Purification and characterization of methylamine oxidase induced in Aspergillus niger AKU 3302.
(1/718)
Crude extract of Aspergillus niger AKU 3302 mycelia incubated with methylamine showed a single amine oxidase activity band in a developed polyacrylamide gel that weakly cross-reacted with the antibody against a copper/topa quinone-containing amine oxidase (AO-II) from the same strain induced by n-butylamine. Since the organism cannot grow on methylamine and the already known quinoprotein amine oxidases of the organism cannot catalyze oxidation of methylamine, the organism was forced to produce another enzyme that could oxidize methylamine when the mycelia were incubated with methylamine. The enzyme was separated and purified from the already known two quinoprotein amine oxidases formed in the same mycelia. The purified enzyme showed a sharp symmetric sedimentation peak in analytical ultracentrifugation showing S20,w0 of 6.5s. The molecular mass of 133 kDa estimated by gel chromatography and 66.6 kDa found by SDS-PAGE confirmed the dimeric structure of the enzyme. The purified enzyme was pink in color with an absorption maximum at 494 nm. The enzyme readily oxidized methylamine, n-hexylamine, and n-butylamine, but not benzylamine, histamine, or tyramine, favorite substrates for the already known two quinoprotein amine oxidases. Inactivation by carbonyl reagents and copper chelators suggested the presence of a copper/topa quinone cofactor. Spectrophotometric titration by p-nitrophenylhydrazine showed one reactive carbonyl group per subunit and redox-cyclic quinone staining confirmed the presence of a quinone cofactor. pH-dependent shift of the absorption spectrum of the enzyme-p-nitrophenylhydrazone (469 nm at neutral to 577 nm at alkaline pH) supported the identity of the cofactor with topaquinone. Nothern blot analysis indicated that the methylamine oxidase encoding gene is largely different from the already known amine oxidase in the organism. (+info)
Citric acid production from xylan and xylan hydrolysate by semi-solid culture of Aspergillus niger.
(2/718)
Citric acid production from xylan and xylan hydrolysate was done by Aspergillus niger Yang no. 2 cultivated in a semi-solid culture using bagasse as a carrier. Yang no. 2 produced 72.4 g/l and 52.6 g/l of citric acid in 5 d from 140 g/l of xylose and arabinose, respectively. Yang no. 2 produced 51.6 g/l of citric acid in 3 d from a concentrated xylan hydrolysate prepared by cellulase treatment, containing 100 g/l of reducing sugars. Moreover, Yang no. 2 directly produced 39.6 g/l of citric acid maximally in 3 d from 140 g/l of xylan. (+info)
Production of specific monoclonal antibodies to Aspergillus species and their use in immunohistochemical identification of aspergillosis.
(3/718)
Two anti-Aspergillus murine monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), designated 164G and 611F, have been produced; both specifically recognize cytoplasmic antigens of A. fumigatus, A. flavus, and A. niger by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The MAbs can identify Aspergillus spp. both in frozen sections by immunofluorescence and in paraffin-embedded clinical specimens by immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase staining. (+info)
Kinetic characterization of Aspergillus niger N400 endopolygalacturonases I, II and C.
(4/718)
Endopolygalacturonases I, II and C isolated from recombinant Aspergillus niger strains were characterized with respect to pH optimum, activity on polygalacturonic acid and mode of action and kinetics on oligogalacturonates of different chain length (n = 3-7). Apparent Vmax values using polygalacturonate as a substrate at the pH optimum, pH 4.1, were calculated as 13.8 mukat.mg-1, 36.5 mukat.mg-1 and 415 nkat.mg-1 for endopolygalacturonases I, II and C, respectively. K(m) values were < 0.15 mg.mL-1 for all three enzymes. Product progression analysis using polygalacturonate as a substrate revealed a random cleavage pattern for all three enzymes and suggested processive behavior for endopolygalacturonases I and C. This result was confirmed by analysis of the mode of action using oligogalacturonates. Processivity was observed when the degree of polymerization of the substrate exceeded 5 or 6 for endopolygalacturonase I and endopolygalacturonase C, respectively. The bond-cleavage frequencies obtained for the hydrolysis of the oligogalacturonates were used to assess subsite maps. The maps indicate that the minimum number of subsites is seven for all three enzymes. Using pectins of various degrees of esterification, it was shown that endopolygalacturonase II is the most sensitive to the presence of methyl esters. Like endopolygalacturonase II, endopolygalacturonases I, C and E, which was also included in this part of the study, preferred the non-esterified pectate. Additional differences in substrate specificity were revealed by analysis of the reaction products of hydrolysis of a mixture of pectate lyase-generated delta 4,5-unsaturated oligogalacturonates of degree of polymerization 4-8. Whereas endopolygalacturonase I showed a strong preference for generating the delta 4,5-unsaturated dimer, with endopolygalacturonase II the delta 4,5-unsaturated trimer accumulated, indicating further differences in substrate specificity. For endopolygalacturonases C and E both the delta 4,5-unsaturated dimer and trimer were observed, although in different ratios. (+info)
Possibility for discriminating between two representative non two-state thermal unfolding models of proteins by DSC.
(5/718)
Possible differences between two representative non two-state thermal unfolding mechanisms of protein are discussed concerning differential scanning calorimetry. Numerical simulations showed that, by DSC measurement, it is hard to discriminate between the independent model, which assumes independent unfolding domains in a protein, and the sequential model, which assumes intermediate(s) between native and denatured states, especially when values of molecular weight, denaturation enthalpy, and difference in denaturation temperature of each denaturation process are large. DSC curve analysis of Aspergillus niger glucoamylase based on these two models gave essentially the same thermodynamic parameters. (+info)
Pseudoepidemic of Aspergillus niger infections traced to specimen contamination in the microbiology laboratory.
(6/718)
We report a pseudo-outbreak of Aspergillus niger that followed building construction in our clinical microbiology laboratory. Because outbreaks of invasive aspergillosis have been linked to hospital construction, strategies to minimize dust in patient care areas are common practice. We illustrate that the impact of false-positive cultures on patient care should compel laboratories to prevent specimen contamination during construction. (+info)
Oxidation of medium-chain acyl-CoA esters by extracts of Aspergillus niger: enzymology and characterization of intermediates by HPLC.
(7/718)
The activities of beta-oxidation enzymes were measured in extracts of glucose- and triolein-grown cells of Aspergillus niger. Growth on triolein stimulated increased enzyme activity, especially for acyl-CoA dehydrogenase. No acyl-CoA oxidase activity was detected. HPLC analysis after incubation of triolein-grown cell extracts with decanoyl-CoA showed that beta-oxidation was limited to one cycle. Octanoyl-CoA accumulated as the decanoyl-CoA was oxidized. Beta-oxidation enzymes in isolated mitochondrial fractions were also studied. The results are discussed in the context of methyl ketone production by fungi. (+info)
Biotransformation of (1-phenyl)ethyl hydroperoxide with Aspergillus niger: a model study on enzyme selectivity and on the induction of peroxidase activity.
(8/718)
The biocatalytic enantioselective reduction of (1-phenyl)ethyl hydroperoxide (1) by the fungus Aspergillus niger to the corresponding alcohol 2 involves a multi-enzyme biotransformation of the hydroperoxide 1, as revealed by the change in the enantioselectivity as a function of incubation times. This unusual behavior is not exhibited by other fungi and seems to be restricted to A. niger. Furthermore, the peroxidase and other oxidoreductase activities of A. niger depend on the availability of metal ions such as Fe2+, Mn2+ and Zn2+ in the growth medium, since the addition of Fe2+ ions substantially (threefold) increases the enantioselectivity, whereas addition of Mn2+ and Zn2+ ions decreases it. Finally, the cold shock (4 degrees C) significantly enhances the reduction of the hydroperoxide by the microorganism A. niger. (+info)