newly created, promoted, or moved
Isolation and characterization of lytic proteus virus 309
Proteus mirabilis is frequently associated with complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) and
is the main cause of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). Treatment of such infections
is complicated and challenging due to the biofilm forming abilities of P. mirabilis. If neglected or
mistreated, infections may lead to life-threating conditions such as cystitis, pyelonephritis, kidney
failure, and bacteremia that may progress to urosepsis. Treatment with antibiotics, especially in
cases of recurring and persistent infections, leads to the development of resistant strains. Recent
insights into phage therapy and using phages to coat catheters have been evaluated with many
studies showing promising results
Characterization of a highly xylose tolerant β-xylosidase isolated from high temperature horse manure compost
: There is a continued need for improved enzymes for industry. β-xylosidases are enzymes employed in
a variety of industries and although many wild-type and engineered variants have been described, enzymes that are
highly tolerant of the products produced by catalysis are not readily available and the fundamental mechanisms of
tolerance are not well understood.: Screening of a metagenomic library constructed of mDNA isolated from horse manure compost for
β-xylosidase activity identifed 26 positive hits. The fosmid clones were sequenced and bioinformatic analysis performed to identity putative β-xylosidases. Based on the novelty of its amino acid sequence and potential thermostability one enzyme (XylP81) was selected for expression and further characterization. XylP81 belongs to the family 39
β-xylosidases, a comparatively rarely found and characterized GH family. The enzyme displayed biochemical characteristics (KM—5.3 mM; Vmax—122 U/mg; kcat—107; Topt—50 °C; pHopt—6) comparable to previously characterized glycoside hydrolase family 39 (GH39) β-xylosidases and despite nucleotide identity to thermophilic species, the enzyme
displayed only moderate thermostability with a half-life of 32 min at 60 °C. Apart from acting on substrates predicted
for β-xylosidase (xylobiose and 4-nitrophenyl-β-D-xylopyranoside) the enzyme also displayed measurable α-Larabainofuranosidase, β-galactosidase and β-glucosidase activity. A remarkable feature of this enzyme is its ability to
tolerate high concentrations of xylose with a Ki
of 1.33 M, a feature that is highly desirable for commercial applications
Metaviromics of Namib desert salt pans : a novel lineage of haloarchaeal salterproviruses and a rich source of ssDNA viruses
Viral communities of two different salt pans located in the Namib Desert, Hosabes and
Eisfeld, were investigated using a combination of multiple displacement amplification of metaviromic
DNA and deep sequencing, and provided comprehensive sequence data on both ssDNA and dsDNA
viral community structures. Read and contig annotations through online pipelines showed that
the salt pans harbored largely unknown viral communities. Through network analysis, we were
able to assign a large portion of the unknown reads to a diverse group of ssDNA viruses. Contigs
belonging to the subfamily Gokushovirinae were common in both environmental datasets. Analysis
of haloarchaeal virus contigs revealed the presence of three contigs distantly related with His1,
indicating a possible new lineage of salterproviruses in the Hosabes playa. Based on viral richness
and read mapping analyses, the salt pan metaviromes were novel and most closely related to each
other while showing a low degree of overlap with other environmental viromes.National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa, Claude Leon Foundation and the Vice Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program of the University of Pretoria.http://www.mdpi.com/journal/viruseshb201
Identification and characterization of a novel Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius bacteriophage, GVE3
The study of extremophilicphages may reveal new phage families as well as different mechanisms of infection,
propagation and lysis to those found in phages from temperate environments. We describe a novel siphovirus,
GVE3, that infects the thermophileGeobacillusthermoglucosidasius. The genome size is 141298 bp(G+C
29.6%) making it the largest Geobacillusspp infecting phage known.GVE3 appears to be most closely related to
the recently described Bacillus anthracis phage vB_BanS_Tsamsa, rather thanGeobacillus infecting phages
described thus far.Tetranucleotide usage deviation analysis supports this relationship, showing that the GVE3
genome sequence correlates best with B. anthracis and Bacillus cereus genome sequences, rather than
Geobacillusspp genome sequences.National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africahttp://link.springer.com/journal/7052016-09-30hb201
Characterisation of three novel α-L-arabinofuranosidases from a compost metagenome
Background: The importance of the accessory enzymes such as α-L-arabinofuranosidases (AFases) in synergistic interactions within cellulolytic mixtures has introduced a paradigm shift in the search for hydrolytic enzymes. The aim of this study was to characterize novel AFase genes encoding enzymes with differing temperature optima and thermostabilities for use in hydrolytic cocktails.
Results
Three fosmids, pFos-H4, E3 and D3 were selected from the cloned metagenome of high temperature compost, expressed in Escherichia coli and subsequently purified to homogeneity from cell lysate. All the AFases were clustered within the GH51 AFase family and shared a homo-hexameric structure. Both AFase-E3 and H4 showed optimal activity at 60 °C while AFase-D3 had unique properties as it showed optimal activity at 25 °C as well as the ability to maintain substantial activity at temperatures as high as 90 °C. However, AFase-E3 was the most thermostable amongst the three AFases showing full activity even at 70 °C. The maximum activity was observed at a pH profile between pH 4.0–6.0 for all three AFases with optimal activity for AFase H4, D3 and E3 at pH 5.0, 4.5 and 4.0, respectively. All the AFases showed KM range between 0.31 mM and 0.43 mM, Kcat range between 131 s− 1 and 219 s− 1 and the specific activity for AFase-H4, AFases-E3 and was 143, 228 and 175 U/mg, respectively. AFases-E3 and D3 displayed activities against pNP-β-L-arabinopyranoside and pNP-β-L-mannopyranoside respectively, and both hydrolysed pNP-β-D-glucopyranoside.
Conclusion
All three AFases displayed different biochemical characteristics despite all showing conserved overall structural similarity with typical domains of AFases belonging to GH51 family. The hydrolysis of cellobiose by a GH51 family AFase is demonstrated for the first time in this study
Engineering pyruvate decarboxylase-mediated ethanol production in the thermophilic host Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius
This study reports the expression, purification and kinetic characterization of a PDC from
Gluconobacter oxydans. Kinetic analyses showed the enzyme to have high affinity for pyruvate
(120μM at pH 5), high catalytic efficiency (4.75 x 105 M-1s-1 at pH 5), a pHopt of approximately
4.5 and an in vitro temperature optimum at approximately 55°C (the highest yet reported for a
bacterial PDC). Due to good in vitro thermostablity (approximately 40% enzyme activity
retained after 30 minutes at 65°C) this PDC was considered to be a suitable candidate for
heterologous expression in the thermophile Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius. Initial studies
using a variety of methods failed to detect activity at any growth temperature. However, the
application of codon harmonization (i.e., mimicry of the heterogeneous host’s transcription and
translational rhythm) yielded a protein that was fully functional in the thermophilic strain at
45°C (as determined by enzyme activity, Western blot, mRNA detection and ethanol productivity). Here we describe the successful expression of PDC in a true thermophile. Yields
as high as 0.35 g/g ±0.04 ethanol per gram of glucose consumed were detected, highly
competitive to those reported in ethanologenic thermophilic mutants. Although activities could
not be detected at temperatures approaching the growth optimum for the strain, this study
highlights that the possibility that previously unsuccessful expression of pdcs in Geobacillus spp.
may be the result of ineffective transcription / translation coupling.National Research Foundation South Africahttp://link.springer.com/journal/253hb201
Metagenomic analysis of the viral community in Namib desert hypoliths
Hypolithic microbial communities are specialized desert communities inhabiting the underside of translucent rocks where they are sheltered from harsh environmental conditions. Here, we present the first study of the viral fraction of these communities isolated from the hyperarid Namib Desert (coastal South Western Africa). Using next-generation sequencing of the isolated viral fraction, the diversity and taxonomic composition of hypolith communities was mapped and a functional assessment of the sequences determined. Phylotypic analysis showed that bacteriophages belonging to the order Caudovirales with the family Siphoviridae were most prevalent. A major fraction of phage types was linked by database homologies to Bacillus or Geobacillus sp. as a host. Phylogenetic analyses of terL and phoH marker genes indicated that many of the sequences were novel and distinct from known isolates and environments, an observation supported by the class distribution of identified ribonucleotide reductases. The composition of the viral hypolith fraction was not completely consistent with Namib hypolith phylotypic surveys, in which the cyanobacterial genus Chroococcidiopsis was found to be dominant. This could be attributed to lacking sequence information about hypolith viruses/bacteria in public databases or the hypothesis that hypolithic communities actively recruit viruses from the surrounding open soil in which Bacillaceae-infecting phages are more commonly found.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1462-2920hb201
Taxonomy of prokaryotic viruses : 2017 update from the ICTV Bacterial and Archaeal Viruses Subcommittee
Peer reviewe
Structure and functional characterization of pyruvate decarboxylase from Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus
BACKGROUND: Bacterial pyruvate decarboxylases (PDC) are rare. Their role in ethanol production and in bacterially
mediated ethanologenic processes has, however, ensured a continued and growing interest. PDCs from Zymomonas
mobilis (ZmPDC), Zymobacter palmae (ZpPDC) and Sarcina ventriculi (SvPDC) have been characterized and ZmPDC
has been produced successfully in a range of heterologous hosts. PDCs from the Acetobacteraceae and their role in
metabolism have not been characterized to the same extent. Examples include Gluconobacter oxydans (GoPDC),
G. diazotrophicus (GdPDC) and Acetobacter pasteutrianus (ApPDC). All of these organisms are of commercial importance.
RESULTS: This study reports the kinetic characterization and the crystal structure of a PDC from Gluconacetobacter
diazotrophicus (GdPDC). Enzyme kinetic analysis indicates a high affinity for pyruvate (KM 0.06 mM at pH 5), high
catalytic efficiencies, pHopt of 5.5 and Topt at 45 degrees C. The enzyme is not thermostable (T of
18 minutes at 60 degrees C) and the calculated number of bonds between monomers and dimers do not give clear indications
for the relatively lower thermostability compared to other PDCs. The structure is highly similar to those described for Z.
mobilis (ZmPDC) and A. pasteurianus PDC (ApPDC) with a rmsd value of 0.57 A for C? when comparing GdPDC to that
of ApPDC. Indole-3-pyruvate does not serve as a substrate for the enzyme. Structural differences occur in two loci,
involving the regions Thr341 to Thr352 and Asn499 to Asp503.
CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of the PDC from G. diazotrophicus (PAL5) and lays the groundwork for future
research into its role in this endosymbiont. The crystal structure of GdPDC indicates the enzyme to be evolutionarily
closely related to homologues from Z. mobilis and A. pasteurianus and suggests strong selective pressure to keep the
enzyme characteristics in a narrow range. The pH optimum together with reduced thermostability likely reflect the
host organisms niche and conditions under which these properties have been naturally selected for. The lack of activity
on indole-3-pyruvate excludes this decarboxylase as the enzyme responsible for indole acetic acid production in
G. diazotrophicus.IS
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